Ess wasn't aware that a momentary encounter during her childhood had made her the object of obsession nearly twenty years later. Not just the artist’s obsession, but also the art collector’s. The artist had to kidnap her to keep her safe. The truth doesn't always set you free. How do they go on?

    He makes a handsome living doing what he enjoys. His wife, Penny, a children's book author and illustrator, is the love of his life. Together they have a brilliant six-year-old, Milo, affectionately dubbed "Spooky," and a non-collie named Lassie, who's all but part of the family.So Cubby knows he shouldn't let one bad review of his otherwise triumphant new book get to him — even if it does appear in the nation's premier newspaper and is penned by the much-feared, seldom-seen critic Shearman Waxx. Cubby knows that the best thing to do is ignore the gratuitously vicious, insulting, and inaccurate comments. Penny knows it; even little Milo knows it. If Lassie could talk, she'd tell Cubby to ignore them, too.Ignore Shearman Waxx and his poison pen is just what Cubby intends to do. Until he happens to learn where the great man is taking his lunch. Cubby just wants to get a good look at the mysterious recluse whose mere opinion can make or break a career — or a life.But Shearman Waxx isn't what Cubby expects, and neither is the escalating terror that follows what seemed to be an innocent encounter. For Waxx gives criticism; he doesn't take it. He has ways of dealing with those who cross him that Cubby is only beginning to fathom. Soon Cubby finds himself in a desperate struggle with a relentless sociopath, facing an inexorable assault on far more than his life.

    Actually, he has two. Or maybe three. The first is that he'll be dead from cancer, less than a year, which doesn't particularly concern him: "Things I've been through, dying is just one more page in a long bad book." But spending his last living days, taking his last living breath, behind steel bars does. That's the second problem: Inmate #78903 in the notorious level-four Washington State prison known as Horseneck Bay.Then there's the money. Two million dollars of stolen military payroll, supposedly buried in some remote and mysterious south-Texas mountain range called Los Despoblados, or The Uninhabited, which sounds to Oreny like one of those places his Mama Maybell always told him to avoid. But he'll worry about that later. He has to get there first. Problem number three.That's when he brings those two smoldering dynamite sticks he's attached himself to--his Luke-boy and Jaime--on board to help his tired old body break out of Horseneck and go dig up that money and then hightail it across the border into Mexico. And when they do break out, and Luke decides to bring his girlfriend Lauren along, and her enraged ex comes after them, and then the manhunt starts multiplying faster around them than those cancer cells inside him, Oreny still thinks he can control them. The problems, that is. At least, until Cade arrives.Cade, the prison investigator Oreny knows is dangerous and unpredictable as a six-foot-two wolverine on eight gallons of adrenalin gone bad. And who won't stop until he catches them and does to them what Cade does best.Cade, Oreny knows better than anything else, is their biggest problem of all.

    To solve the case, he must put aside the loss of his son and work with a man who symbolizes all he has come to hate. Both are drawn into a race against time to stop the plot of an American bin Laden and prevent a global catastrophe. EXTRAORDINARY RETRIBUTION (Book 2)A rogue CIA agent partners with the brother of a slain colleague to uncover a conspiracy deep in the intelligence community. But a shadow follows them: a killer bent on a revenge so terrible, it is only matched by the crimes committed against him. In the end, no one escapes unscathed, no beliefs will go unchallenged, and no wrong will escape the terrible, final, and extraordinary retribution. THE ANONYMOUS SIGNAL (Book 3)The global financial system is in chaos. World leaders have been compromised. An unstoppable computer virus eats through the Internet. They are Anonymous. They do not forgive. They do not forget. Expect their signal.THE NASH CRITERION (Book 4)We believed our government was of the people, by the people, and for the people. We were wrong. A terrorist's last words lead a team of special agents to the discovery of an unimaginable global conspiracy. But time is running out. The numbers are converging. Can a group of fugitive FBI and CIA operatives prevent the coming catastrophe before the world crosses The Nash Criterion?

    The only catch? It requires them to move to Oklahoma City. After relocating, Lindy spends more and more of her newfound free time with her online group of true-crime enthusiasts and even makes a real-life friend from the group, who happens to live in Oklahoma. The women quickly become close as they meet weekly to drink coffee and discuss their lives and the latest headlines. The peace is short-lived when they find themselves in the middle of their own true crime nightmare after a terrifying encounter connects them to the case of a local missing woman. Just how far will they go to find answers?

    Zombies. A serial killer. Demons. And an evil Chihuahua. Monica's fresh start may not be everything she was hoping for, but who knows? She might just end up having the time of her life -- if she can find a way to avoid the time of her death.

    Hitler has just conquered Poland, but life in London continues much as it did in peacetime, albeit a little more restricted since the introduction of petrol rationing. No bombs have been dropped on the city as yet, but the population go about their daily business under the constant threat of German air raids, and a blackout remains in force at night. For Scotland Yard and the criminal fraternity, however, it is business as usual. When a pawnbroker’s assistant is wounded by a gunman wearing a gasmask, it appears to be a straightforward case of a bungled armed robbery, but as Hawker proceeds with his investigation, the more facts he uncovers the more confusing the affair becomes. A red-headed soldier, a missing gun, a dead cat, an empty violin case and a damaged violin are only a few of the threads that have to be unravelled before he can wrap up the case – with a little help from Sherlock Holmes.

