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"It''s...the Machiavellian intrigue that makes this such an enjoyable read. When the iron curtain came down people said the spy-thriller genre was dead. They were wrong. This is as full of intrigue as a Deighton or a Le Carré." --THE GUARDIAN Winter in the year of our Lord 1372. A river pilot falls into the icy waters of the River Ouse during a skirmish between dockworkers and the boys of the minster school, which include Owen Archer''s adopted son Jasper. But what began as a confrontation to return a boy''s stolen scrip becomes a murder investigation as the rescuers find the pilot dying of wounds inflicted before his plunge into the river. When another body is fished from the river upstream and Owen discovers that the boy Jasper sought to help has disappeared, Owen Archer convinces the archbishop that he must go in search of the boy. His lost scrip seems to hold the key to the double tragedy, but his disappearance leaves troubling questions: did he flee in fear? Or was he abducted? On the cusp of this new mystery, Owen accepts Jasper''s offer to accompany him to the boy''s home in the countryside, where they learn that a valuable cross has gone missing. A devastating fire and another drowning force Owen to make impossible choices, endangering not only himself, but the two innocents he fights to protect. The bond between fathers and sons proves strong, even between those not linked by blood

"Gripping and believable...you can almost smell the streets of 14th-century York as you delve deeper into an engrossing plot." --PRIMA In the year of our Lord 1369 the much-loved Queen Philippa lies dying in Windsor Castle, the harvest has failed, and the pestilence has returned. In York, the atmosphere of fear and superstition is heightened by a series of thefts and violent deaths at St. Leonard''s Hospital, as well as rumors that these crimes are connected to the hospital''s dwindling funds. The Master of St. Leonard''s, Sir Richard Ravenser, hurries north from the queen''s deathbed to summon Owen Archer, soldier-spy, to investigate the scandal before it ruins him. While his wife Lucie faces the plague-panicked townsfolk at the apothecary, Owen encounters a seemingly random series of clues: a riddle posed by one of the victims at the hospital, a lay sister with a scandalous past, the kidnapping of a child from the hospital orphanage, and a case of arson. The answer to the riddle of St. Leonard''s lies in the past, and as Owen''s family is caught up in the sweep of the pestilence, he must abandon them to race across the countryside to save the next victim.

For Gidion Keep, hunting vampires is easyit's high school that might kill him. Hunting vampires is a Keep family tradition. Dad quit the business over a decade ago when Mom was killed, so Grandpa has been teaching Gidionin secretto take up the hunt. As Gidion closes in on the local coven, however, he discovers their evil plans to kill off a student and a teacher. To complicate matters, the vampires know they're being hunted and they're determined to kill Gidion and everyone he's protecting, no matter what it takes. For Gidion, the odds are immense and his first test as a vampire hunter may be his last, but he will have help: one of his best friends might be the key to finding the vampires' lair and finishing them once and for all... if he can be trusted. Gidion's Hunt delivers a fast-paced thriller with a young hero whose deadliest weapon isn't a wooden stake but his wits and a lot of luck.

Grab your passport for a journey to the Deadlands and its collection of world-changing stories. Meet a young man with the power to destroy the world. Then walk among the living darkness of Purgatory Alley with a boy who was born without a shadow. Sneak into a cemetery with a twelve-year-old girl who gets paid to raise the dead. Chase terrorists in a steampunk future. Join a young hunter as he searches for a pair of vampires. Discover the lost secrets of Camelot beneath the waters of Loch Ness. And join a pair of dragons who police all manner of mythical creatures in London. Drawing on Bill Blume's inexhaustible wit and polished worldbuilding skill, these twelve tales of the fantastic will take you to the edge of imagination.

