The Number One bestselling crime series featuring Tony Hill, hero of TV’s Wire in the Blood, written by the award-winning Val McDermid. This is a psychological thriller – and serial killer – that will keep you up at night.For some, there is nothing so sweet, so thrilling, as the torment of others …A dead girl lies on a blood-soaked mattress, her limbs spread in a parody of ecstasy. The scene matches a series of murders which ended when irrefutable forensic evidence secured the conviction of one Derek Tyler. But Tyler's been locked up in a mental institution for two years, barely speaking a word – except to say that 'the Voice' told him to do it.Top criminal psychologist Dr Tony Hill is prepared to think the unthinkable – this is not a copycat murder but something much stranger. While DCI Carol Jordan and her team mount a desperate and dangerous undercover police operation to trap the murderer, Hill heads towards a terrifying face-off with one of the most perverse killers he has ever encountered…From Publishers WeeklyThe latest addition to McDermid's dark and gritty police procedurals, which have become even more popular thanks to the BBC America TV program The Wire in the Blood, finds the series' usual main protagonists, psychologist/profiler Dr. Tony Hill and Det. Chief Insp. Carol Jordan, joined by DI Don Merrick, elevated from the ranks of supporting players. Topping their docket are two serial killers: a child molester who murders and hides his young male victims and the Creeper, who tortures and slays prostitutes using the identical modus operandi of a killer firmly ensconced in a mental facility. McDermid's strength is the engaging and multidimensional characters he creates on both sides of the law. The book was a finalist for the CWA's 2004 Gold Dagger Award, but this audio abridgment is more interested in story than in character. There are several effective set pieces, notably an undercover sting that goes bad, resulting in the abduction and torture of a novice policewoman, and Merrick's life and death struggle with the child predator. At these points, Doyle's competent but undistinguished performance rises to the challenge. But by trimming away the novels' strongest element—its vibrant characters—the abridgment highlights the novel's weakest element: the less than credible sequences leading to the identity and capture of the Creeper. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistStarred Review In the latest in the series starring forensic psychiatrist and criminal profiler Dr. Tony Hill (which has become the basis of a TV series on BBC America), Hill, finishing out a teaching appointment at St. Andrews, finds himself relieved to leave academia for a real case. The Bradfield Metropolitan Police once again seek his advice, this time regarding two missing children, a murdered seven-year-old kidnapped 15 months earlier, and a newly kidnapped eight-year-old. At the same time, a murder victim is discovered, killed in the same fashion as the victims of a man who has been in a mental institution for two years. McDermid is unusual in her ability to keep the suspense high while constructing social mysteries that are far-ranging in their implications--for example, she touches on the societal forces at work today (such as the lack of true neighborhoods) that make it easier for kids to be victimized. One of the most compelling features of this latest entry is the torment that returning Bradfield DCI Carol Jordan (brutally assaulted in the last mystery) feels as she and her team track down the current murderer while she struggles with the memory shards from the last case. McDermid brings to her mysteries an unusual capacity for compassion, both for victims and for the detectives whose lives are shattered tracking down the killers. Connie FletcherCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Views: 580
Poet and Novelist Qwantu Amaru issues his exciting 4th volume of poetry. Lightbringer is more than the meaning of his name, it's what he brings to the table in this chapbook by shedding light on the power of poetry and the spoken word movement, the dichotomy between people's of African-decent living in America and Brazil, and the soul-sucking nature of corporate America, among other subjects.With the opening lines of Lightbringer from the poem The Word, "it is a means to communicate inner feelings/it is the medicine for healing scars over 400 years old/back when we were told to learn another language and religious practice and submit to the oppression of racists/we decided to pimp their language and use it as the basis/to create an oasis for our people to find freedom" Qwantu Amaru announces his intent for writing. He delivers on this promise in 19 hard-hitting, thought-provoking poems. Invest .99 cents to get to know one of the most powerful new voices in poetry! Views: 580
The Top Ten Sunday Times bestseller returns with a gripping new Ben Hope thriller. This time it's personal... People going missing in the remote wilds of India is not unusual. But when the son of a wealthy Delhi businessman is kidnapped just weeks after his brother fell victim to an alleged bandit attack in the mountains of Haryana, it raises eyebrows. With the local police doing close to nothing, there's only one man for the job: ex-SAS major Ben Hope. But for Ben, this is no ordinary rescue case. Because this plea for help is coming from a special person from his past, who now has nobody else to turn to. Ben's mission will take him into the heart of the arid Indian wilderness, pitting him against ruthless gangs and desperate men. But Ben is determined to save the day. Whatever it takes. The master bestseller returns, with the most hotly anticipated thriller of 2019. 'If you've got a pulse, you'll love Scott Mariani; if you haven't, then maybe you crossed Ben Hope.' SIMON TOYNE Views: 580
