The most spine chilling Thrillers of the month: Dean Koontz, Louise Minchin, Matthew

THE FOREST OF LOST SOULS by Dean Koontz (Thomas & Mercer £19.99, 400pp) 

The Forest of Lost Souls is available now from the Mail Bookshop 

The ever eloquent Koontz, author of more than 120 novels, seldom disappoints.

Here he demonstrates exceptional power with the story of 28-year-old Vida, brought up deep in an American forest wilderness by her great uncle.

She has a remarkable affinity with nature, especially with the wolves who inhabit the forest alongside her, and mourns the loss of her head teacher lover who died in mysterious circumstances two years earlier.

It emerges that a billionaire businessman is determined to destroy the forest Vida loves for the mineral deposits it contains, and will stop at nothing to get them.

So begins a grim game of cat and mouse. Can she save her beloved wilderness? Her battle is both heart-stopping and incredibly moving. 

The Forest of Lost Souls: A grim game of cat and mouse in the wild

ISOLATION ISLAND by Louise Minchin (Headline £20, 304pp)

If you like reality television – or loathe it – this clever debut from the former presenter of BBC Breakfast, who appeared on I’m A Celebrity, brings it vividly to life.

Ten celebrities are marooned on a remote Scottish island in the dead of winter. Completely alone, they have to survive as the monks who once inhabited the abandoned monastery did centuries before them.

The prize for the winner is to have their wildest ambition fulfilled. But then the contestants begin to die, and the survivors have no one to suspect but each other.

Reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, but with a thrilling modern twist, it is a delight. 

THE AMERICAN MISSION by Matthew Palmer (Head of Zeus £20, 432pp) 

This striking debut from the Deputy Chief of Mission at the American Embassy in London draws on the author’s own experiences as a diplomat – bringing it an authenticity you can taste.

After a terrifying experience during the genocide in Sudan, the hero, Alex Baines, is given another chance in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. But it turns out to be a poisoned chalice.

The American mining company that wants to exploit its mineral wealth is prepared to drive out the native inhabitants, no matter the human cost.

Baines is horrified and decides to help the local tribe fight back.

Laced with detail and with echoes of Joseph Conrad, this is a voyage into the heart of darkness that invites comparison to Frederick Forsyth: you can almost smell Africa and its corruption.