For years, the serial kidnapper known as the Piper got rich by abducting children from San Francisco’s wealthiest families.When crime reporter Scott Fleetwood gets a call from a man identifying himself as the Piper and offers an exclusive interview, Fleetwood jumps at the chance. But the caller turns out to be a fake, and the rash decision costs the life of the real Piper’s latest victim.For eight long years, Fleetwood has lived with unbearable guilt—and the enduring disdain of the entire Bay area. Now he hears from the real Piper—and it’s not for an interview. The kidnapper has the reporter’s son. But he doesn’t want money…he wants blood. And he’s going to use Fleetwood to get it.In the tradition of Harlan Coben and Gregg Hurwitz, Simon Wood weaves a plot thick with suspense and heavy with action. Paying the Piper grabs hold from page one and doesn’t let go until new debts are paid and old scores settled.From Publishers WeeklyAfter an eight-year hiatus, the elusive serial kidnapper dubbed the Piper is once again commanding headlines in San Francisco after abducting Sammy, one of newspaper reporter Scott Fleetwood's young sons. However, where the Piper's previous crimes had been motivated by money—kids returned unharmed in exchange for millions in ransom—this one appears to be personal: the Piper holds Fleetwood responsible for botching his last kidnapping, costing the Piper a cool two million and forcing him to resort to murder. The victim in that case was the only child of wealthy real estate mogul Charles Rooker, who has now stepped forward to fund the Piper's ransom demand for Sammy, while helping Fleetwood and the FBI nail his son's killer. Before Sammy can come home, however, the Piper has more grueling maneuvers than a demented drill sergeant to put these characters through. Wood, in his sophomore effort (following Accidents Waiting to Happen), keeps the pages flying even as his plot gets more and more complex, accelerating nicely toward an elegant climax. (Nov.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From the AuthorSimon Wood is an ex-racecar driver, a licensed pilot and an occasional private investigator. He shares his world with his American wife, Julie. A longhaired dachshund and five cats dominate their lives. He's had over 150 stories and articles published. His short fiction has appeared in a variety of magazines anthologies, such as Seattle Noir, Thriller 2 and Woman's World. He's a frequent contributor to Writer's Digest. He's the Anthony Award winning author of Working Stiffs, Accidents Waiting to Happen, Paying the Piper and We All Fall Down. As Simon Janus, he's the author of The Scrubs and Road Rash. His latest thriller, Terminated, is out in mass paperback with a new short story collection, Asking for Trouble, out later in the year. Curious people can learn more at simonwood.net. Views: 54
February 14th 1993. Sheffield United supporters remember it as the day their team won a famous victory against Manchester United. The date is lodged in Anna Young's brain for a different reason. That was the day her thirteen-year-old sister, Jessica, was abducted...Fast forward twenty years. The case has long since gone cold. But Anna won't let it die. She made a promise to look after her little sister. And it's a promise she intends to keep no matter how long it takes...A detective with one thing on his mind. Jim Monahan is equally determined to bring down a sadistic sex-ring. But everywhere he turns he finds himself entangled in a web of political power and silence. Then comes a bizarre twenty-year-old clue that might just blow the whole thing apart... Views: 54
Sweet-natured computer geek Larry Leavis is six-foot-six and uncomfortable in his own skin. His only salvation is his ability as a computer programmer, which leads him to a great job developing apps for a start-up on South Beach.If only his love life could be as simple. He's torn between two lovers – client Victor Kunin, who spins a dark web to trap him, and handsome entrepeneur Julian Argento, who has to learn to trust again before he can be Larry's Mr. Right.Another sexy look at the search for love and career success on South Beach from Neil Plakcy, author of the "Love on" series. Views: 54
Who stole one of Egypt's most priceless treasures? The Egyptian authorities and Interpol believe they know the identity of the culprit: "Sir John Smythe," the suave and dangerously charming international art thief who is, in fact, John Tregarth, the longtime significant other of famed art expert and sometime sleuth Vicky Bliss. But John swears he is retired—not to mention innocent—and he vows to clear his name. With complete faith in her man's integrity, Vicky takes a hiatus from her job at a leading Munich museum and follows him to the Middle East. But dark days and myriad dangers await John, Vicky, and her employer, the rotund gourmand and insatiable adventurer Herr Doktor Anton Z. Schmidt. And the stakes are elevated considerably when a ransom note arrives accompanied by a grisly memento—because now it appears that murder has been added to the equation. Views: 54