The hunter has become the hunted. After Gidion Keep wipes out the local vampire coven in his hometown of Richmond, the nomadic vampires along the East Coast retaliate by hiring one of their own, a cunning assassin who specializes in finding and killing vampire hunters. Her arrival endangers Gidion and everyone he loves. But an even greater threat than the assassin has come to Richmond, a secret Gidion's family has hidden from him until now. Gidion's family knows the price of success for a vampire hunterhis Dad hunted until the night his Mom was killed. What this foe plans will expose three generations of secrets within the Keep family and force Gidion to question everything he's come to believe about the creatures he hunts. Even if he can survive long enough to defeat the vampires targeting him and his family, Gidion's life will never be the same. ';A terrific addition to the genre. I enjoyed it immensely... ' Kyle Mills, New York Timesbestselling author of The Ares Decision

How far would you go to save your life and your world? After a nasty divorce, single mother Joanne Lessing finally has her life together, and she's made a name for herself as a photographer. Then, while on assignment, she witnesses a hit and run. Property damage only. No big deal, she thinks. So she does the right thingcalls the cops. Joanne is dismayed when FBI agents arrive with the local detective. They admit the hit and run driver was a mob killer fleeing the scene of his latest hit. Joanne is relieved to find she can't really identify the hit man. But when she sees the killer again while on another assignment, she takes his picture and finds her new life and her son's future threatened. Caught between the Mob and the FBI, she's on her own...

This gripping novel of suspense is a tale of violent men and violent passions, of missing friends, of loss and love and discovery. The accidental death of Rhiann Fahey's second husband leaves her paralyzed by grief and has her son Jimmy cutting school and drinking. The widow's problems are compounded by unwanted advances from her dead husband's friend. She does her best to cope, returning to work, dealing patiently with Jimmy's misbehavior, telling Rory Sinter she isnt interested. Then a mysterious stranger moves next door. John Devlin offers Rhiann beer and sympathy. He offers Jimmy work. When Sinter tries to discredit John, then beat him to death, Rhiann comes to John's rescue. But she discovers her perfect neighbor isn't what he'd seemedwhich leads her to investigate, and to see John in a different light altogether. A beautifully written story with characters who come to life from the first page, M.I.A. shows one more side of Michael Allen Dymmoch's powerful storytelling ability.

The murder of a Vietnamese woman reawakens wartime trauma for cop John Thinnes and psychiatrist Jack Caleb in an ';absolutely gripping' police procedural (Chicago Tribune). After a woman is shot in the Little Saigon neighborhood of Chicago, Detective John Thinnes realizes he knew the victim when he was stationed in Vietnam. In fact, he was the best man when his friend Bobby Lee married Hue An. When an anonymous tip comes in that Thinnes might be the real father of her son, Tien Lee, who is the prime suspect in her murder, he is pulled off the case and his partner Don Franchi takes over. At Hue An Lee's wake, a schizophrenic man insists there is a connection between her death and an unsolved murder in wartime Saigon. Psychiatrist Jack Caleb is called in to help the schizophrenic mourner, but the therapy is kicking up his own PTSD from serving as a medic during the war. Working with Caleb, Thinnes remembers a deadly criminal from his days as an MP in Saigonknown as White Tigerwho he fears has resurfaced in Chicago. Now it's up to the two vets to stop him...

Psychiatrist Jack Caleb and Chicago cop John Thinnes return in this ';well-crafted procedural... intriguingly presented.. . spiked by psychological insight' (Booklist). After a woman is brutally raped in the posh Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago and a second rape victim is murdered, the hunt for a serial rapist/killer becomes a ';heater' case, front-burnered due to the scrutiny of publicity. The pressure is on Det. John Thinnes and his new partner, a strong-willed feminist cop named Don Franchi. Psychiatrist Jack Caleb is acting as a police consultant to construct a psychological profile of the rapist, and Thinnes asks his friend to step in and mediate the friction between him and his partner. If they're going to solve an increasingly complicated and disturbing case that matches the MO of earlier, similar crimes in another Illinois city, they need to find a way to work together...