     But among the members, there is a traitor. Among the forgers, there is a murderer. As friends betray their own and souls are sentenced to death, suspicions and tensions mount. Only one man, Carl Brooke, has the knowledge and expertise to stop the murderer. But will he succeed? Or will the night of October 24th, 1859 forever remain an unresolved mystery? -- If you like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes books or stories set in the 19th century and with a touch of mystery, you will love Two Tocks before Midnight. This is the first in the Agora mystery series. Carl Brooke and the Agora society’s crime-solving escapades continue with additional stories. If you would like to read them all, please search for "The Agora Letters" for five stories for the price of three.

    Even though we had 80 reviews and a 4.5 star rating, some reviews were no longer relevant based on the improved and revised story line. Amazon is unable to remove a review–good or bad–so we solved the problem by continuing our revision to include a new book title and book cover. The first book in The Whitney Forbes Series is now known as THE PURE ENERGY PROJECT. Thank you for your interest and we appreciate your support as we strive to deliver a dynamic series of the highest caliber to our readers!

    When her dad goes missing on a routine patrol, Grace refuses to believe he’s dead and fights the town authorities, tribal officials, and nature to find him.One day, while out tracking clues, Grace is rescued from danger by Mo, a hot guy with an intoxicating accent and a secret. As her feelings between him and her ex-boyfriend get muddled, Grace travels deep into the wilderness to escape and find her father. Along the way, Grace learns terrible secrets that sever relationships and lives. Soon she’s enmeshed in a web of conspiracy, deception, and murder. And it’s going to take a lot more than a compass and a motorcycle (named Lucifer) for this kick-butting heroine to save everything she loves.

     Before he slid into the MRI machine, Jake Bronson was just an ordinary guy with terminal cancer. But when an earthquake hits during the procedure, Jake staggers from the wreckage a profoundly changed man, now endowed with uncanny mental abilities. An ocean away, Luciano Battista wants a piece of Jake's talent. Posing as a pioneering scientist, the terrorist leader has been conducting cerebral-implant experiments in a sinister quest to create a breed of super jihadist agents...and Jake's altered brain may be the key to his success. But Jake refuses to play the pawn in an unholy war--and when an innocent woman and autistic child are taken hostage to force his cooperation, he embarks on a jihad of his own. Jake and his band of loyal friends are thrust into a deadly chase that leads from the canals of Venice through Monte Carlo and finally to an ancient cavern in the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan--where Jake discovers that his newfound talents carry a hidden price that threatens the entire human race.

    

    Nora’s future hangs in the balance of his past.Pacifist Mennonite social worker Nora Martin is on the verge of opening a residential facility for first-time offenders. After years of planning, she’ll finally be able to rescue young men from the violence of prison…or what has been their only other option, the violence of the military.But then a stranger in camouflage and combat boots marches through her front door and claims to own her house. And he’s not interested in letting Nora change it.Who is Petty Officer Jacob Schwartz, and why does no one in the close-knit town of French Lick, Indiana want to acknowledge that he exists? What are they hiding? What had seemed like a safe community is now full of secrets and old heartaches, and Nora is caught in the dangerous middle. Her only ally is her best friend, FBI agent Alicia Yu (who readers first met in Glitter and Sorrow), but even Alicia can’t protect her from the way Nora’s heart races every time Jacob’s in the room.Can she trust a man in uniform?Nora and Jacob’s choices have taken them down different paths, but God may still show them a safe way back.

     Animal mauling or were attack? Time witch Nuala Walsh is on the case. Ex-communicated from her coven at a young age, Nuala uses her powerful magic to solve cold-cases for the Agency of Paranormal Peculiarities. Only the cases become less cold and fresher as each assignment sends her back in time to work out the clues the mortal investigators can’t dig up on their own. Each assignment comes with a strict set of rules and a time limit and Nuala enjoys leaving her present drama behind to bust criminals in the past. But Nuala has one rule of her own—no kids. When she receives a case from 1985 involving an all-girls reform school, her only instinct is to say no. Teenage girls are the worst kind of drain on her magic. But the file reveals a familiar name she hasn’t heard in years and suddenly the murder of the school’s headmistress becomes less off limits and more of a personal quest. Can Nuala keep her 100% case closure rate without losing her head -- literally? Each book stands completely on its own, but you'll have more fun if you read them all together!

    Following the victim's funeral, her family files a lawsuit against the gun company who manufactured the killer's weapon of choice. The lawyers for the plaintiff and defendant--Kelly Starling and Jason Noble--are young, charismatic, and successful. They're also easy blackmail targets, both harboring a personal secret so devastating it could destroy their careers. Millions of dollars--and more than a few lives--are at stake. But as Kelly and Jason battle each other, they discover that the real fight is with unseen forces intent on controlling them both.