The Locked Door by Freida McFadden

While eleven-year-old Nora Davis was up in her bedroom doing homework, she had no idea her father was killing women in the basement. Until the day the police arrived at their front door. Decades later, Nora’s father is spending his life behind bars, and Nora is a successful surgeon with a quiet, solitary existence. Nobody knows her father was a notorious serial killer. And she intends to keep it that way. Then Nora discovers one of her young female patients has been murdered. In the same unique and horrific manner that her father used to kill his victims. Somebody knows who Nora is. Somebody wants her to take… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood & injury depiction including loss of limb
  • Hospitalisation
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Animal death (pet mouse)

Never Lie by Freida McFadden

Newlyweds Tricia and Ethan are searching for the house of their dreams. But when they visit the remote manor that once belonged to Dr. Adrienne Hale, a renowned psychiatrist who vanished without a trace four years earlier, a violent winter storm traps them at the estate… with no chance of escape until the blizzard comes to an end. In search of a book to keep her entertained until the snow abates, Tricia happens upon a secret room. One that contains audio transcripts from every single patient Dr. Hale has ever interviewed. As Tricia listens to the cassette tapes, she learns about the terrifying chain of events leading up to Dr. Hale’s mysterious disappearance. Tricia plays the tapes one… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Emesis
  • Death of a parent
  • Murder
  • Blackmail
  • Snowstorm (theme)

The Housemaid’s Secret by Freida McFadden

Freddie Makin is a spy for hire. For a year he’s been watching Jiang Cheng, an academic whose life seems suspiciously normal. To Freddie it’s just a job: he never asks who’s paying him and why—until the day someone is sent to kill him, and suddenly the watcher becomes the watched. On the run from whoever wants him dead, Freddie knows he must have seen something incriminating. The only trouble is, he has no idea what. Is the CIA behind all this—or does it go higher than that? Have his trackers uncovered his own murky past? As he’s forced into a lethal dance across… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Fatmisia and body-shaming
  • Classism
  • Attempted rape
  • Infidelity (on-page)
  • Discussions of domestic abuse and violence
  • Disordered eating & food thoughts including calorie counting and food shaming
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Infertility mentioned
  • Blood depiction
  • Emesis
  • Death of a mother from a stroke mentioned
  • Murder by gun & knife violence
  • Physical assault
  • Stalking
  • Incarceration for physical assault mentioned
  • Poverty & financial difficulties discussed

Context : The protagonist’s employee has her gigolo pretend to be an abusive, violent husband. This includes physical abuse, attempted strangulation, electronic monitoring, and food deprivation. Mentions of the protagonist working to free previous clients from domestic abuse situations, including murdering the abuser when necessary. Her neighbour attempts to rape her and she pushes him down the stairs. The police do not believe her and victim-blame. Her ex-boyfriend hides illegal drugs in his apartment in revenge, and her neighbour goes to jail for drug possession. The protagonist was in jail for assaulting her friend’s rapist because he died from his injuries. Wendy, the protagonist’s employer, also didn’t tell her real husband that she was could not get pregnant, even though he believed they were trying to have a child.

    Nate Plus One by Kevin van Whye

    Nate Hargraves – stage-shy singer-songwriter – is totally stoked for his cousin’s wedding in South Africa, an all-expenses-paid trip of a lifetime. Until he finds out his sleazeball ex-boyfriend is also on the guest list. Jai Patel – hot-as-hell high school rock-god – has troubles too. His band’s lead singer has quit, just weeks before the gig that was meant to be their big break. When Nate saves the day by agreeing to sing with Jai’s band, Jai volunteers to be Nate’s plus-one to the wedding, and the stage is set for a summer of music, self-discovery, and simmering romantic tension. What could possibly go wrong . . . ?