With ';terse prose,' this ';fascinating' entry in the award-winning series pits psychiatrist Jack Caleb and cop John Thinnes against a serial arsonist (Library Journal). While jogging through Chicago's Lincoln Park at dawn, Dr. Jack Caleb comes upon a scene of horrora mob in white robes about to set a police car on fire with the officer inside. Caleb's training as a medic in the Vietnam War kicks in and he rushes to rescue the man. One cop is saved, but later his female partner is found in another location, stoned to death. Homicide detective John Thinnes has a cop killer on his hands. But these two attacks are only the beginning in a series of arson fires and murders over the course of a long, hot, deadly summer. Evidence points toward cultists in the Church of Divine Conflagrationbut then some of them also fall victim to the pyromaniac. When a physician friend of Caleb is implicated, the psychiatrist works with Thinnes to set a trap for the killerbut it's one they might not escape unscorched themselves...

In this ';exciting' sequel to The Man Who Understood Cats, psychiatrist Jack Caleb and cop John Thinnes must solve the murder of a Native American artist (Library Journal). Native American artist Blue Mountain Cat seems determined to provoke controversy with his new installation, which strikes art patron Jack Caleb as ';Andy Warhol meets Jonathan Swift in Indian country.' As the artist's former therapist, Caleb can't help wondering what is driving this new aggressively satirical direction with pieces like Red Man's Revenge and Native American Gothic. There's something to offend everybody, many of whom are at the openingincluding a litigious developer, an outraged Navajo woman, a black-market antiquities dealer, and the artist's stunning blond wife, who discovers her husband stabbed to death in a gallery room with a bone knife from his own exhibit. When Chicago homicide detective John Thinnes arrives at the museum, he drafts his friend Caleb to help him navigate the crime scene and the terra incognita of the art world. As the suspects expand to include a desperate museum director, a savage critic, a married mistress, and a shady partner, the shrink and the cop once again find themselves something of an odd couple but a very effective detective duo...

The award-winning first novel pairing gay psychiatrist Jack Caleb with burned-out Chicago cop John Thinnes is a ';cunning, adroit debut' (Publishers Weekly). When a CPA with OCD is found shot dead in his locked apartment with a .38 in his hand, only two people don't believe he killed himself. One is streetwise and world-weary Chicago homicide detective John Thinnes. The other is the victim's therapist, Dr. Jack Caleb, whose sudden appearance at the crime scene immediately arouses the cop's suspicions. The two men couldn't be more different. Caleb is wealthy, well-educated, and gay, witty enough to name his housecats Sigmund Freud and B. F. Skinner. Between job burnout and marital trouble, Thinnes lost his sense of humor a long time ago. He's not sure if the good doctor is an ally or his prime suspect. But as they begin to work together, the unlikely partners discover they do share common ground, most notably as Vietnam vets, and that they might be able to help each other as well as solve a baffling murder... ';Winner of [St. Martin's] Best First Malice Domestic Novel Award... this assured and unusual debut boasts expressive language and sinewy notions of suspense.' Publishers Weekly

The author of Into the Storm presents an epic tale of courage, danger, and love, set in the Pacific at the dawn of World War II. In late 1941, the Philippines is a haven for those intent on shedding their pasts and reinventing themselves. Lt. Riley Gilhouleythe Great Gilhouleykeeps the troops well stocked in contraband as he seeks the attention of Maj. Rosemary Dodd, a by-the-book officer who leads her nurses with expert care. Ex-priest John Macklin searches for absolution, but finds himself tangling with Glory Bee O'Halloran, a stripper hired to take off just enough clothing to throw the troops into a frenzy. But when, mere hours after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Japanese attack the Philippines, the island haven explodes into the chaos of battleand amid stolen moments and secret missions, all their lives will be forever changed.... Set in a besieged country waiting in vain for help to arrive, this stunning novel from a ';master storyteller' offers a blend of riveting history and heartfelt emotion (Affaire de Coeur).

