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Attorney Dana Hill is used to managing a stressful life: she's one of the most successful lawyers at Strong & Thurmond, mother to a young daughter, wife to a busy, self-involved man. But when she is diagnosed with breast cancer, and her twin brother turns up beaten to death in an apparent robbery-gone-wrong in the same week, the careful balance of Dana's life is sent into flux. Agreeing with the police that this is more than just a simple botched burglary, she begins to sift through the pieces of her brother's life, a life she thought she knew as well as her own, to find out who would want him dead and why. But bad things happen in threes, her mother has told her. When Dana discovers her husband cheating, she throws herself headlong into the investigation. Delaying cancer treatment, she teams with an intuitive detective to find the link between a one-of-a-kind earring found in her brother's bedroom and a mysterious girlfriend no one seems to be able to identify. But those connected to the murder are beginning to turn up dead, the evidence trail is growing cold and someone is masquerading as a police officer, cleaning up the details as they go along
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#2 in the Ridley Jones Series
In Beautiful Lies, Ridley Jones stepped off a street corner and into an abyss of violence, deception, and fear. Now, she is just trying to get on with her life when another seemingly mundane act--picking up some prints at a photo lab--sends her on a mission to find a ghost from her past. A figure of the same man appears in too many pictures she's taken in the last year, lurking just far enough away to make identification impossible. But, she is not the only one who wants to know who the man is, and soon finds herself in the middle of a deeper investigation and unsure who to trust. The only thing Ridley knows for sure is that she has to get to the truth about herself and her past if she is ever going to find her way home.
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#3 in the Zack Walker Series
Newspaper writer, family man, and reluctant hero Zack Walker has stumbled onto some dicey stories before, but nothing like what he's about to uncover when a mutilated corpse is found at his father's lakeside fishing camp. As always, Zack fears the worst. And this time, his paranoid worldview is dead-on. While the locals attribute the death to a bear attack, Zack suspects something far more ominous—a predator whose weapons include arson, assault, and enough wacko beliefs to fuel a dozen hate groups. Then another body is discovered and a large supply of fertilizer goes missing, evoking memories of the Oklahoma City bombing. But it's when he learns that his neighbor is a classic Lone Wolf—FBI parlance for a solo fanatic hell-bent on using high body counts to make political statements—that Zack realizes the idyllic town of his childhood is under siege. The fuse is lit to a catastrophe of unimaginable terror. And with time running out, Zack must face off with a madman.
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#6 in the Lewis Cole Series
When shots ring out at a political rally, retired Department of Defense analyst and local columnist Lewis Cole becomes the prime suspect in an assassination attempt, forcing him to race against time to clear his name and expose the real shooter. With the Secret Service on his tail and a relentless stalker lurking in the shadows, Lewis must navigate the dangerous world of presidential politics to outsmart those who seek to use him as a pawn. As he delves deeper into the murky waters of the political landscape, Lewis discovers a decades-old connection to the leading presidential candidate-a secret that could have devastating consequences if exposed. With the media surrounding him, Lewis faces aggressive campaign rivals, hidden agendas, and a relentless pursuit that threatens to consume him. In this pulse-pounding tale of suspense and deception, Lewis must unmask the masterminds behind the plot, before they silence him forever.
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Andie DeGrasse is not your typical juror. Hoping to get dismissed from the pool, she tells the judge that most of her legal knowledge comes from a bit part curling around a stripper's pole in The Sopranos. But she still ends up as juror #11 in a landmark trial against a notorious mob boss. The case quickly becomes the new Trial of the Century. Mafia don Dominic Cavello, known as the Electrician, is linked to hundreds of gruesome, unspeakable crimes. Senior FBI agent Nick Pellisante has been tracking him for years. He knows Cavello's power reaches far beyond the courtroom, but the FBI's evidence against the ruthless killer is iron-clad. Conviction is a sure thing. As the jury is about to reach a verdict, the Electrician makes one devastating move that no one could have predicted. The entire nation is reeling, and Andie's world is shattered. For her, the hunt for the Electrician becomes personal, and she and Pellisante come together in an unbreakable bond: they will exact justice ... at any cost. James Patterson spins an all-out heart-pounding legal thriller that pits two people against the most vicious and powerful mobster since John Gotti.
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#1 in the Ridley Jones Series
If Ridley Jones had slept ten minutes later or had taken the subway instead of waiting for a cab, she would still be living the lie she used to call her perfect life. Instead, she's in the wrong place at the right time to unleash a chain of events that begins with a mysterious package on her doorstep. A package that informs her that her entire world is just an illusion. Forced to question everything she knows about herself, Ridley wanders into dark territory, where everyone is hiding something.
