Latest Books: January 2009 Archives

What's the inspiration behind KILL FOR ME?

When I first started KILL FOR ME, I had the mental image of a closed door. It was the door to an office in the crime scene unit of a Midwest police department and belonged to the detectives that investigated Internet crimes against children.  The officer leading the tour told me the office was locked and only the detectives on the case could go inside.  Inside were the monitors on which they viewed unspeakable crimes so they could identify the victims and track the perpetrators.  On their desks they kept pictures of their own kids, to remember what they were fighting for.  The image of "The Room" stayed with me and I started thinking about what that kind of job would do to a good soul.  That inspired the character of Special Agent Luke Papadopoulos, who is tortured by the children he can't save.

Did you know where you were headed when you wrote DIE FOR ME?

No, I had no plans to write a trilogy.  In fact, I hadn't planned the subplot involving Simon, Daniel, and Susannah Vartanian.  It was one of those wonderful surprises!  I hadn't planned to leave DIE FOR ME with the Daniel Vartanian unresolved photograph plotline, but it seemed the right thing to do.  When I'd turned in DFM and started on the next, unrelated book, I realized that Daniel and Susannah's stories needed to be told. Having written DFM independent of a "grand plan" I often found myself with loose ends that needed to be woven carefully.  I think the next time I write a trilogy, I'll plan ahead, LOL.

A PERFECT DARKNESS is part of the Offspring series, in which a group of twenty-somethings with enhanced psychic abilities discover they are the offspring of parents involved in a mysterious experiment. Together they must find the truth and fight an enemy out to destroy them.

In this first book, a sexy stranger wakes Amy Shane in the dead of night with an urgent warning. He barely has time to whisper a few words before three men burst in and drag him away. But what Lucas Vanderwyck reveals shatters Amy's safe little world forever. Lucas and Amy share a connection beyond reality and a psychic gift--a gift that could get them killed.

So you want to know a little more about the author, Jaime Rush? She's the daughter of an exiled king. Living a life of both luxury and danger while ensconced in the family palace in their adopted land of Romania, she must be ever-vigilant of the dark forces that expunged her family from the beautiful and sacred land that was once called Eden.

Not! She's actually lived in the same west Florida town her entire life, with a wonderful family and wonderful friends. The loves to swim, work out, meditate and read--and, of course, write.  Jaime has written eighteen books under the name of Tina Wainscott, and her first thriller is just coming out.  Fortunately, she was able to sit down and answer a few questions for contributing editor, Christine Goff.

During 2007 814,967 missing person records were entered into the National Crime Information Center's Database.In 2009 a mysterious gathering of authors present MISSING. Proceeds from all sales of this book will benefit the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Sample stories titles:

Coffee - A pilot searches for his mother, and redemption, in post-war Berlin. by Rebecca Cantrell

The Right Choice - Duffy races to find the pregnant daughter of a 'hot' senator before hired guns do. by Tom Schreck

Cleaning up at the Franks - An astute housekeeper scrubs a kidnapper's plans for a wealthy couple's son. by Gayle Carline

Rebecca Cantrell writes the Hannah Vogel mystery series set in 1930s Berlin. "A Trace of Smoke," the first in the Hannah Vogel series, is due out May 2009. "A Night of Long Knives," the second book in the series, is due out May 2010. Her screenplays "A Taste For Blood" and "The Humanitarian" have been finalists at Shriekfest: The Los Angeles Horror/Sci-fi Film Festival in 2007 and 2008. As of this writing, she lives in Hawaii with her husband, her son, and a feral cat.

After eighteen months in a secret prison in Southeast Asia, Dante Johnson wants only to move on with his life - until a bomb attack makes it clear that someone, somewhere won't let the past go. All signs point to Catalina Dion, the brilliant foreign agent he once believed himself in love with...the same woman suspected of selling him out...
Cat knows her young son's safety depends on her ability to remain hidden. But now Dante has tracked her down, reigniting the searing attraction between them and tempting Cat to lower her guard in potentially lethal ways. Now, together, they're on the trail of a rogue Russian scientist, risking everything on a fragile trust and a fierce hunger that may be more dangerous than any enemy they've ever faced...

