Here are 12 books that Imperfect Strangers fans have personally recommended if you like Imperfect Strangers. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of We Lie Here

Troy Lambert Author Of Teaching Moments

From Troy's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Troy's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Troy Lambert Why Troy loves this book

This book not only had great characters, but was thought provoking, immersive, and had a fabulous story with some amazing twists. It's extremely well-written, and was one I couldn't wait to get back to reading every single day until I finished. One of my favorites of this year.

By Rachel Howzell Hall ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked We Lie Here as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A woman's trip home reveals frightening truths in a twisty novel of murder and family secrets by the New York Times bestselling author of And Now She's Gone and These Toxic Things.

TV writer Yara Gibson's hometown of Palmdale, California, isn't her first choice for a vacation. But she's back to host her parents' twentieth-anniversary party and find the perfect family mementos for the celebration. Everything is going to plan until Yara receives a disturbing text: I have information that will change your life.

The message is from Felicia Campbell, who claims to be a childhood friend of Yara's mother.…


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Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.

The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…

Book cover of Don't Look Down

Troy Lambert Author Of Teaching Moments

From Troy's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Troy's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Troy Lambert Why Troy loves this book

This was a great story interlaced with humor and action. Well written characters kept me engages, and a winning plot kept the story moving. This was my first novel by this author, and I immediately went looking for more. Davidson is a modern master, and writes like a pro. This is a story I would recommend to anyone.

By Hilary Davidson ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Don't Look Down as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the Amazon Charts bestselling author of One Small Sacrifice, a gripping mystery about a sinister murder that everyone wants to stay buried-except one dogged NYPD detective.

Jo Greaver is a model of success. Young and ambitious, she's built a thriving beauty business from nothing. But she has secrets she'll do anything to keep buried. When her blackmailer offers to meet, Jo expects to pay him off-but gets a bullet instead. Bleeding and in shock, Jo flees with no one to turn to.

When NYPD detective Sheryn Sterling and her partner, Rafael Mendoza, find Andray Baxter murdered in his own…


Book cover of Where the Crawdads Sing

J. Baird Callicott Author Of Greek Natural Philosophy: The Presocratics and Their Importance for Environmental Philosophy

From J.'s 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

J.'s 3 favorite reads in 2024

J. Baird Callicott Why J. loves this book

Delia Owens’s Crawdads was a smashing success as both a novel (her first) and a motion picture. ’Buked, beaten, and scorned by her feckless father, abandoned by her mother and older siblings, an illiterate girl of ten lives alone on the marshy coast of North Carolina. Befriended by a boy who teaches her to read with the compelling prose of A Sand County Almanac, Kya comes to see her world through the eyes of its author, Aldo Leopold. Kya and Tate grow up and fall in love, but he goes off to college—and she is again abandoned. She becomes a renowned naturalist, artist, and author, but falls sexual prey to a scoundrel, who winds up dead. It’s a murder mystery, but also a story of triumph and a beautiful portrayal of an environment often as reviled by polite society as its once feral celebrant.

By Delia Owens ,

Why should I read it?

58 authors picked Where the Crawdads Sing as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

OVER 12 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE
NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE
A NUMBER ONE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

For years, rumours of the 'Marsh Girl' have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be…


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Book cover of Trusting Her Duke

Trusting Her Duke by Arietta Richmond,

A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.

Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…

Book cover of To Kill a Mockingbird

Donald McPhail Author Of The Guest From Johannesburg

From my list on modest heroes.

Why am I passionate about this?

Success isn’t about money. It’s about character and personal experiences. I accept Viktor Frankl’s conclusion that fulfillment comes from having a purpose, caring for others, and living life with love. From my earliest movie heroes like Lash LaRue, Tom Mix, and Roy Rogers, to John Wayne, Cary Grant, and George Clooney, my favorite heroes have been modest and kind. Book heroes like Donna Leon’s Inspector Guido Brunetti, Louise Penny’s Armand Gamache, and John Le Carre’s George Smiley are modest and kind. This returns us to Lou Gehrig, my authentic, real-life hero. His early influence is clear in my heroic Duff Malone character.

Donald's book list on modest heroes

Donald McPhail Why Donald loves this book

I related to Atticus Finch.

He was the dad everyone wished they had. He was also a lot like my old high school football coach. There is authentic love and warmth when he and Scout are together. And there is honesty and spine when Atticus is in the courtroom, defending those who have been wrongly accused.

This beloved book has inspired generations of readers around the world. It is a morality tale about a rough and imperfect country, written in a way that has inspired idealists to stay the course in our fight for justice. We may be flawed, but we can still be strong.

By Harper Lee ,

Why should I read it?

46 authors picked To Kill a Mockingbird as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.'