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#4 in the Lydia Strong Series
An NYPD detective visits Lydia and her husband, P.I. Jeffrey Mark, to inform them that Lily, one of Lydia's former writing students, has been missing for more than two weeks. Before she disappeared, Lily had tried to get in touch with Lydia, seeking her help. Could this have had something to do with the death of Lily's brother, which Lily refused to accept as a suicide? If they want to discover the truth, Lydia and Jeffrey will have to follow the trail that Lily left behind, a trail of evidence that--like Lily herself--seems to disappear like smoke.
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#2 in the Zack Walker Series
Zack is back, and much to his family's relief, the work-at-home science-fiction writer has left the house to take a job as a features writer for the city paper. But now that Zack's incessant plotting can no longer be hatched from the comforts of his own home, he must be ever more vigilant to outwit the evil at large, whether in the suburbs, the city, or his own imagination. Zack is ready...or so he thinks. While researching his first feature article, Zack stumbles upon a real-life crime scene, but what seems like an ordinary hit-and-run may actually be a homicide linked to a gang that's been burglarizing Crandall's high-end shops. Suddenly Zack finds himself at the center of a violent crime wave and destined for a confrontation with Barbie Bullock, an unsettling figure infamous in the crime syndicate for his ruthless business tactics and peculiar proclivity for collecting dolls. And all is not quiet on the home front either. Zack's protective instincts launch into overdrive when he discovers that his daughter's rejected suitor has been tracing her every step and may harbor a much more ominous motivation than winning a Saturday night date. Nor does his son's strange behavior and recent friendship with a creepy computer recluse inspire joy in a father's heart. As worlds begin to collide and boundaries between family and foe blur, Zack goes on the attack, and heaven help the bad guys when this resourceful father comes to make good on a deal gone bad.
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#5 in the Lewis Cole Series
The serenity of Lewis Cole's day-to-day life is shattered when his friend, eccentric retiree Jon Ericson, calls to tell him of an amazing discovery-he has unearthed evidence of Vikings in their town over a thousand years ago. Racing to see the breakthrough in person, Lewis arrives to find the unthinkable-Ericson's dead body.and no trace of the Viking artifacts. Pulled into the eye of the storm, Lewis is determined to investigate every person in Ericson's orbit who may have had a motive to murder. Was it Ericson's estranged brother with a criminal past in stolen antiques? Could it be a disgruntled local envious of Ericson's success? Or a shadowy figure willing to kill to keep the significant archaeological find hidden? Guided by an unwavering resolve for justice, Lewis pledges to avenge his friend's death, recover the stolen Viking artifacts, and honor Ericson's memory, even if it means putting his own life at risk.
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#1 in the Zack Walker Series
Zack wouldn't blame you for thinking he's safety-obsessed. True, he masterminded a plot to trade his family's exciting city lifestyle for one of suburban tranquillity. True, even after this strategic move, Zack still has issues with family members who forget their keys in the front door, leave their cars unlocked, or park their backpacks at the top of the stairs—where you could kill yourself tripping over them. Just ask his wife, Sarah, or his teenage kids, Paul and Angie, who endure their share of lectures. Zack knows that he needs to chill out and assume the best for once—but we know what happens to those who assume. When Zack realizes their two-faced developer sent a petty thief to fix their leaky shower, he starts fighting hard to ignore the fact that Oakwood isn't the crime-free paradise he was hoping for. But his brief state of denial comes to an abrupt end when, during a walk by the creek, he stumbles across a dead body. Even more shocking, Zack actually knows who the victim is—and who might want him dead. With a killer roaming around their neighborhood and Zack's overactive imagination in overdrive, he's sure things can't get any worse. But then another local is murdered—and Zack's paranoid tendencies get him implicated in the crime. While his wife is trying to remember why she married him in the first place, and his kids are considering whether it's time to have him committed, Zack decides there's only one thing he can do. To protect his family—and avoid being busted for a crime he didn't commit—he's going to have to override his safety-first instincts, tap into his delusions of machismo, and track down the killer himself.
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#9 in the Rosato & Associates Series
With the halfhearted okay of her boss at the boutique Philly firm of Rosato & Associates, insecure young lawyer Mary DiNunzio takes on a pro bono case—which is Latin for not paying squat. What's more, the client is dead and the case is half a century old, involving an Italian fisherman interned at a camp in Montana during World War II. Mary wants to prove herself, but she ends up drowning in documents—and a lost cause. Add to that a colleague who keeps fixing her up with blind dates from hell. But things suddenly heat up when people Mary has interviewed start dropping dead. And Mary suspects she's being followed. Soon she's on the run for her life.
