This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

With the short days and long cold nights, what better time to curl up with a good thriller. Here's a few recent page-turning titles to consider:

"Moral Defense" (Thomas & Mercer), by Marcia Clark

"Moral Defense" by former Los Angeles prosecutor Marcia Clark has it all: a hard-charging lawyer heroine, tough-as-nails cops, realistic, yet somehow lovable "bad guys," as well as fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants pacing and page-turning twists.

Say what you will about her performance during O.J. Simpson's 1995 criminal trial, Clark has more than proven her writing chops in her sixth novel — her second featuring Samantha Brinkman, a tough, but fair criminal defense attorney who's always just a half-step away from bankruptcy as she strives to build her practice. Sam, along with Michelle, her childhood best-friend paralegal who manages to keep her grounded, and Alex, her sexy, gay investigator who turns on the charm at all the right times, form a likable trio.

In the first book of the series, Sam is trying to prove her mettle in the cutthroat world of criminal defense. In "Moral Defense," she's landed herself in the headlines when she's brought in as an advocate for 15-year-old Cassie, who survived a brutal attack that left her father and brother dead and her mother in a coma. When the situation flips and Cassie herself becomes the target of the investigation, Sam quickly gets herself embroiled in a complicated and emotionally wrenching case that leaves her tapped out.

If one tangled story line isn't enough, Clark weaves in two others — one featuring a gangbanger on the run and the other, her former client/father whom we first met in the previous novel. At times, it feels like overkill, but it also leaves readers wondering if juggling multiple cases at one time, if not frenetic, is also more realistic. — Kim Curtis

"The Wrong Side of Goodbye" (Little, Brown and Co.), by Michael Connelly

Harry Bosch has retired from the Los Angeles Police Department, but he still finds himself in the middle of a puzzling mystery in "The Wrong Side of Goodbye" by Michael Connelly.

Bosch has two jobs that keep him busy. In addition to working part-time as a private investigator, he volunteers as a detective for the short-staffed San Fernando police department, looking over cold cases. The condition of this arrangement is that he cannot use resources from the department to assist with his work as a private investigator.

He soon begins to juggle two urgent cases. He's working for the police department on a case involving a serial rapist, and his private investigator skills are put to the test when elderly billionaire Whitney Vance asks him to find a possible heir. The child would have been born in 1950 when Vance was 18 and the woman he loved was 16. Vance's father forced them apart and Vance regrets never fighting since she was the only woman he ever loved. Finding her and their child would help him make peace with himself and provide an heir for his business.

Bosch has little to go on, and as he begins his search for answers, he starts hitting roadblocks, as if someone didn't want him to find the woman or the couple's child. Luckily for Bosch, he has access to legal help from a relative who is quite familiar to fans of Connelly.

To say Connelly has written another masterful crime novel would not be enough praise. — Jeff Ayers

"The Whistler" (Doubleday) by John Grisham

John Grisham's latest novel, "The Whistler," involves the rich and powerful and abuse of the justice system.

The Florida Board on Judicial Conduct investigates accusations involving judicial misconduct. Judges need to be impartial, but if that appears not to be the case, then a team from the BJC investigates. Lacy Stoltz and her partner, Hugo Hatch, are assigned to a potentially dangerous one when they talk to Greg Myers, someone who changed his name after being released from prison. He has obtained his license to practice law again, and with his connections, he has access to insider information.

He tells Lacy and Hugo that a judge has not only sent an innocent man to jail, but is also working with a corrupt casino owner and taking massive kickbacks to insure the operation stays free from potential roadblocks.

Corruption is difficult to prove, especially when nobody is talking. The judge has covered her tracks well, and those close to her aren't talking. A mysterious man who owns the casino might have ties to organized crime, and since it is such a huge money-making enterprise, he'll do anything to keep the money coming.

Grisham novels are crowd-pleasers because he knows how to satisfy readers who want to see injustice crushed, and justice truly prevails for those who cannot buy influence. — Jeff Ayers

"Road to Perdition: The New, Expanded Novel" (Brash Books), by Max Allan Collins

Readers can be forgiven if they believe there's nothing more to be done with "Road to Perdition," the murderous tale of a mob kingpin, his favored hit man and the lengths each was willing to go to protect his son. After all, we've already seen three treatments of this gritty noir story.

First there was the 1998 graphic novel written by Max Allan Collins with art by Richard Piers Rayner. Next came the 2002 Sam Mendes-directed film starring Tom Hanks and Paul Newman. And then came Collins' novelization of the movie.

But it turns out the publisher of the novelization chopped about 30,000 words from Collins' text to keep it from straying from the film version.