In a nondescript apartment block in Stockholm, most of the residents are elderly. Usually a death is a sad but straightforward event. But sometimes a resident will die and there are no friends or family to contact. This is when Marianne Folkesson arrives, employed by the state to close up a life with dignity and respect. Gerda Persson has lain dead in her apartment for three days before Marianne is called. When she arrives, she finds the apartment tidy and ordered. Gerda's life seems to have been quite ordinary. Until Marianne opens the freezer and finds it full of books, neatly stacked and wrapped in clingfilm, a thick layer of ice covering them.They are all by Axel Ragnerfeldt, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, with handwritten dedications to Gerda from the author. What story do these books have to tell, about Gerda, and more importantly about Ragnerfeldt, a man whose fame is without precedent in the nation's cultural life, but seldom gives interviews? "Shadow" is an utterly compelling novel about the lengths and depths people can be driven in order to achieve fame and acclaim, and the effect that this has on those closest to them. It is a story of dark family secrets, and the power of writing, involving murder, betrayal and the holocaust, which will keep readers gripped until its final thrilling revelations. Views: 54
A smashing, award-winning debut novel that introduces Charley Davidson: part-time private investigator and full-time Grim Reaper. Charley sees dead people. That’s right, she sees dead people. And it’s her job to convince them to go into the light. But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (i.e. murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice. Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she’s been having about an Entity who has been following her all her life…and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely. This is a thrilling debut novel from an exciting newcomer to the world of paranormal romantic suspense. Views: 54
Before Prime Suspect there was Tennison - this is her storyJane Tennison has been been promoted to the role of Detective Constable in London's Bow Street CID but she is struggling with some of the decisions her colleagues are making. The more experienced detectives move swiftly from one criminal case to the next, with Jane left doubting both their methods and their finding. When Jane becomes inextricably involved in a multiple rape case she must decide whether to toe the line or endanger her position by seeking the truth. But will her decision put her life in peril? Views: 54
P.I. Spenser, knight-errant of the Back Bay, returns in this stellar addition to the iconic New York Times–bestselling series from author Ace Atkins. What started out as a joke landed seventeen-year-old Dillon Yates in a lockdown juvenile facility in Boston Harbor. When he set up a prank Twitter account for his vice principal, he never dreamed he could be brought up on criminal charges, but that’s exactly what happened.This is Blackburn, Massachusetts, where zero tolerance for minors is a way of life.Leading the movement is tough-as-nails Judge Joe Scali, who gives speeches about getting tough on today’s wild youth. But Dillon’s mother, who knows other Blackburn kids who are doing hard time for minor infractions, isn’t buying Scali’s line. She hires Spenser to find the truth behind the draconian sentencing.From the Harbor Islands to a gated Florida community, Spenser and trusted ally Hawk follow a trail through the Boston underworld with links to a shadowy corporation that runs New England’s private prisons. They eventually uncover a culture of corruption and cover-ups in the old mill town, where hundreds of kids are sent off to for-profit juvie jails.Review“Atkins does a wonderful job with the characters created by Parker. To loyalists it may be heresy, but a case can be made for the Atkins novels being better than some of the last Spenser mysteries penned by Parker. A top-notch thriller.”—Booklist (starred) “It's great to see Spenser tackle a social evil with its roots in real life.”—Kirkus “A topical plot line propels bestseller Atkins’s engrossing fourth Spenser novel…Once again, Atkins has done a splendid job of capturing the voice of the late Robert B. Parker.”—Publishers WeeklyAbout the AuthorAce Atkins is the Edgar-nominated author of seventeen books, including five books in the Quinn Colson series. Selected by the Robert B. Parker estate to continue the Spenser novels, he has also written Robert. B. Parker’s Lullaby, Robert B. Parker’s Wonderland, and Robert B. Parker’s Cheap Shot, all of which were New York Times bestsellers. Atkins lives in Oxford, Mississippi. Views: 54
Once, they meant the world to each other – can they regain what they lost? A chance encounter with Paula Starker is all entrepreneur Linus Brooks needs to try to win back the woman who was once his whole world. And where better to romance the sultry Philadelphia DA than a lush villa on a private tropical island? But before they can share a future, Linus will have to reveal his tragic secret... Views: 54