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#3 in the Lydia Strong Series
Acclaimed artist Julian Ross has just been found standing over her husband's bloody corpse in their New York City apartment. Julian claims that she slept peacefully beside him while he was violently stabbed in their bed. But police are skeptical, especially since Julian's first husband was killed and mutilated in exactly the same way. Julian turns to the tough-as-nails crime writer Lydia Strong, who plunges into the case with her signature grit and the help of her partner, P.I. Jeffrey Mark. Meanwhile, Lydia learns that Jed McIntyre, the serial killer who murdered her mother, is on the loose in New York. McIntyre is out for Lydia's blood, and his presence forces her to confront the evils of her past while solving her toughest murder case
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#8 in the Rosato & Associates Series
Lawyer Bennie Rosato is fighting the battle of her life—against her own twin. The action starts innocently enough, with a stolen wallet, but in no time events escalate, and Alice Connelly wreaks havoc that can be created only by a dead ringer. Connelly tries to destroy Bennie's law firm, Rosato & Associates, and then strikes at her very heart—which just happens to be otherwise engaged by a handsome, hunky stranger with the perfect amount of chest hair. But when a brutal murder occurs, Bennie realizes that the stakes have turned deadly. And the face of evil looks like her own.
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#2 in the Lydia Strong Series
Fresh from a tour promoting her last case, reclusive true crime writer Lydia Strong receives an anonymous cry for help, begging her to find and protect Tatiana Quinn, "and all the other girls in need of rescue." Maybe the plea strikes close to her heart; maybe her investigator's intuition starts buzzing. She takes it on. But this simple case of a missing teenager soon becomes much more. Someone wants Lydia to drop the case, someone powerful, someone anxious enough to engineer the reappearance of one of Lydia's first--and most dangerous--adversaries. Now, in addition to tracing the roots of Tatiana's disappearance on a trail across the country and eventually overseas, Lydia must find the man who wants her dead, his unfinished business from years ago.
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#7 in the Rosato & Associates Series
Anne Murphy is the redheaded rookie at the Philadelphia law firm of Rosato & Associates, and one morning she wakes up to front-page headlines proclaiming LAWYER MURDERED—above her own picture. To find the killer, Anne's got to play dead—if she wants to stay alive. Though she tries to go it alone, she quickly realizes she'll have to trust people she barely knows—colleagues who hate her, a homicide squad that wants her out of the crime-fighting business, and a new love who inconveniently happens to be opposing counsel.
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#4 in the Lewis Cole Series
When retired Department of Defense analyst Lewis Cole stumbles upon a murdered man in a quiet state park near his coastal home in Tyler Beach, New Hampshire, he's determined to stay out of the case. But his plans are derailed when a team of federal agents arrives, claiming the victim was a drug courier and demanding Cole's assistance. With his life turned upside down, Cole reluctantly agrees to help, only to discover the agents have a hidden agenda. As he searches for answers, he's drawn into a web of intrigue involving a long-lost World War II secret, German U-boats, and international conspiracies. But the deeper he digs, the closer he comes to his own secretive past-one that cost him friendships and now threatens his very life.
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#1 in the Lydia Strong Series
The childhood murder of her mother has turned Lydia Strong into a woman obsessed with bringing brutal killers to justice. The reclusive, bestselling true-crime writer and investigative consultant now spends her life chasing monsters. When three adults--loners, drifters--go missing, no one seems to notice except for Lydia. Enlisting the help of her friend, former FBI agent Jeffrey Mark, Lydia starts an investigation of her own. But when someone raises the stakes and goes after Lydia--just as fifteen years ago when she put the FBI on the trail of her mother's killer--the real hunt begins.
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#5 in the Rosato & Associates Series
When attorney Jack Newlin discovers his wife dead in their home, he's convinced he knows who killed her—and is equally determined to hide the truth. He decides to frame himself for murder, and to seal his fate he hires the most inexperienced lawyer he can find: a reluctant rookie by the name of Mary DiNunzio from the hot Philadelphia firm of Rosato & Associates. But hiring Mary may turn out to be his biggest mistake. She doubts Jack's confession, and her ethics and instincts tell her she can't defend a man who wants to convict himself. Smarter, gutsier, and more persistent than she has any right to be, Mary sets out to prove what really happened—because, as any lawyer knows, a case is never as simple as it seems. And nothing is ever certain until the final moment of truth.