"e;Breakneck pace and solid atmosphere are the hallmarks here."e; -AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONWhen a local schoolteacher disappears from rural West Wheeling, acting sheriff Homer Deters investigates. Before long he's got three more missing persons, two unidentified bodies, a car theft, a twenty-three-vehicle pile-up in the center of town, a missing tiger, and a squad of agitated ATF agents to deal with.With no help from the Feds, Homer turns to his buddy, Rye Willis, and West Wheeling's eccentric postmistress, Nina Ross, to locate the missing, identify the bodies, and bring a murderer to justice. Packed with regional charm and Deters' wit, Death in West Wheeling shows how wild one case can get.

A ';skillfully written, wonderfully entertaining, and fascinatingly detailed' time-travel adventure from the author of the Caleb and Thinnes mysteries (Booklist). British detective Ian Carreg never expected his life to unfold like this. A recent widower, the fifty-five-year-old inspector has just learned he's going to be a grandfather. But duty still calls. He's been assigned to find and arrest Dr. Jemma Henderson, the daughter of a famous British physicist, for extradition to the United States, where she's been convicted of murdering her lover. But when he pursues her to the ancient stone monument of Cymry Henge, he is knocked unconscious and awakens in what appears to be Roman Britain in the year sixty AD. Ian is convinced he's in the middle of some elaborate hoaxuntil he comes face to face with Celts and Romans and begins to doubt his sanity. When he and Jemma are taken prisoner by the Romans and forced to travel to Londinium, Ian realizes they must work together to foil a plot that could radically alter history...

Presidential candidates often talk about being uniters. They pledge to break through the partisan gridlock in Washington. They vow to bring Democrats and Republicans together to tackle the nation's most vexing problems. But they never explain how they plan to do this ¿ and their promises rarely translate to action. In this volume, NO LABELS provides a real strategy for how ¿ how today's political leaders can finally unite a divided country to solve urgent problems, from stagnating wages to social safety net programs heading toward insolvency. This groundbreaking plan of action is called the National Strategic Agenda. It begins with goals for the country that come straight from the American people and ends with a commitment by the next president to embark on this bipartisan problem-solving process within 30 days of taking the oath of office. The National Strategic Agenda has already gained the support of major figures in business, economics, academia, policy and politics, and more than 65 members of Congress. In this timely book, arguably the most important you will read during the 2016 campaign season, NO LABELS co-chairs Gov. Jon Huntsman and Sen. Joe Lieberman are joined by other leaders who've been on the front lines of problem solving in politics and business to make a strong case for this new governing framework.

The literary icon's niece connects with her past to ';carry the Hemingway traditions of hunting, family, and storytelling into the new millennium' (Kirkus Reviews). Fifteen years after her father's death, Hilary Hemingway receives a curious inheritance: an audio cassette of Les, her father, telling outrageous stories about hunting with his famous older brother, Ernest Hemingway. Les clearly aims to amuse the listeners with tales of the Hemingway brothers hunting vicious ostriches, hungry crocodiles, and deadly komodo dragons, but where Les Hemingway gets serious is in defending and explaining his brother's reputation to a contemptuous Hemingway scholar. Hilary transcribes these stories, revealing the bond between two larger-than-life brothersand tells of her own quest to make peace with the painful parts of the Hemingway legacy.

A disillusioned ex-cop is drawn back into danger in this ';rock-solid series debut' by the New York Timesbestselling author of the Dexter novels (Booklist). When a hostage situation turns deadly, Billy Knight loses everythinghis wife, his daughter, and his career in law enforcement. Devastated, he heads to Key West to put down his gun and pick up a rod and reel as a fishing boat captain. But former co-worker Roscoe McAuley isn't ready to let Billy rest. When Roscoe tells Billy that his son was the victim of premeditated murder during the riots following the Rodney King trial, Billy sends him away. When Roscoe himself turns up dead a few weeks later, however, Billy can't keep from getting sucked back into Los Angeles, and the streets that took so much from him. Billy's investigations into the death of a former cop, and his son, will take him up to the highest echelons of the LAPD, finding corruption at every level. It puts him on a collision course with the law, with his past, with his former fellow officers, and with the dark aftermath of the civil rights movementin a case with more dangerous blind curves than Mulholland Drive. ';Sustains a high level of excitement, capped by a stunning climax, and introduces a smoothly characterized cast, especially Billy, with his gallows humor.' Publishers Weekly

