Friday the thirteenth is a day of thrills and haunts, horrors and the paranormal—a mini Halloween that pops up (without the costumes or candy) at random, once or twice a year. To celebrate this ghoulish day, pick up one of these thrilling reads.

Hidden* by Kelli Clare
Small-town Connecticut art teacher Ellie James finds the intense connection she’s longing for when she meets Will Hastings, a seductive Englishman with an alluring darkness. But just days later, her sister and grandmother are murdered, and she must confront the unthinkable: is Will a man she can trust, a killer―or both?

After surviving a near-fatal attempt on her life, Ellie makes a desperate move. She takes her young niece Lissie and runs to England with Will. There, passion becomes possession, London paparazzi call her by another name, and assassins of a secret society close in when the stunning truth about Ellie’s family is exposed. When Will suddenly disappears after putting a ring on her finger, Ellie must find the strength to elude assassins, disentangle herself from the haunting lies she’s lived for twenty-seven years, and answer one pressing question: who is Ellie James?

Found by Emily Brett
Twenty-seven-year-old ICU nurse Natalie Ulster has a desire to see the world, in case she dies young like her mother, and a need to heal, which is compensation for her own damaged heart. Armed with an independence and self-reliance that stems from her father’s emotional abandonment—and wanting to separate herself from a deranged nurse whose husband just died under suspicious circumstances on Natalie’s watch—Natalie grabs life by the globe and accepts successive assignments in Belize, Australia, and Arizona.

When Natalie meets Dr. Joel Lansfield, a physician who is also familiar with grief, she finds that Joel sees her for the strong woman she is, and loves her for all she has yet to figure out—but she’s not sure she’s ready to make room in her heart for love.

Desperate to maintain her emotional distance with Joel, she continues to travel. In each country, however, she finds herself confronted with near-death accidents, from a poisoned drink to a severe food allergy to being thrown overboard in the Great Barrier Reef. Too many coincidences force her to ask herself a frightening question: Is someone trying to kill her?

The Alienation of Courtney Hoffman by Brady G. Stefani
Fifteen-year-old Courtney Hoffman is determined not to go insane like her crazy grandfather did―right before he tried to drown her when she was seven. But something is happening to her. She’s being visited in her bedroom at night by aliens who claim to have shared an alliance with her now-dead grandfather. And Courtney knows that aliens aren’t real, which means she must be going crazy. And her mother and her new boyfriend have zero tolerance for craziness.

Then Courtney meets Agatha Kirlich, a mysterious older girl with sleuthing skills and alien-obsession issues of her own, and together―armed with ancient stories of a human-alien bloodline, a few photographs, and the creepy tattoo left on Courtney’s rib cage by her grandfather before he disappeared―the girls embark on a mission to uncover the truth about Courtney’s alien visitors. Ultimately, Courtney must put her fears aside, defy her mother, embrace her true identity, and risk everything in order to save herself―and the world.

Within Reach by Jessica Stevens
What if, after you died, you had a chance to come back? Fix the one fatal mistake that turned everything around. One more chance with the one you left behind?

Dying wasn’t on sixteen-year-old Xander Hemlock’s summer to-do-list. Finding ways to spend more time with his girlfriend, Lila, was the most critical thinking he planned on doing. That was before he found himself trapped in a realm of darkness with thirty days to convince Lila he’s not dead, well, not completely.

As Xan tries to show Lila she isn’t alone, she struggles to comprehend why six months ago her life was perfect, she was on her way to becoming a professional dancer, her parents were still married, and her boyfriend was alive. Now, with her anorexic tendencies stronger than ever, she must decide which is the lesser of two evils; letting go, or holding on to the unreasonable, yet overpowering feeling that Xan is trying to tell her something.
 
Within Reach is a story of two teenagers discovering that sometimes, it takes more than one lifetime to get it right. Join Lila and Xan as they struggle to find the inner strength to trust in their intuition. It will leave you believing in the impossible and questioning life as you have always known it.

Tracing the Bones by Elise A. Miller
Cynical housewife Eve Myer has two kids, chronic back pain, and a decaying writing career―as well as a stagnant marriage haunted by her husband’s long ago affair.

When a new family moves in next door, Eve becomes consumed with curiosity about beautiful life coach Anna, and with powerful lust for Billy, a sexy alternative healer with a troubled, mysterious past. As Eve begins healing sessions with Billy, an unthinkable tragedy strikes Anna and her small son. Eve’s obsession invites even more suspicion and mistrust into her marriage and as her life unravels, her sessions with Billy intensify, culminating in an alternative, experimental trip deep into the woods―a freezing winter’s journey that threatens the remaining bonds of Eve’s marriage and finally uncovers the reason for Anna’s death.

Bear Witness by Melissa Clark
Paige harbors a painful memory. Three years ago, she witnessed her best friend Robin’s abduction from a sleepover the girls were attending. Two weeks later, Robin’s body was found abandoned. The effects of this gruesome crime continue to ripple through the community, family and especially Paige’s life three years later. Struggling with debilitating flashbacks and immense guilt, Paige must continue to reconcile with her memories of the past and attempt to overcome the loss of innocence, her best friend, and her faith in the universe.

 

*Not out yet, but available for preorder (and will be out before the next Friday the 13th in July 2018)