"Thrilling!" -- Shannon McKenna, New York Times bestselling author

"Noble's impressive romantic thriller debut introduces hot CIA operative Dante Johnson in the first of a steamy new series. " -- Publishers Weekly

"This flat-out thriller features black ops agents who never got the chance to come in from the cold." 4.5 stars -- Romantic Times Book Reviews

Cate Noble likes trouble . . . Her specialty: high-intensity romantic thrillers that never let up - with tall, dark and devilish heroes who never let you down. A former accountant, she now enjoys making sure danger, intrigue and drop-dead romance add up to an adrenaline rush her readers won't soon forget.

In the prologue to this exceptional supernatural thriller from Masello (Bestiary), two lovers-Lt. Sinclair Copley of the 17th Lancers and Eleanor Ames, a nurse from Florence Nightingale's Harley Street hospital in London-fall into ice-strewn seas from a British sloop foundering near Antarctica in 1856. In the present, Seattle writer Michael Wilde, who's recovering from a personal tragedy, can't resist the opportunity to go to Antarctica to write a magazine article about the Point Adélie research station. Past and present stories alternate until Michael makes an amazing discovery in a submerged block of ice off the Antarctic coast-two frozen bodies, bound in chains. After Sinclair and Eleanor revive, Masello slowly and subtly reveals how they came to transcend death. The thrills and, most decidedly, the chills mount to a believable, sad and hopeful ending. Fans of John Campbell's Who Goes There? -the basis for the movie "The Thing'-will find much to like. -- Publishers Weekly

"Stunning . . . will chill you to the bone." -- Lisa Gardner

"If you've not discovered Robert Masello yet, I envy you.  Masello is a true master at blending cutting edge science, historical intrigue, and riveting thrills.  And BLOOD AND ICE is one of his best books yet, a riotous mixture of history, cryogenics, vampirism, and a chilling adventure set in the Antarctic.  It all shouldn't work, but it does!  Park in front of a warm fire and prepare to read this in one sitting!" -- James Rollins, bestselling author of The Last Oracle

Robert Masello is an award-winning journalist, television writer and the author of sixteen previous books.  His articles and essays have appeared in such diverse publications as New York, People, Parade, The Wilson Quarterly, and the Los Angeles Times.  His books have been translated into nine languages.  His novel, VIGIL, appeared on the USA Today bestseller list, and ROBERT'S RULES OF WRITING, which has become a staple in many classrooms, on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list.  He lives and works in Santa Monica, CA.

Ten Men. One robbery.
They think it's the perfect crime.
Except for one thing. The man they are robbing is the main drugs dealer in Helmand, Afghanistan. And a deadly battle with the Taliban is about to begin.

Death Force tells the story of a group of mercenaries, working for a Private Military Corporation called Dudley Emergency Forces, or DEF. But the men in the unit call it Death Inc. They are hired by the British Army to take out the headquarters of the warlord backing and financing the Taliban. Their prize? The $50 million in gold and diamonds stored in his fort. And a deadly chase across the badlands of Helmand Province is about to begin.

"Brilliant, realistic and riveting: blistering front-line action" -- Chris Ryan.

Matt Lynn has ghost-written several successful action-adventure novels, including three number one bestsellers. He has worked for The Sunday Times, and now writes a column for Bloomberg, as well as contributing to The Spectator. Death Force is the first in a new series of military thrillers.

At eighteen, Macy Ward had turned to Fisher Yates for a single night of comfort...and then Fisher joined the military while she married another man. Years later, she is a single mother, and Fisher is back in town, unaware that the troubled teen with Macy is the result of that one passionate, unforgettable night....

Macy knows that she should tell Fisher. But the military is his life--a life that never seemed to include the desire for family. Until her son's disappearance brings them together in a race to save him...and forces the ultimate decision between duty and lost love.

