In the past, Cole a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, worked for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Time Magazine. Now, he’s returned to the paper where he started his career, The Chicago Sentinel. Instead of writing the big stories, he’s doing the work of a rookie reporter. His “big story of the day” is a cat caught in a tree. During its rescue, the cat’s owner takes her Good Samaritan neighbor hostage. Cole witnesses something so disturbing it reawakens the journalist’s desire to write again.Returning to the paper, Cole finds a desperate message asking for help from Ellie, one that got away. The one that has continually haunted his life. Cole drops everything and flies to California. He must find what would make her so desperate, she would call him after so many years. Cole finds her terminally ill, and abandoned by her husband. He discovers while Ellie was heavily medicated, she mistakenly signed a Power of Attorney. Now her estranged daughter Erin’s inheritance, won’t go to her, but her abusive step-father. Cole vows to find the girl and right the situation.The path to keeping his word is blocked at every turn by the husband who abandoned her, his shady real estate deals, violent con men, street thugs and the lure of a fortune in diamonds that unite them. The anger, sorrow, and crippling guilt of twenty years fires Cole's drive to keep a promise, that in the end, will heal and return the soul to the great journalist.Beaten, bloody but determined, Cole Sage conquers greed and hatred with a strength that only love, and a will as hard as diamond, can achieve.

    Things will never be the same again, they said. Isn't it wonderful, they said. But no one knows what to say now. My husband wants to take the kids. My husband thinks the accident was my fault. My husband thinks I need help. But I think he wants rid of me.

    Although the intruders leave her for dead, she survives. Crippling grief and fear for her children make life unbearable. Until her anguish turns to anger…and she trades victimhood for vengeance.Frustrated with the law’s efforts, she takes action to rescue her children—and wreaks havoc on the brutal criminals who tore them from her. With her family and newfound allies at her side, Faith descends into the hellish underworld of human trafficking, determined to make those who prey on the innocent pray for mercy.The forces she’s up against have already proven that their ruthlessness knows no bounds. And there’s nothing they won’t do to turn Faith’s crusade into a suicide mission. But they’re about to learn that nothing is more dangerous than a mother fighting for her children—especially one who’s earned the nickname Furious.

    Someone murdered Lynn Palmer and staged the scene to make it look that way.With a pool of suspects who aren’t telling the truth and a corrupt mayor who wants the case solved yesterday, Sam and Jo follow a puzzling trail of clues with a surprise ending. And when a stray dog points them in the right direction, Sam discovers the killer is closer than he thought.Just when Sam and Jo think they can rest after having solved Lynn’s murder, a shocking discovery proves that sometimes even those you trust can be telling lies.

    But is he a killer? Even liars tell the truth... sometimes.Twenty-six-year-old Cat Kinsella overcame a troubled childhood to become a Detective Constable with the Metropolitan Police Force, but she's never been able to banish these ghosts. When she's called to the scene of a murder in Islington, not far from the pub her estranged father still runs, she discovers that Alice Lapaine, a young housewife who didn't get out much, has been found strangled.Cat and her team immediately suspect Alice's husband, until she receives a mysterious phone call that links the victim to Maryanne Doyle, a teenage girl who went missing in Ireland eighteen years earlier. The call raises uneasy memories for Cat--her family met Maryanne while on holiday, right before she vanished. Though she was only a child, Cat knew that her charming but dissolute father wasn't telling the truth when he denied knowing anything about Maryanne or her disappearance. Did her father do something to the teenage girl all those years ago? Could he have harmed Alice now? And how can you trust a liar even if he might be telling the truth?Determined to close the two cases, Cat rushes headlong into the investigation, crossing ethical lines and trampling professional codes. But in looking into the past, she might not like what she finds...

    It’s been a year since novelist Desmond Carmichael's wife Sandy was brutally murdered. Now, with someone stalking him and his four-year-old son, he fears that the wrong man has been imprisoned for the crime. Sandy’s parents and Detective Chuck Fournier have a different fear: that Desmond, despondent over Sandy’s death, has become too unstable to raise his own son.To prove them wrong, Desmond must work outside the law to defeat a threat born in the dust of an American wasteland, baptized by fire, and hellbent on riding the winds of karma.

    Now one of those schemes has come true, and Ian is the only person alive who knows how it was done...and who is behind the plot. That makes him too dangerous to live.Ian goes on the run, sweeping up an innocent bystander in his plight--Margo French, a dog walker and aspiring singer. They are pursued by assassins and an all-seeing global-intelligence network that won't stop until Ian and Margo are dead. Ian has written thrillers like this before, but this time he doesn't know how it's going to end--or if he will be alive to find out.

    She thinks it’s the perfect arrangement. She’s always dreamed of seeing the real London, not just the tourist spots. She’ll be able to accompany her husband, Brad, on his out-of-town work as a trouble-shooter for his company. It will also give her a chance to keep an eye on Brenda, Brad’s assistant, who seems to be getting a little too chummy with her boss. But things don’t turn out the way Nicole expects. Within a couple of days, she discovers that Freddy and Muriel Lowry, the Londoners, failed to arrive in L.A. and appear to be missing. Then people start following her and making threats, demanding information she doesn’t have. Nicole realizes she’s in serious trouble. But she can’t get Brad—busy working—or the police to believe her. Somehow, it’s up to her to extricate herself from the mess the Lowrys have left behind.