Atticus Finch gives this advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of this classic novel - a black man charged with attacking a white girl. Through the eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Lee explores the issues of race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s with compassion and humour. She also creates one of the great heroes of literature in their father, whose lone struggle for justice pricks the conscience of a town steeped…


Book cover of Kane and Abel

Why am I passionate about this?

I've been fascinated by cultures shrouded in secrets and mystery since childhood, a fascination that intensified when efforts to unravel the mystery and expose the truth were stonewalled, leading to frustrating dead-ends.  I spent decades trying to uncover the truth history obscures through research that included travel to the lands of secrets, mystery, and sometimes outright lies. As a writer, I draw from experience, education, and imagination because I know it's sometimes necessary to wrap truth in fiction to protect it. The books I've selected speak to that reality.

Elizabeth's book list on suspense stories with characters driven by passion and twists and turns that keep you guessing til the end

Elizabeth Maxim Why Elizabeth loves this book

A story of characters who use hardship as a springboard to success; I was immediately pulled in by a plot told through the eyes of characters as if we were in a pub and they were sharing life lessons. The brutal honesty of how innocents get caught in the crossfires of greed and quests for power resonates. The ending is both poignant and haunting.

By Jeffrey Archer ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Kane and Abel as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Jeffrey Archer's Kane and Abel is a global phenomenon that has captivated readers worldwide, spawning two sequels and dominating bestseller charts the world over.

Two strangers born worlds apart with one destiny that will define them both.

William Lowell Kane, the son of a Boston millionaire, and Abel Rosnovski, the son of a penniless Polish immigrant, are born on the same day on opposite sides of the world and brought together by fate and the quest of a dream.

Locked in a relentless struggle spanning sixty years and three generations, the two men battle for supremacy in pursuit of an…


Book cover of Inca Gold

Why am I passionate about this?

I've been fascinated by cultures shrouded in secrets and mystery since childhood, a fascination that intensified when efforts to unravel the mystery and expose the truth were stonewalled, leading to frustrating dead-ends.  I spent decades trying to uncover the truth history obscures through research that included travel to the lands of secrets, mystery, and sometimes outright lies. As a writer, I draw from experience, education, and imagination because I know it's sometimes necessary to wrap truth in fiction to protect it. The books I've selected speak to that reality.

Elizabeth's book list on suspense stories with characters driven by passion and twists and turns that keep you guessing til the end

Elizabeth Maxim Why Elizabeth loves this book

I was introduced to Clive Cussler novels in an airport while waiting for a connection. I've been hooked ever since.

The piece de resistance of Dirk Pitt's NUMA adventures, Inca Gold, stands out for its haunting authenticity as it draws readers into a world where, thanks to Clive's brilliance, his alternate takes on history are all too plausible.

Dirk and the NUMA team that backs and believes in him never disappoint with stories that keep you guessing til the dramatic end.

By Clive Cussler ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Inca Gold as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The twelfth hair-raising Dirk Pitt thriller sees the adventurer hunt for a fabulous hoard of Inca gold, before the richest prize known to man is lost forever.

ACTION-PACKED ADVENTURE

A call for help from a stricken archaeological expedition brings Dirk Pitt to a sacred well, high in the Andes. There he confronts a band of ruthless art thieves, who plunder ancient sites for their precious artefacts.

But soon Dirk Pitt faces even graver danger, as he searches for a lost Spanish galleon and hunts for a fabulous hoard of Inca gold. And in a desperate race against time, Pitt must…


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Book cover of The Duke's Christmas Redemption

The Duke's Christmas Redemption by Arietta Richmond,

A Duke who has rejected love, a Lady who dreams of a love match, an arranged marriage, a house full of secrets, a most unneighborly neighbor, a plot to destroy reputations, an unexpected love that redeems it all.

Lady Charlotte Wyndham, given in an arranged marriage to a man she…

Book cover of Chiefs

G Richard Hoard Author Of The Missing Boys

From my list on Southern rural crime.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was only fourteen when my father, a District Attorney in rural Georgia, was murdered by criminals later known as members of the Dixie Mafia. While I was reading a daily newspaper interview several weeks after the murder, I was surprised to find myself as a topic. My mother told a reporter that “(He) has his father’s gifts for words. Maybe one day he will write a book about it.” Nearly thirty years later, I did write the book. After the pain of that memoir, I turned to fiction, where I placed young protagonists coming of age who faced the corruption and murders of the rural south in the 1960s. 

G's book list on Southern rural crime

G Richard Hoard Why G loves this book

Stuart Woods's first book may be his best. Again, the setting of the book is rural Georgia, describing the terrain where I grew up and even mentioning the real cities where the fictional events took place.

I love the story because of my own growing up in small-town Georgia where my uncle was Chief of Police and other members of my family were attorneys. The flavor of the politics and how a murderer is discovered reminds me of the willful blindness and corruption that must take place for such perverse murders to happen. 