Deborah knows that shadows can’t survive in the twisting Lantz Gorge where her family of witches lived. The gardens are grizzled now. And the mountain Jezebeth holds the secret to the curse. Short story originally published by Twilight Times.Deborah knows that shadows can’t survive in the twisting Lantz Gorge where her family of witches lived. The gardens are grizzled now. And the mountain Jezebeth holds the secret to the curse. This is a short story of mystery, family secrets, and redemption, originally published by Twilight Times. "The author did an excellent job of reeling me in with her elegant style of imagery and beautiful descriptions in this spooky short story." ---Novel NovellasAuthor Paula Cappa is the recipient of an Eric Hoffer Book Award, Readers' Favorite International Bronze Medal for supernatural suspense, and a Gothic Readers Book Club Award Winner. Views: 580
"T.M. Logan's latest nail-biter...THE VACATION is a virtual holiday."—Washington Post In The Vacation, a captivating thriller from T. M. Logan, the bestselling author of Lies and 29 Seconds, four best friends on a dream vacation come face-to-face with an explosive secret.It was supposed to be the perfect getaway: Kate and her three best friends, spending a week with their families in a luxurious villa in the south of France. Through the decades they've stayed closer than ever, and seven days of drinking crisp French wine and laying out under the dazzling Mediterranean sun is the perfect celebration of their friendship. But soon after arriving, Kate discovers an incriminating text on her husband's cell phone.A text revealing that he's having an affair. And that the other woman is one of her best friends. But which one?Trapped in paradise with no one to trust, Kate is determined to find out who has put... Views: 580
From Jeffery Deaver--the *New York Times* bestselling author of the upcoming Lincoln Rhyme novel THE KILL ROOM (on sale June 4, 2013)--comes an original short story featuring Rhyme.
When a young woman is found brutally murdered in a parking garage, with a veritable mountain of potential evidence to sift through, it may be the most challenging case former NYPD detective Lincoln Rhyme has ever taken on. Views: 579
When you dance with demons, you lay your soul on the line . . .In the Hollows, where the natural and the supernatural co-exist—not always peacefully—desperate times often call for unorthodox measures. But bounty hunter-witch Rachel Morgan did the absolutely unthinkable to save the lives of her friends: she willingly trafficked in forbidden demon magic. And now her sins have come home to haunt her.As Rachel hunts for the truth behind a terrifying murder, the discovery of a shocking family secret is about to throw her entire life into question. And the long-lost ancient knowledge she seeks resides in the demonic ever-after.But there are some lines that should never be crossed—like the one Rachel Morgan's stepping over . . . again! Views: 579
For David Ransom, it begins as an open-and-shut case. Malpractice. As attorney for a grieving family, he's determined to hang a negligent doctor. Then Dr. Kate Chesne storms into his office, dating him to seek out the truth -- that she's being framed.
First, it was Kate's career that was in jeopardy. Then, when another body is discovered, David begins to believe her. Suddenly, it's much more. Somewhere in the Honolulu hospital, a killer walks freely among patients and staff. And now David finds himself asking the same questions Kate is desperate to have answered. Who is next? And why? Views: 579
A gifted boy faces the ultimate question of whether or not he can kill in order to save his loved ones.From #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author comes a heart-pounding adventure of love, loyalty, and survival.A gifted 7-year-old boy and his teen siblings are ripped from their peaceful lives—kidnapped by a sinister organization determined to get back at their father. But when their plane crashes an ocean away in the bear-infested jungles of South China, the mysterious motive behind their abduction is the least of their problems, and they must lever every ounce of their courage and wits to survive the wilds and escape the ruthless drug lord who is hot on their heels. Can a gifted child learn to kill in order to save his loved ones?An “international thriller with soul.” Ideal reading for fans of Michael Crichton, Clive Cussler, James Rollins, Brad Thor, Dan Brown, Matthew Reilly, Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum, and Vince Flynn.Important Note: This 130-page novella features the characters and continuing story from the #1 Bestselling “Brainrush” Thriller series. It is a complete story unto itself, compiled from books four and five of the series, “Brainchild” and “Smoke & Mirrors.” If you’ve read those full-length novels, then you’ve already read most of the contents of this novella. Views: 578