From the author of The Dada Caper: Even an anti-American conspiracy can't keep Chicago PI Chance Purdue from falling prey to his personal femme fatale. Private Investigator Chance Purdue and Brandy Alexander work in tandem on a case that finds them traveling to the Illinois town of Radish River. The CIA continues to need help putting a stop to the DADA (Destroy America, Destroy America) Conspiracy, a terrorist organization whose latest plot is completely under wraps, except that it promises immense destruction. Things prove difficult for Chance and Brandy as they do what they can to remain focused on the task at hand. But it's hard when distractions from football-playing gorillas, chariot races, copious boozeand especially each otherweave in and out of their lives and keep this case on the back burner. Praise for Ross H. Spencer's The Dada Caper ';Parodies of the privateeye novel come and go. Here is The Dada Caper by Ross H. Spencer. It has every cliche down pat, including rat-tat-tat writing in which paragraphs are seldom more than one sentence. ... The hero is a private eye who is always tailing the wrong people and hitting the wrong guys. The Dada Caper is wild, shrewd, mad and unexpectedly funny.' The New York Times

From the author of The Dada Caper: Chicago private detective Chance Purdue learns that nothing good comes from working for the mobexcept cold hard cash. A quick and easy buck sounds good to PI Chance Purdue. But the paycheck seems to be a bit harder to earn when the job entails more than just looking into a minor league baseball team in southern Illinois. His new client, the gangster Cool Lips Chericola, is definitely leaving out details. Enter Brandy Alexander, whose unexpected appearance in Stranger City, Illinois, complicates things. Then throw in the Bobby Crackers Blitzkrieg for Christ religious crusade, and you've got a super-charged powder keg of a caper, with Chance holding both the match and the barrel. Praise for Ross H.Spencer's The Dada Caper ';Parodies of the privateeye novel come and go. Here is The Dada Caper by Ross H.Spencer. It has every cliche down pat, including rat-tat-tat writing in which paragraphs are seldom more than one sentence.... The hero is a private eye who is always tailing the wrong people and hitting the wrong guys. The Dada Caper is wild, shrewd, mad and unexpectedly funny.' The New York Times

The Chicago PI is out to find a Russian defector with dangerous Soviet secrets in this hardboiled mystery from the author of Death Wore Gloves. When business gets too hot in the Windy City, private detective Lacey Lockington hangs out his shingle in refreshingly boring Youngstown, Ohio. Of course, it's not all boring thanks to Natasha, the former KGB agent who saved his life, stole his heart, and currently shares his bed. But their brief idyll ends when Lacey is offered big bucks to find a man who may well be hiding out in Youngstown. Alexi Fedorovich was one of Russia's greatest military minds before he defected to the Statesand then disappeared entirely. Before going underground, he published a book exposing the end of the Cold War as a Russian hoax. Now Lacey's out to find a man who doesn't want to be found, up against Russian spies, federal agents, and leads that keep dying on him. With a little help from Natasha, he might just get to the bottom of it all before Fedorovich finds himself on the wrong end of a firing squad. ';Ross is wild, shrewd, mad, and unexpectedly funny.' The New York Times

Wisecracking Chicago PI Lacey Lockington gets caught in a dangerous game of international espionage in this gritty, ';truly hilarious' mystery (Kirkus Reviews). Former Chicago police detective Lacey Lockington isn't much for small talk. But when he hears ex-CIA agent Rufe Devereaux is coming to town, he looks forward to arguing baseball with his old drinking buddy. Unfortunately, Rufe is involved in a more sinister kind of gameone that gets him killed shortly after his arrival. And as Lacey is about to find out, the other players aren't playing around. The moment Lacey start investigating, he finds himself chased by the Mafia, the CIA, and a homicidal politician-turned-evangelist. And ';help' arrives in the sultry form of a KGB agent named Natasha. He knows he's in over his head. Because what starts as a search for the truth quickly becomes a desperate race for survival taking him from the gritty bars of Chicago to Miami's cocaine-filled underbelly and culminating in ';a slam-bang ending' (Publishers Weekly). ';Spencer keeps the plot racing with amusing dialogue.' Publishers Weekly