4 Stars from Romantic Times: Caridad Piñeiro's contribution to The Coltons: Family First, finds lovers reuniting. Soldier's Secret Child (4) feels like a wonderful dream.

4.5 Stars from Cataromance: "Intriguingly suspenseful plus overflowing with conflicting emotions, SOLDIER'S SECRET CHILD is poignantly compelling."

NY Times and USA TODAY bestseller Caridad Piñeiro is a multi-published and award-winning author whose love of the written word developed when her fifth grade teacher assigned a project - to write a book that would be placed in a class lending library. She has been hooked on writing ever since.

When Ellis Greene testified against the man who assaulted her cousin thirteen years ago he threatened that she would pay. Now he's out on parole and executing his long-planned revenge against those he feels wronged him.

Once a suspect in the attack, Nate Vance left town with only one person believing in his complete innocence, Ellis Greene. Now he returns from the shadows to protect her. As Nate and Ellis try to outwit a ruthless criminal, shocking secrets begin to emerge from the past. What really happened on that sultry South Carolina night? Will the truth protect them? Or send them straight into the trap of a killer?
 
"...a tense thriller ... taut and twisty, drawing a persuasive picture of a family distorted by unhealed grief and unrevealed secrets." -- Publishers Weekly

"Poignant in places and nail-bitingly suspenseful in others, this is one of those books readers will want to finish in one sitting." -- Romantic Times

Award winning author Susan Crandall has published seven novels since her debut (BACK ROADS) in 2003. She lives in Indiana with her husband and their mystery-mix dog, Bear.

Nuclear nonproliferation specialist Jim Deutsch fights a desperate battle against terrorists in possession of the ultimate weapon. Pitted both against the terrorists and a system too complex and unwieldy to react swiftly enough, Jim's time runs out. And then the President of the United States is faced with a truly horrific problem: the threat of losing a nuclear war to an enemy who is known only by his apocalyptic demands.

"A heart-pounding descent into dread." -- Richard Christian Matheson.

"Read Midnight and confront the unspoken terrors that world leaders, intelligence agents, and military planners must deal with on a daily basis. And then try to go back to sleep!" -- Peter Levenda

"Whitley Strieber's CRITICAL MASS is one hell of a book--a frighteningly plausible conspiracy-thriller."-- Douglas Preston

Whitley Strieber is the author of over 30 novels, including the Wolfen, the Hunger, Warday, Communion, Superstorm, the Grays and 2012. The Wolfen, the Hunger, Communion, and Superstorm (as the Day After Tomorrow) were all made into films, and the Grays and 2012 are in preproduction at Sony and Warner Bros. respectively.

For a son, every funeral before his father's death is a rehearsal and every funeral thereafter is a memorial.

Kyle Byrne, the illegitimate son of a prominent Philadelphia lawyer, had to sneak into his father's funeral when he was fourteen years old. Twelve years later, his father's death still casts a shadow upon his heart.

But when his father's former law partner is brutally murdered, the cops see Kyle as a possible suspect and start asking uncomfortable questions about his father's death. And after a strange encounter with one of his father's former clients, Kyle enters into a search for answers that leads from his father's past to the highest pinnacles of power--and forces Kyle to lay bare the deceptions and losses in his own life.

Just when it seems he's close to learning the truth about his father and the murder, Kyle is reminded of that old adage "be careful what you wish for," because Kyle Byrne's most fervent wish is suddenly about to come true--with a vengeance.

"With high wit and perfect pitch, Lashner keeps the reader spellbound." -- Harlan Coben

"Lashner is as impressive as anyone writing thrillers today." -- Washington Post Book World

"William Lashner is a remarkable writer--quick, witty, funny, and authoritative." -- Nelson DeMille

New York Times bestselling author William Lashner is the author of seven suspense novels that have been published in over a dozen languages throughout the world. A former trial attorney in the criminal division of the Department of Justice, he is also a graduate of the University of Iowa's Writers' Workshop. He lives with his family and his dog outside of Philadelphia, PA.