R.J. Jacobs

Riley Sager meets If We Were Villains in a compelling new psychological thriller by RJ Jacobs, following a tight-knit group of graduate students studying the psychology of lying. When one of them is discovered dead after an experiment, everything the group thought they knew about deception crumbles... Campus is empty, a winter storm is blowing in, and someone is lurking in the shadows, waiting for their chance to kill again. Forest, North Carolina. Under the instruction of enigmatic Professor Joe Lyons, five graduate students are studying the tedious science behind the acts of lying. But discovering the secrets of deception isn't making any of the student's more honest though. Instead, it's making it easier for them to guard their own secrets – and they all have something to hide. When a test goes awry and one of them is found dead, the students find themselves trapped by a snowstorm on an abandoned campus with a local detective on the case. As harbored secrets begin to break the surface, the graduates must find out who's lying, who isn't, and who may have been capable of committing murder. It turns out deception is even more dangerous than they thought... A foreboding new dark academia thriller of deception and suspense, This is How it Ends follows the unraveling of a close group of students as they contend with what it means to lie, and be lied to.

For fans of Riley Sager with a classic slasher twist comes a chilling thriller following a former horror movie actress who returns to the set of her most famous film…and is soon entangled in a series of terrifying events that resemble the plot of that one cursed movie. For Lexi, the Pinecrest Estate has become a place of horror. The dilapidated manor house in the Florida Keys, once the site of her teenage movie debut, is now haunted by memories. Memories of working on a legendary horror director's most famous film and of the terrible death that propelled them all to infamy. And ever since Lexi fled the Keys, she has vowed to never return. Until, years later, her daughter escapes to the Pinecrest in search of answers. Right when a Category 4 hurricane hits the southern coast. Now, Lexi is back on the ravaged island with only a few remaining behind, and soon enough, her life begins to resemble the plot of her most famous film. And this time, she's not sure who will make it out alive.

After years of learning how to manage her bipolar disorder, Emily Firestone finally has it under control. Even better, her life is coming together: she’s got a great job, her own place, and a boyfriend, Paolo, who adores her. So when Paolo suggests a weekend sailing trip, Emily agrees—wine, water, and the man she loves? What could be better? But when Emily wakes the morning after they set sail, the boat is still adrift…and Paolo is gone. A strong swimmer, there’s no way Paolo drowned, but Emily is at a loss for any other explanation. Where else could he have gone? And why? As the hours and days pass by, each moment marking Paolo’s disappearance, Emily’s hard-won stability begins to slip. But when Emily uncovers evidence suggesting Paolo was murdered, the investigation throws her mania into overdrive, even as she becomes a person of interest in her own personal tragedy. To clear her name, Emily must find the truth—but can she hold onto her own sanity in the process?