In this ';pugnacious, feisty' mystery series debut from the author of Death Wore Gloves, a devious killer has it in for a poison penned beauty (Kirkus Reviews). Chicago Detective Lacey Lockington has never been squeamish about taking out a few low lives in the pursuit of justice. But when tabloid columnist Stella Starbright calls him a ';kill-crazy cop,' he suddenly needs to find a new line of work. Taking a job as a private investigator is a step down, for sure, but his first few cases certainly pique his interest: former ';Stella Starbrights' are turning up dead on the streets of Chicago, and the current onethe very same Stella who ruined his reputationis coming to him for protection. Going against his gut, Lacey agrees to keep Stella from sharing the grisly fate of her former namesakes. In the midst of all the madness, Lacey hunts the real killer, someone looking to silence gossip columnists for good. But can Lacey crack the case before another victim gets a headline in the obituaries? ';Ross Spencer is wild, shrewd, mad, and unexpectedly funny.' The New York Times

Their match was impossible, but their love was inevitable. Too tall for a society woman, Clarissa has no potential suitorsnot that she needs any. She only has eyes for Marcus, viscount of Fairfax. But as a steward's daughter, Clarissa is hardly a suitable match for Marcus.Marcus Ridley is far too appealingand eligiblefor his own good. Restlessly pursued by desperate maidens, his view of women and marriage is skewed. But then he meets Clarissa, who steals his heart with a single kiss.Suddenly, Marcus can't get Clarissa off of his mind, and the high-society lord finds himself desperate to make the steward's daughter his wife.

Affairs of the state will soon give way to affairs of the heart.Althea Markham shoulders many burdens of being an unattached countesswading through the collection of gold-diggers and rogues to find a suitable husband, providing her family with a male heir, and most of all, protecting her mother, who tends to acts more debutante than dowager. As she sneaks away for illicit meetings with a mysterious stranger, Althea is determined to unveil his identityand his intentions.Desperate to escape from beneath the shadow of his older brother, John Ridley takes part in a daring game of espionage against the French. Posing as a smuggler, he engages with the charming Celeste Markham. But despite her winsome allure, it is her daughter, Althea, who seizes John's attention.As affairs of the state give way to affairs of heart, John must convince Althea that she can trust him with her future, and her love.

Could the wrong woman be the right love?Rescued from a life of hardship by her wealthy uncle, Lucy Garwood can't escape the shadow of her elitist relatives. She longs to be loved and respected in her own right, but it seems that as an orphan, her place amongst her bluebood family is unlikely to improvethat is until a case of mistaken identity leads to a kiss from a dashing stranger...Robert Renquist, Duke of Lindorough, is determined to win the heart of the lovely Maude. But in an attempt to sweep her off of her feet with a daring act of passion, it isn't Maude he kisses, but her half-niece instead. Though conscious of his standing in society, Robert can't deny his unmistakable attraction to Lucy, and he'll soon discover there is only one thing more powerful than his noble lineagelove.

He taught her the ways of the world, and she taught him the ways of love.Fated to be sold into a loveless marriage, Emily Walsingham runs away. But when she is rescued by dashing James Garwood, she fall desperately in love. Recognized by James's mother, Emily is declared the perfect wife for him, despite the fact that he has yet to declare his love for her.When James Garwood agrees to marry Emily, he never expected to be any more than a tolerable companion. But as she proves to be more caring and intelligent than he imagined, a man thought to be incapable of true devotion will learn more than he bargained for about falling in love.

