Warming Centers and White Flag Shelters Open In Cumberland County Amid Freezing Temps

Here's something I bet you haven't heard yet: it's getting cold out there. Temperatures are set to drop below freezing today throughout North Carolina. To battle these frigid temperatures, Cumberland County has partnered with the city of Fayetteville to open government facilities as warming centers.

According to a news release on the Cumberland County government's official website, the warming centers will be opened during normal business hours today for residents may not have the means to escape the cold.

The following locations in Cumberland County are available as warming centers today:

In addition to these, other Cumberland County locations are also serving as White Flag shelters tonight to provide respite from the cold for those in need. The White Flag shelter locations include:

You can visit cumberlandcountync.gov for more updates and information, as well as their official Facebook and Twitter (X) pages.

If you are like me, you take one look at a gray, dreary day and get absolutely pumped for reading - so I have the perfect winter book suggestions!

Nothing beats a good book on a bad day and I've put together a list of my five favorite thrilling books that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page.

But what is it about reading a thriller that just makes sense during the winter? Thrillers work nice on the beach in the summer too, but not nearly as well as they do by the fireplace over the winter. Romance doesn't feel right in the winter either. It could be the tension and the mystery that winter brings that pairs up nicely with these types of books.

My winter book suggestions here run a wide range of thrillers. From a high-flying life-or-death crime thriller, to a book-turned-Netflix series, to a classic art gallery caper, to a serial-killer series continuation, and to a missing person thriller. They are all quite different, but manage to help make the winters feel so much better.

So let's take a look at the books. Let us know which ones you're reading too. Maybe they'll show up on a future list.

You just boarded a flight to New York.

There are one hundred and forty-three other passengers onboard.

What you don’t know is that thirty minutes before the flight your pilot’s family was kidnapped.

For his family to live, everyone on your plane must die.

The only way the family will survive is if the pilot follows his orders and crashes the plane.

Enjoy the flight.

This book is so well done and impossible to put down that I routinely give it out as a gift. I first read it all in one sitting during a flight< (!) which thoroughly added to the excitement of it.

A gripping novel that has been turned into a Netflix series, The One kept me up late into the night devouring every word until the very end!

A simple DNA test is all it takes. Just a quick mouth swab and soon you’ll be matched with your perfect partner—the one you’re genetically made for.

That’s the promise made by Match Your DNA. A decade ago, the company announced that they had found the gene that pairs each of us with our soul mate. Since then, millions of people around the world have been matched. But the discovery has its downsides: test results have led to the breakup of countless relationships and upended the traditional ideas of dating, romance and love.

Now five very different people have received the notification that they’ve been “Matched.” They’re each about to meet their one true love. But “happily ever after” isn’t guaranteed for everyone. Because even soul mates have secrets. And some are more shocking than others…

A word-of-mouth hit in the United Kingdom, The One is a fascinating novel that shows how even the simplest discoveries can have complicated consequences.

This a classic thriller and one of the first books I read in the genre, many moons ago.  However, the story is gripping and so well done that it stays with you long after the last page.

When Jenny MacPartland meets the man of her dreams while working in a New York art gallery, she’s ecstatic. Painter Erich Krueger—whose exquisite landscapes are making him a huge success—is handsome, sensitive...and utterly in love with her. They marry quickly and Jenny plans a loving home on Erich’s vast Minnesota farm. But lonely days and eerie nights strain her nerves to the breaking point and test her sanity. Caught in a whirlpool of shattering events, Jenny soon unearths a past more terrifying than she dares imagine...tragic secrets that threaten her marriage, her children, her life.

This is the first book in the 4MK Thriller series and it is a wild ride! With over two thousand reader reviews on Amazon.com and a host of praise from other authors such as James Patterson, it's not hard to see why it's quickly being one of the most popular in its genre. A powerfully creepy, twisted serial killer drama that will make you to leave the lights on!
Two days to save her . . .

For over five years, the Four Monkey Killer has terrorized the residents of Chicago. When his body is found, the police quickly realize he was on his way to deliver one final message, one which proves he has taken another victim who may still be alive.

One day . . .

As the lead investigator on the 4MK task force, Detective Sam Porter knows that even in death, the killer is far from finished. When he discovers a personal diary in the jacket pocket of the body, Porter finds himself caught up in the mind of a psychopath, unraveling a twisted history in hopes of finding one last girl, all while struggling with personal demons of his own.

Zero.

With only a handful of clues, the elusive killer’s identity remains a mystery. Time is running out as the Four Monkey Killer taunts from beyond the grave in this masterfully written fast-paced thriller.

This was a recommendation from another book loving nerd friend of mine and she's never let me down! It totally sucks you into the mood with the setting of a winter storm and loads of suspense.
Gazing out the cabin window at the raging blizzard, fear suddenly floods through her as she feels a stranger’s hand clamp across her mouth. No one can hear her stifled screams as she is dragged from the couch by the fire out into the snow. seventeen-year-old Savannah Devenish vanishes from her family’s remote vacation cabin in Minnesota, FBI Agent Tori Hunter races along treacherous icy roads to be first on the scene. Savannah’s parents are frantic with worry for their beautiful, carefree girl. Haunted by memories of her own missing sister, Tori vows to do whatever it takes to reunite this family. When the police uncover that Savannah’s father Jacob was having an affair, they suspect his involvement, but Tori is convinced his despair is genuine. Her close relationship with the chief detective means the team won’t listen, so Tori strikes off alone, persuading Savannah’s distraught best friends to share their secrets. It seems this ‘good girl’ was sneaking out to parties to meet up with a mysterious man…Then another teenager is snatched from the street, snowy footprints and a discarded hot chocolate cup the last trace of her. The girls are the same age, strikingly pale and blonde. Is a twisted collector stealing them away? With a deadly snowstorm closing in, Tori battles the elements—and her own team—as she follows the trail to an abandoned cabin by a frozen lake. In the basement are bedrooms filled with clothes for teenage girls. Tori was too late to save her own missing sister twenty years ago, but can she find these girls before they disappear forever? An utterly addictive and twisty crime thriller that will have your eyes glued to the pages and your heart in your mouth.