By Stuart Woods ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Chiefs as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Stuart Woods’s Edgar Award-winning debut novel—a classic American mystery saga about three generations of lawmen tangled in a web of passion, secrets, destiny, and murder in their small Southern town...

In the winter of 1920, the first body is found in Delano, Georgie—the naked, brutalized corpse of a young boy. It is a crime too horrific to be ignored, the first of many that will span four decades—embroiling three police chiefs in a remarkable manhunt that will expose the hatreds, fear, and festering wounds beneath the surface of their sleepy God-fearing community.


Book cover of Palindrome

Why am I passionate about this?

I've been fascinated by cultures shrouded in secrets and mystery since childhood, a fascination that intensified when efforts to unravel the mystery and expose the truth were stonewalled, leading to frustrating dead-ends.  I spent decades trying to uncover the truth history obscures through research that included travel to the lands of secrets, mystery, and sometimes outright lies. As a writer, I draw from experience, education, and imagination because I know it's sometimes necessary to wrap truth in fiction to protect it. The books I've selected speak to that reality.

Elizabeth's book list on suspense stories with characters driven by passion and twists and turns that keep you guessing til the end

Elizabeth Maxim Why Elizabeth loves this book

Given to me by my paternal grandmother during a bout of insomnia, this book kept me up all night as I tried to unravel not only the plot but the characters themselves.

False starts set up for a surprise ending as the author leads readers through a setting that puts them at home in the story.

By Stuart Woods ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Palindrome as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This book is an electrifying story from "New York Times" bestselling author Stuart Woods that moves from the urban chaos of Atlanta and Los Angeles to untamed island hideaways, from moments of tender passion to acts of overwhelming violence.


Book cover of Comes the Blind Fury

Why am I passionate about this?

I've been fascinated by cultures shrouded in secrets and mystery since childhood, a fascination that intensified when efforts to unravel the mystery and expose the truth were stonewalled, leading to frustrating dead-ends.  I spent decades trying to uncover the truth history obscures through research that included travel to the lands of secrets, mystery, and sometimes outright lies. As a writer, I draw from experience, education, and imagination because I know it's sometimes necessary to wrap truth in fiction to protect it. The books I've selected speak to that reality.

Elizabeth's book list on suspense stories with characters driven by passion and twists and turns that keep you guessing til the end

Elizabeth Maxim Why Elizabeth loves this book

I've had a fascination with small New England towns since childhood, intrigued by how they are portrayed as romantic yet forbidding if not outright hostile to outsiders.

Comes the Blind Fury beautifully satisfies this fascination as John masterfully weaves a tale of secrets small-town residents collude - willingly or not - to hide, uncovering a motivation that proves even one bad apple can destroy a crop and burying your head in the sand does not release you from guilt.

A riveting tale that leaves you guessing who is friend and who is foe right to the dramatic end.

By John Saul ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Comes the Blind Fury as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A century ago, a gentle blind girl walked the cliffs of Paradise Point. Then the children came -- taunting, teasing -- until she lost her footing and fell, shrieking her rage to the drowning sea... Now Michelle has come from Boston to live in the big house on Paradise Point. She is excited about her new life, ready to make new friends... until a hand reaches out of the swirling mists -- the hand of blind child. She is asking for friendship... seeking revenge... whispering her name...


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Book cover of Old Man Country

Old Man Country by Thomas R. Cole,

This book follows the journey of a writer in search of wisdom as he narrates encounters with 12 distinguished American men over 80, including Paul Volcker, the former head of the Federal Reserve, and Denton Cooley, the world’s most famous heart surgeon.

In these and other intimate conversations, the book…

Book cover of Tallchief

Why am I passionate about this?

I've been fascinated by cultures shrouded in secrets and mystery since childhood, a fascination that intensified when efforts to unravel the mystery and expose the truth were stonewalled, leading to frustrating dead-ends.  I spent decades trying to uncover the truth history obscures through research that included travel to the lands of secrets, mystery, and sometimes outright lies. As a writer, I draw from experience, education, and imagination because I know it's sometimes necessary to wrap truth in fiction to protect it. The books I've selected speak to that reality.

Elizabeth's book list on suspense stories with characters driven by passion and twists and turns that keep you guessing til the end

Elizabeth Maxim Why Elizabeth loves this book

Proving these are the best years of your life a fallacy, this book is a riveting story demonstrating how events of adolescence not only shape us but drive us to find peace and shows that just because time tries to make amends, it is ultimately up to us whether or not we accept recompense for devastating loss.

By Dinah McCall ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Tallchief as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Determined to forget the only woman he has ever loved, Morgan Tallchief vows to protect the returned, but still troubled, Kathleen Ryder, who fears that her enemies will prevent her from staying with Morgan. Reissue.


Book cover of We Lie Here
Book cover of Don't Look Down
Book cover of Where the Crawdads Sing

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