This Year’s Best Kindle Thriller Books
Her Last Breath (Wolf Lake book one)
Thomas Shepherd is a broken man when he returns to his hometown after being shot in the line of duty as an LAPD detective. He accepts a junior deputy position with the Nightshade County Sheriff’s Department, intent on putting California behind him. To rekindle warm memories, he purchases his uncle’s old house, an A-frame on the shores of Wolf Lake.
One dark night, a woman’s body washes ashore, headless and butchered. And Thomas is thrown into a murder investigation.
Is a serial killer loose in Wolf Lake?
Dan Padavona’s Wolf Lake Thriller series has dominated the Kindle books scene since the first entry, Her Last Breath, hit Amazon last year. And for good reason. The Wolf Lake series delivers a combination of mystery and chills in the spirit of Agatha Christie and Stephen King, while crafting multi-layered characters that readers care about.
There’s a reason readers have made the Wolf Lake series the hottest thrillers on Amazon this year.
Readers say the characters set Wolf Lake apart from other thrillers.
Let’s start with Deputy Thomas Shepherd. There is more to his persona than meets the eye. As a child, he was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, a developmental disorder on the autism spectrum. Like many people afflicted with Asperger’s, Thomas struggles with social interactions.
The first person the village blames for the murder is a notorious gang member named LeVar Hopkins. LeVar grew up in a broken home with a mother addicted to heroin. Witnesses see him driving along the lake on the night the body washes ashore, and the victim appears to have affiliations with a rival gang.
There’s also Thomas’s old girlfriend Chelsey Byrd, who runs a private investigations firm in the village. Though she is the most ingenious PI in Upstate NY, she suffered from crippling depression during her teenage years. The fear that depression will strike her again haunts Chelsey. Her partner is Raven Hopkins, LeVar’s older sister. Though Raven doesn’t condone her brother joining a gang, she swears he isn’t a killer.
But the evidence points to LeVar as the number one suspect. Is he a murderer?
Then we meet Thomas’s neighbor, Scout Mourning, a teenager who lost her ability to walk after a near-fatal traffic collision. Trying to fill a void, Scout becomes obsessed with online sleuthing.
And when the headless corpse floats ashore, Scout is determined to catch the murderer. There’s only one problem.
The killer knows who she is.
The Ultimate Serial Killer
A serial killer thriller isn’t complete without a blood-curdling madman stalking the shadows. Whether it be Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs, or Michael Myers in Halloween, the most-frightening fictional serial killers keep you squirming late at night.
This is where Wolf Lake shines.
The Wolf Lake killer is a depraved madman who readers will remember forever. The author forces us to see the world through the killer’s eyes, and then he turns the psychopath loose on the story’s main characters. A deadly cat-and-mouse game ensues as the tension builds. The finale will leave you breathless.
Will Thomas apprehend the murderer before something terrible happens to the people he cares about?
Her Last Breath, the first novel in the chart-topping Wolf Lake Thriller series, is the perfect Kindle book to take on vacation and read late at night. But beware. This one brings the chills.
Drawing inspiration from classics such as Silence of the Lambs and Gone Girl, Her Last Breath builds a rich tapestry of characters and fictional locations while delivering some of the best scares of the year. It’s a rare story that finds a balance between diverse relationships and chilling terror, but the reviews speak for themselves.
Amazon Reviews
Great characters and a great setting combined with an excellent storyline…what more can you ask for? Highly recommend!
The last few chapters had me on the edge of my seat speed reading to find out what was going to happen.
A thriller that I couldn’t put down. I couldn’t close my eyes either since it was a book, not a show.
A terrific combination of suspense and mystery.
Absolutely fabulous writing! I love the characters! This is a great read!
I needed a new writer and Dan Padavona certainly delivered. Can’t wait for the next page turner.
There were quite a bit of twists and turns I was not expecting, and Thomas Shepherd is now a new favorite character of mine!
Her Last Breath is available from the Kindle Store in ebook, paperback, and audiobook, and free to read through Kindle Unlimited.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What formats are the Wolf Lake series books available in?
Every book in the Wolf Lake series is on Kindle, in paperback, and in audiobook form. The Kindle ebooks are available exclusively through Amazon, while the paperbacks can be purchased on Amazon and several other book retailers. The audiobooks can be found on Audible, iTunes, Google Play, Scribd, Authors Direct, and many other platforms. If you purchase the ebook from Amazon, you can switch back and forth between the text and audio via Whispersync.
I don’t have a Kindle but want to download the ebook. What can I do?
Though I love my Paperwhite, it isn’t necessary to purchase a Kindle to read ebooks purchased from Amazon. Simply download the Kindle app for your phone, iPad, tablet, PC, or Mac. You can read books through the app, which accesses the same cloud storage.
Are any of Dan Padavona’s books available for free?
Dan Padavona’s thrillers are free to read for Kindle Unlimited subscribers. In addition, a growing number of online libraries feature his books. He offers a free FBI thriller called Dead and Buried, the prequel to the chilling Darkwater Cove series. Download Dead and Buried here.
Is the tenth book in the series the end of Wolf Lake?
No way. Due to the overwhelming popularity of the series, the Wolf Lake saga continues in the all-new Thomas Shepherd mysteries. All your favorite characters return.
Should I read Wolf Lake before reading The Thomas Shepherd Mystery series?
Feel free to start with The Thomas Shepherd Mystery series. However if you love the characters and stories, you’ll get even more enjoyment by reading Wolf Lake as well.
What is Kindle Unlimited?
Kindle Unlimited is a subscription service from Amazon that allows you to borrow an unlimited number of books for a flat rate of $9.99 per month. Kindle Unlimited is not included with your Prime membership. That’s a lot of reading. Amazon offers a 30-day free trial to test out Kindle Unlimited and decide if it is right for you.
For more information on the series, visit the Wolf Lake Thriller page.