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When struggling filmmaker Patrick Gallagher fishes a mutilated corpse out of a river, his retreat from life takes a sinister turn. After destroying his own career, Patrick had hoped to lick his wounds in the quiet of a small New England town, but the ghostly secrets of Lawton, Vermont prove all too ominous to allow for serenity. In the course of the investigation, Patrick befriends local policewoman Andi Nightingale, who is haunted by her own troubled past. As the suspense builds, Patrick and Andi are drawn into the shocking legacy of the town's shared-guilt over a crime kept hidden for a century...
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#4 in the Rosato & Associates Series
Accused of committing cold-blooded murder, Alice Connolly wants one lawyer to defend her: Bennie Rosato. But the no-nonsense Philadelphia criminal attorney isn't interested—until she meets the accused killer face to face—and can't believe what she sees. Alice claims she's Bennie twin—and the woman does bear an uncanny resemblance to her. But Bennie grew up an only child. She doesn't have a sister. Or does she? Agreeing to take the case, Bennie plunges into the mystery of the murder and into the depths of her own past—a twisting search for justice and the truth that will keep the seasoned attorney guessing and leave readers breathless until the verdict is in.
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#3 in the Lewis Cole Series
When a mysterious arsonist strikes the sleepy town of Tyler Beach, leaving a trail of burned-down hotels in their wake, the police are left baffled and scrambling for a suspect. Retired Department of Defense analyst and local columnist Lewis Cole once again finds himself called in to solve a critical case. But the fugitive pyromaniac is just the beginning. When a monstrous act of violence shocks the tiny town, Lewis plunges into a high-profile hunt to unmask the culprit. Driven by his thirst for justice and his determination to prevent another assault, Lewis calls on the help of old friends-including Boston mob-connected "security consultant" Felix Tinios-to bring two criminals to justice. But as he dives deeper into a pool of possible suspects, Lewis is faced with disturbing truths that will push his skills to the brink. Can he protect the residents of Tyler Beach from another horrific attack? Or this time, has he met his match?
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#3 in the Rosato & Associates Series
Criminal lawyer Marta Richter is hours away from winning an acquittal for her client, millionaire businessman Elliot Steere. Elliot is on trial for the murder of a homeless man who had tried to carjack him. But as the jury begins deliberations, Marta discovers the chilling truth about her client's innocence. Taking justice into her own hands, she sets out to prove the truth, with the help of two young associates. In an excruciating game of beat-the-clock with both the jury and the worst blizzard to hit Philadelphia in decades, Marta will learn that the search for justice isn't only rough—it can also be deadly.
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#2 in the Rosato & Associates Series
Benedetta "Bennie" Rosato is a maverick lawyer who prosecutes police misconduct and excessive-force cases, and business at her firm has never been better. Then, without warning, a savage murder tears the firm apart. All evidence points to Bennie, who has motive aplenty and an unconfirmable alibi. Her world turns upside down as the lawyer becomes the client and the cops she once prosecuted are now after her with a vengeance. To prove her innocence, Bennie probes deep into the murder. Then another killing takes place. Running for her life, Bennie is a fugitive armed only with her wits and courage. She will find the real killer—or die trying.
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Whether it's at the poker table or in a court room, wisecracking attorney Rita Morrone plays to win, especially when it comes to her latest case, which is also her most personal. She's defending the Honorable Fiske Hamilton, a prominent federal judge accused of sexual harassment. It's no coincidence her client happens to be her live-in lover's father. When the action suddenly turns deadly, Rita finds herself at the center of a tense murder mystery. The search for answers plunges her deep into the investigation, uncovering a secret life and suspects in shocking places. Then the killer viciously ups the ante. To end this lethal game, Rita will lay it all on the line for the highest stakes ever—her life.
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#2 in the Lewis Cole Series
When a noxious oil spill pollutes the picturesque beaches of Tyler, New Hampshire, local reporter Lewis Cole is determined to get to the bottom of it. But his investigation takes a sinister turn when a decapitated body washes up on shore. Then a slew of Winslow Homer paintings go missing and Lewis can't help but sense a connection within the recent spate of bizarre occurrences. Haunted by past traumas and driven by a need for justice, Lewis delves deep into the town's darkest secrets, uncovering a web of lies and corruption that threatens to consume him. Every clue is a small piece to an even bigger puzzle, and Lewis is struggling to see the full picture. But he won't rest until he finds the thread that connects it all.