Now Brash Books, a publishing house founded by novelists Lee Goldberg and Joel Goldman, has restored the missing text and released the novel as Collins intended it.

The result is a richer and more satisfying version of the tale, one that combines the swift pace of the graphic novel with the well-developed father-son relationships of Mendes' movie — and that includes both additional hard-boiled dialogue and more historical context for the Depression-era story set in Al Capone's Illinois.

And Collins' writing, always crisp and vividly visual, is at its best here in "Road to Perdition: The New, Expanded Novel." — Bruce DeSilva

"Say No More" (Forge), by Hank Phillippi Ryan

"Say No More," Hank Phillippi Ryan's latest novel to feature intrepid Boston reporter Jane Ryland and homicide detective Jake Brogan, is another stellar mystery.

Ryland has been working on a story involving growing sexual assaults on college campuses. One of the victims is somewhat reluctant to tell her story, even though her appearance will be in shadow and her voice will be disguised. Ryland witnesses a shocking car crash. What she doesn't realize is that writing down the license plate and seeing the driver has put her in grave danger. Meanwhile, Brogan has a murder case that involves a screenwriter discovered at the bottom of her pool.

Ryan tells a deeply moving and fast-paced story. Fans will be thrilled to learn that Ryland and Brogan are secretly engaged, while newcomers will find an amazing tale that could easily be a headline on the evening newscast. — Jeff Ayers

"Tom Clancy True Faith and Allegiance (A Jack Ryan Novel)" (G.P. Putnam's Sons) by Mark Greaney

The latest novel featuring Jack Ryan, Tom Clancy's iconic hero and now president of the United States, delivers all the elements that fans expect from the franchise.

In Mark Greaney's "Tom Clancy True Faith and Allegiance," someone with inside knowledge and access to personal details of key military and government personnel has been selling that information to enemies of the United States.

In a crowded New Jersey restaurant, U.S. Navy Commander Scott Hagen is on leave with his family when a man shows up and tries to kill him. The gunman is a Russian whose brother was onboard a submarine that Hagen destroyed when he was serving on the USS James Greer. Meanwhile, in Tehran's airport, a Canadian businessman who has previously made a dozen visits is flagged as a CIA spy.

These are only two examples of a growing problem with a data breach of such extreme magnitude. How does this informant have such top-secret details? Is everyone who works for the government or military now a target?

While President Ryan contemplates what to do, his son Jack Ryan Jr. is undergoing training to join an elite special-ops group known as The Campus. The organization is recruiting a few others as well, and their expertise will be needed when a terrorist begins striking at individuals inside the United States. Has this enemy been given classified materials to strike at the heart of America? President Ryan will need to put his personal feelings aside to save the nation from a ruthless adversary.

Tom Clancy died in 2013. His novels were blockbusters that focused primarily on technology while the people involved were secondary. Action-thriller author Greaney, who has continued the series, handles the tech side with grace and has fleshed out the cast and given them depth.

Clancy fans will enjoy "True Faith and Allegiance." — Jeff Ayers

"Out of Bounds" (Grove Atlantic), by Val McDermid

Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie has always been a workaholic. But now immersion in her work doesn't just give her life structure, it also has become a kind of comfort that allows her to deal with grief in "Out of Bounds," Val McDermid's latest exciting novel about this Scottish police detective.

Pirie, now head of Police Scotland's small Historic Cases Unit in Edinburgh, tackles a decades-old murder after 17-year-old Ross Garvie goes on a high-speed ride with three of his friends. A horrific crash results in the death of the three drunken teens and leaves Garvie in a coma.

Karen and her partner, Detective Constable Jason Murray, become involved when Garvie's DNA is shown to be a familial match to that of a Glasgow hairdresser whose rape and murder has gone unsolved for years. But maneuvering the Scottish legal system to track down Garvie's male relatives is fraught with complications.

Another case also occupies Karen's time — the alleged suicide of Gabriel Abbott, who lived in Kinross. The Abbott case isn't Karen's, but she becomes nearly obsessed with finding out if his death was in any way linked to the death of his mother, who was killed in a plane crash decades earlier.

The caseloads help distract Karen from her grief over the death of Phil Parhatka, a fellow detective who was killed in the line of duty. She loved Phil and longs to discuss every investigation, twist and theory with him. When not at work, she drinks and walks the streets and neighborhoods of Edinburgh at night to ease her insomnia.

Karen is easily the smartest person in the room. She often infuriates her bosses, who grudgingly acknowledge that her insight and intelligence gets the job done.

McDermid balances the intense character studies in "Out of Bounds" with an inside view of the Scottish legal system and again shows her acuity in producing intelligent thrillers. — Oline H. Cogdill