    International visitors surge into Sydney's Darling Harbour. Two-year-old Tommy is sailing his toy boat in the park when he vanishes. Six months later, taunting notes written as nursery rhymes begin arriving at his parents' home.Little Boy Blue, where did you go? Who led you away? Only I know . . . . The police believe the messages are just a cruel prank. But Tommy's mother Phoebe becomes obsessed with tracking down the writer of the rhymes. Her life and marriage shatters.When the shocking identity of the message-writer is discovered, Phoebe's desperate race for the truth has only just begun."I love love love this author! This is the sort of book I love but never find very often!" - reviewer

    A body dumped along the roadside sends a sheriff across his county in search of a killer.Discover The 509 Crime Stories with this free short story.Then check out the books The Side Hustle The Long Cold Winter The Blind Trust The Suit What readers are saying about The Side Hustle★★★★★ “… just looking for my next thriller fix, I discovered this gem.” – John Barksley★★★★★ “… a great read! A different kind of police procedural.” – Mickey★★★★★ “This book was hard to put down.” – Amazon Customer★★★★★ “…kept me reading.” – Mary Arnold★★★★★ “Loved my first foray into the 509 series… and Quinn!” – Cynthiareads★★★★★ “The story is well crafted and kept me quickly ‘turning the pages.’” – Sally★★★★★ “Great read.  Very enjoyable.” – Amy Dalton

    On a frozen night in an affluent neighborhood of Minneapolis, a baby is abducted from her home after her teenage babysitter is violently assaulted. The parents are frantic, the police are baffled, and, with the perpetrator already in the wind, the trail is getting colder by the second.As family liaison officer with the Minneapolis P.D., it’s Afton Tangler’s job to deal with the emotional aftermath of terrible crimes—but she’s never faced a case quite as brutal as this. Each development is more heartbreaking than the last and the only lead is a collection of seemingly unrelated clues.But, most disturbing of all, Afton begins to suspect that this case is not isolated.  Whoever did this has taken babies before—and if Afton doesn’t solve this crime soon, more children are sure to go missing . . .

    With taut prose evocative of Laura Lippman’s Life Sentences and Dennis Lehane’s Moonlight Mile, White paints the sinister picture of a quiet Pennsylvania college town left shaken after a mysterious death precipitates a cascade of evil events on campus. When new teacher Phoebe Hall undertakes the dangerous quest of uncovering the truth behind the ghastly recent happenings, her investigation will send her into the clutches of a deadly secret society—the Sixes—and unearth the dark relics of her own long-buried past.

    Fired from the FBI for inadvertently sleeping with the perp in a murder case, he tries to disappear to a houseboat and retirement. Not having what it takes to relax, Benny starts a service offering discreet investigations. That is until a body is found crucified near his marina. The local police department requests Benny’s help and he knows if he can catch the killer, redemption is his. The Chief gives Benny and the department ten days to solve the crimes before he promises to request the help of the FBI. As the case grows, grabbing national attention, and the murders continue, the media soon fills the normally quiet town. Media goddess, Rachael Martin arrives and adds spice to an already flavorful mix. A few newcomers straggle in as well. An ex-convict fresh out of prison from a thirty year murder rap slinks in unnoticed with revenge on his mind. Days later, a Greyhound bus delivers a strange young man raised by deaf-mute parents from deep within the Ozark Mountains. An old newspaper clipping and a dark secret pulls him to town. Whatever is going on has something strange to do with birds. At each murder site, dead birds are displayed in disturbing ways—the killer arranging them as an artist might. All the strange occurrences and unexplained visitors to this quiet town press Benny James to his max as he vehemently struggles to solve the most important case of his life.

    She helps Alicia get a job at the supermarket where she works, and soon, Alicia is acting like her new best friend. But then strange fires start to break out all over the small seaside town of Queensbeach, including at the caravan park where Alicia is staying. Isabel suspects Alicia knows more than she's letting on and grows increasingly nervous when her friend Deacon invites Alicia to stay with him. But it's Isabel the police suspect. Determined to confront Alicia, Isabel bursts into her room and sees the word 'FRY' branded across her back in capital letters. From then on, she sees the word "FRY' everywhere she goes; in graffiti, on toilet walls, even on car registration plates. Then her beloved cat, Fluffy disappears and Isabel is convinced Alicia is behind it. She puts up posters all over her neighbourhood, but as fast as she puts them up, someone takes them down. Soon, a whole spate of fires is breaking out and Isabel must stay one step ahead of the flames and the police. In order to survive, she must question her own innocence, her sanity and the very fabric of her morality. Can she win back Deacon? And will she ever find Fluffy?

    Something outrageous has been done to the bodies. Another best-selling author is killed on the other side of Florida. This time the cause of death is obvious. Are the two murders related? Connected? The MOs are completely different. More famous corpses are discovered. Clearly someone's killing authors using the methods in their stories. The killers appear to be unstoppable, and to have some mad, crazy plan. Enter former Olympic athlete FBI Agent Naomi Soul and her best friend Agent Xue Sang. The crème de la crème of the pop literary world's best chance to survive. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Naomi Soul plays a critical role in Franklin, Victoria and Everon's investigation -- figuring out who destroyed New York -- in forthcoming Book 3 of the State Of Reason mystery: Finding Reason. Book 1, Loss Of Reason, in the State Of Reason Mystery is FREE