An eclectic collection of the year's best reportage, The Best American Crime Reporting 2007 brings together the murderers and muscle men, the masterminds, and the mysteries and missteps that make for brilliant stories, told by the aces of the true crime genre. This latest addition to the highly acclaimed series features guest editor Linda Fairstein, the bestselling crime novelist and former chief prosecutor of the Manhattan District Attorney's Office's pioneering Special Victims' Unit.The loved ones / Tom Junod --The inside job / Neil Swidey --The talented Dr. Krist / Steve Fennessy --The case of the killer priest / Sean Flynn --Double blind / Matthew Teague --The school / C.J. Chivers --A kiss before dying / Pamela Colloff --The devil in David Berkowitz / Steve Fishman --The man who loves books too much / Allison Hoover Bartlett --Dirty old women / Ariel Levy --Who killed Ellen Andros? / Dan P. Lee --Fatal connection / David Bernstein --Last seen on September 10th / Mark Fass --My roommate, the diamond thief / Brian Boucher --The monster of Florence / Douglas Preston

    The man she loved is dead—has been for ten long years. Jack Laubreaux saved her life after their plane crashed in the rugged Rockies, then died of his own injuries. But she still misses him, so when a drifter who reminds her of Jack shows up in Serenity Falls, she’s drawn to him.Martin Stride just wants a job and a warm place to sleep for the cold Rocky Mountain winter. That’s about all life has to offer him these days. He would have stayed out of this small Montana town if he’d known a pretty woman would take a fancy to him. That never ends well for him.His pursuers let him live, as long as he settled for not having a life. But this time, he can’t seem to make himself walk away. Which means he’ll have to protect Sophie and her family, with no one to depend on but a corrupt local sheriff who wants her too.Small town law enforcement isn’t equipped to handle a deadly Chicago crime lord whose power extends into state government and beyond. Can Martin assemble them into a team? Because this time, he’s not running. This time he’ll use all resources to stir up the power elite until he reaches the rot at their dark core.

    Now meet Mark Ocean: A self-serving actor with a floundering career who sees that a daughter is just what he needs to reinvent himself as a family man and get back on track. When the two decide to spend the summer together, they must not only wrangle their own love lives, but try to figure out who they really are to themselves and to each other.Now armed with credit cards, club memberships, and a new wardrobe, Dani learns that what Mark has in wealth, he sorely lacks in parenting skills. Trying to show Mark that parenting is about more than loading her up with Prada bags and taking her to movie premieres is challenging enough, but she's also got her hands full with her new friends. Oh, and the boys... Dani meets Jason, a gorgeous young personal trainer who is easy on the eyes and wildly flirtatious. But is this smug hottie the one for her? Or will she ignore her friends eye-rolling and go for the goofy but sweet surfer?While juggling her own complicated love life, Dani tries to set her father up with someone less likely to appear on a VH1 reality show, and someone more... well, normal. And age-appropriate. And dressed in anything but a thong bikini. But whether Mark is able to heal old wounds and move forward with anything more than a meaningless fling remains to be seen.Can Dani fit in with this new, fast-moving California crowd without losing herself? With the world at her fingertips and hot boys now after her, staying grounded gets tough. And can Mark drop his egocentric approach to life and learn to appreciate how truly wonderful his daughter is? As driven as he is to get that A-list acting role, he's willing to do whatever it takes to get there, even if it means using his daughter. Or is he...? Mark and Dani's relationship hits a few highs, but the question becomes whether the lows are too much.

    Short written for Coastal Magic 2017

    Each night, my spirit leaves my body and travels to a new location. Thanks to my gift, I’m now the sole witness to the brutal murder of upperclassman Darla Baxter. I wish I could tell someone, but I never saw the murderer’s face. When my travels are replaced by nightmares, there’s only one way to get them back. I have to catch the killer myself. On my search for answers, I continue to bump into Darla’s brother, Collin, who’s as dreamy as he is sweet. If we don’t catch the killer, I might never learn to open my heart to him—and I may lose my gift forever.