    Goodreads

    Trigger and Content Warnings

    • Homophobia
    • Racism & mentions of apartheid
    • Child abuse
    • Alcohol consumption
    • Grief & loss depiction
    • Death of a parent
    • Animal death

    Champions of the Fox by Kevin Sands

    Commanded by the magical artefact known as the Dragon’s Eye, junior con artist Callan and his friends are eagerly reaching the end of the epic quest that will finally free him from the Eye’s sinister hold. But their final task is their most ambitious: sneaking into the emperor’s private island prison and rescuing a man from a jail cell that has been locked tight for forty years. This impossible heist will strain the gang’s unique abilities to thieve and deceive everyone from the guards, the city elite, the warden, and even the nefarious local crime boss who warns them to stay away. Commanded by the magical… Read more.

    Goodreads

    Trigger and Content Warnings

    • Alcohol consumption mentioned
    • Mentions of a dead body
    • Physical assault of a minor recounted
    • Minor knife & sword violence
    • Loss of autonomy (magical)

    Seekers of the Fox by Kevin Sands

    Rule number one: Never mess with magic. Even so, a life-or-death situation calls for Callan and his criminal friends to make a deal with the Eye—the sinister, sentient artifact they stole from a sorcerer. Something precious in exchange for a future task, and the gang has no choice but to agree. The cure—and their part of the deal—lies with the Dragon’s Teeth, a pair of swords with extraordinary powers, and the search for them leads the thieves on a quest that will unravel the mystery of the Eye.

    Goodreads

    Trigger and Content Warnings

    • Alcohol consumption mentioned
    • Minor knife & sword violence
    • Loss of autonomy (magical)

    Mark of the Plague by Kevin Sands

    The Black Death has returned to London, spreading disease and fear through town. A mysterious prophet predicts the city’s ultimate doom—until an unknown apothecary arrives with a cure that actually works. Christopher’s Blackthorn shop is chosen to prepare the remedy. But when an assassin threatens the apothecary’s life, Christopher and his faithful friend Tom are back to hunting down the truth, risking their lives to untangle the heart of a dark conspiracy. And as the sickness strikes close to home, the stakes are higher than ever before…

    Goodreads

    Trigger and Content Warnings

    • Alcohol consumption mentioned
    • Plague (theme)
    • Physical injury & Illness (broken bones, plague)
    • Death of a child mentioned
    • Murder including mentions of a mob lynching
    • Explosion
    • Physical assault of minors & threats of torture
    • Kidnapping & captivity
    • Animal injury (bird)

    The Assassin’s Curse by Kevin Sands

    Wherever Christopher Rowe goes, adventure—and murder—follows. Even a chance to meet King Charles ends in a brush with an assassin. All that’s recovered from the killer is a coded message with an ominous sign-off: more attempts are coming. So when Christopher’s code-breaking discovers the attack’s true target, he and his friends are ordered to Paris to investigate a centuries-old curse on the French throne. And when they learn an ancient treasure is promised to any assassin who succeeds, they realize the entire royal family is at stake—as well as their own lives.

    Goodreads

    Trigger and Content Warnings

    • Alcohol consumption mentioned
    • Amputation (off-page)
    • Poisoning
    • Death from impaling
    • Death from animal attack (snake, bee)
    • Death of a snake from decapitation

    One Day by David Nicholls

    15th July 1988: Emma and Dexter meet for the first time on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways. So where will they be on this one day next year? And the year after that? And every year that follows?

    Goodreads

    Trigger and Content Warnings

    • Drug use & smoking (on-page)
    • Alcohol consumption & abuse (on-page)
    • Alcoholism (protagonist)
    • Minor injury & emesis
    • Car accident
    • Physical assault

    Mile High by Liz Tomforde

    Zanders: Chicago hockey isn’t complete without me – everyone’s favourite player to hate. I know my role, and I play it well. In fact, I thoroughly enjoy spending the majority of my game time in the penalty box before leaving the arena with a new girl on my arm each night. What I don’t like is the new flight attendant on our team’s private plane. She works for me, not the other way around. But I’ll be sure to remind her of that, and I can guarantee, by the end of the season, she’ll be begging to quit her job. But every road trip blurs the lines, and I can’t quite figure out if I keep pushing that flight attendant call button in order to… Read more.

    Goodreads

    Trigger and Content Warnings

    • Fatphobia & body-shaming discussed including internalised body-shaming and dysmorphia
    • Panic attacks
    • Suicidal ideation
    • Emesis
    • Alcohol consumption & drug use