In this ';true story that reads like a novel,' the #1 New York Timesbestselling author reveals the facts behind a notorious Southern murder case (Library Journal). When North Carolina farmer Stuart Taylor died after a sudden illness, his forty-six-year-old fiancee, Velma Barfield, was overcome with grief. Taylor's family grieved with heruntil the autopsy revealed traces of arsenic poisoning. Turned over to the authorities by her own son, Velma stunned her family with more revelations. This wasn't the first time she had committed cold-blooded murder, and she would eventually be tried by the ';world's deadliest prosecutor' and sentenced to death. This book probes Velma's stark descent into madness, her prescription drug addiction, and her effort to turn her life around through Christianity. From her harrowing childhood to the crimes that incited a national debate over the death penalty, to the final moments of her execution, Velma Barfield's life of crime and punishment, revenge and redemption, this is crime reporting at its most gripping and profound. ';A painfully intimate, moving story about the life and death of the only woman executed in the U.S. between 19621998... With graceful writing and thorough reporting, it makes the reader look hard at something dark and sad in the human soul... Breathes new life into the true crime genre.' The News & Observer ';Undertakes to answer the questions about the justice system and the motives that drive women to kill.' The Washington Post Book World ';An extraordinary piece of writing... The most chilling description of a legal execution that we are ever likely to get.' Citizen-Times ';Taut and engrossing on the nature of justice and the death penalty as well as on guilt and responsibility.' Booklist

The New York Timesbestselling author of Bitter Blood weaves ';a powerful account' of greed that led to an unspeakable crime (The New York Times Book Review). As they slept in their North Carolina home, wealthy Lieth Von Stein and his wife Bonnie suffered a vicious assault with a knife and a baseball bat. Bonnie barely survived. Lieth did not. The crime seemed totally baffling until police followed a trail that led to the charming stepson, Chris Pritchard, and his brilliant, drug-using, Dungeons and Dragonsplaying friends at North Carolina State University. ';Haunting... Addictive, chilling and a masterpiece of reportage,' Blood Games is the true story of depraved young minds and a son's gruesome greed turned to horrifyingly tragedy (Patricia Cornwell). Jerry Bledsoe masterfully reconstructs the bloody crime and its aftermath as he takes us into the secret twisted hearts of three young murderers. ';Mr. Bledsoe goes straight to the bigger issues.' The New York Times Book Review ';In Mr. Bledsoe's hands, a mega-load of inert facts becomes a human story of hurricane force.' The News & Observer ';Devastating... A brilliant account.' Publishers Weekly

New York Timesbestselling author: ';In the art of true-crime reportage, Jerry Bledsoe is the best in the country... Before He Wakes has the suspense of a novel' (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution). Barbara Stager was known as a devoted mother, loving wife, and dedicated church leader in her Durham, North Carolina, community. When she ';accidentally' shot her husband, popular high school coach, Russ, the police were inclined to believe heruntil they learned that ten years earlier, her first husband had died in a strangely similar way. Sgt. Rick Buchanan's relentless investigation into Stager's life revealed a stunning vortex of compulsive lying, obsessive spending, and sexual promiscuity. With every new discovery, more of Barbara's impeccable image unraveled. But the greatest shocka damning piece of evidence Russ Stager left behindrevealed the nightmare truth about Barbara. With ';the fine-toothed-comb reporting of [an] ace crime journalist,' this book takes us deep into a spellbinding case of double life, lethal lust, and almost perfect murder (Kirkus Reviews). ';A shocking and well-written portrait of a dangerous woman.' The New York Times ';Mesmerizing.' Ann Rule, New York Timesbestselling author of The Stranger Beside Me ';This account of manipulation, compulsive spending, lying, promiscuity, and murder is made even more chilling by the fact that appearances are often deceiving.' Library Journal ';A profile of evil... Fascinating.' The Baltimore Sun ';Jerry Bledsoe is the master of true crime, the conclusion to what Truman Capote began.... Another stunning success.' Patricia Cornwell, New York Timesbestselling author of Chaos