Treat yourself to these spooky thrillers

Need an alternative to parading around in deceptive garb this

Halloween? Head for your favorite armchair and treat yourself to

literary escape via sensational new thrillers from the Newport Beach

Public Library.

Like the charming newcomer in Joy Fielding’s “Whispers and Lies,”

you may be peering into closets for boogeymen after stepping into the

once-quiet life of 40-ish Terry Painter, a single nurse who sublets

the cottage behind her Florida home to irresistible Alison Simms.

Drawn into young woman’s carefree world, Terry is guardedly excited

about new friendships until they threaten to overtake her life. In a

page-turner with an ending worthy of Hitchcock, Fielding serves up a

tale that probes our need for friendship, family and acceptance.

An equally generous dose of psychological drama is in Robert

Barnard’s “The Bones in the Attic.” In his latest romp through murder

and mayhem, the masterful crime writer leads fans into murky secrets

seemingly buried in the past. Launched by the discovery of a child’s

skeleton in a house where former soccer pro Matt Harper intends to

take up residence, the story probes a murder that took place 30 years

ago. That the deed apparently occurred during the fateful summer Matt

spent with his aunt in that same community gives the story its

provocative edge.

The canvas of Kurt Corriher’s “Someone to Kill” covers a lot of

territory in a thriller involving the assassination by car bomb of an

investigative journalist. Sidestepping the FBI agent in charge of the

investigation, the journalist’s estranged husband embarks on a quest

for the killer that takes him from North Carolina to Berlin and the

Greek Isles. While the Vietnam vet and college athletic director is

not entirely likable, he’s undeniably resourceful in this debut novel

about the distinction between justice and revenge.

There’s hardly anything more apt for Halloween than Carole Nelson

Douglas’ “Castle Rouge,” her grisly sequel to last year’s “Chapel

Noir.” In this episode, opera diva-turned-detective Irene Adler

Norton is on the hunt for Jack the Ripper. Assisted by a prostitute

named Pink and theater manager Bram Stoker, the trail leads to

numerous atrocities before pursuers and prey reunite at a castle in

Transylvania, where there are clues to the identity of one of the

true monsters of all time.

Had enough literary suspense? Dim the lights, chain the door and

pop “Wait Until Dark” into the VCR. In this classic fright flick,

Audrey Hepburn stars as a blind woman pursued by a psychopath

searching for a heroin-stuffed doll. Descend into the supernatural

world with “The Uninvited,” which stars Ray Milland in a hair-raising

story about a haunted house on the Cornwall coast. Finally, lighten

up with “Murder by Death,” Neil Simon’s hilarious spoof of murder

mysteries that’s a sweet treat for All Hallow’s Eve.

* CHECK IT OUT is written by the staff of the Newport Beach

Public Library. This week’s column is by Melissa Adams in

collaboration with Claudia Peterman. All titles may be reserved from

home or office computers by accessing the catalog at

www.newportbeachlibrary.org.