A new series about mind readers from a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author

Everyone thinks I’m a genius.

Everyone is wrong.

Sure, I finished Harvard at eighteen and now make crazy money at a hedge fund. But that’s not because I’m unusually smart or hard-working.

It’s because I cheat.

You see, I have a unique ability. I can go outside time into my own personal version of reality—the place I call “the Quiet”—where I can explore my surroundings while the rest of the world stands still.

I thought I was the only one who could do this—until I met her.

My name is Darren, and this is how I became entangled with all the Russians and learned that I’m a Reader.

New York Times bestselling author Allison Brennan introduces an irrepressible heroine in her pulse-pounding new thriller Notorious, which Lisa Gardner says is, "Guaranteed to keep you up late at night."

Maxine Revere has dedicated her life to investigating murders that the police have long since given up any hope of solving. A nationally renowned investigative reporter with her own TV show and a tough-as-nails reputation, Max tackles cold cases from across the country and every walk of life. But the one unsolved murder that still haunts her is a case from her own past.

When Max was a high school senior, one of her best friends was strangled and another, Kevin O'Neal, accused of the crime. To the disgrace of her wealthy family, Max stood by her friend, until she found out he lied about his alibi. Though his guilt was never proven, their relationship crumbled from the strain of too many secrets.

Now Max is home for Kevin's funeral—after years of drug abuse, he committed suicide. She's finally prepared to come to terms with the loss of his friendship, but she's not prepared for Kevin's sister to stubbornly insist that he didn't kill himself. Or for an elderly couple to accost her at the airport, begging her to look into another murder at Max's old high school. Max is more interested in the cold case at her alma mater than in digging around Kevin's troubled life, but she agrees to do both. As Max uncovers dark secrets, she finds herself caught in a complicated web of lies that hit far too close to home. And it's becoming increasingly clear that someone will do whatever it takes to make sure the truth stays buried.

This Bundle Contains Books 1-3 of the FPU Series. Contains: Wolf Protector, Dangerous Protector and Unwanted Protector

Wolf Protector
A woman with a secret…
The Federal Paranormal Unit is an elite squad of supernaturals dedicated to solving missing persons cases. Erica’s gift allows her a special connection with the crime, but it comes at a deep personal cost… Until now, she’s kept her gift a secret, even from the other members of the team. But this case will throw her together with Agent Trent Buchanan. He’s the object of her secret desires, but he’s also a cocky womanizer. She’d rather swim in shark-infested waters with a paper cut than admit she has feelings for him.

A man with one desire…
Wolf Shifter Trent wants Erica more than he’s ever wanted any woman. He’s spent years patiently waiting for her to admit that she wants him too. Working one-on-one in a race to find a serial killer, Trent’s patience and Erica’s resolve wear thin. When Trent discovers the truth about Erica, will he accept her for who she is? And can he protect her from the horrors that her gift brings?

A case that pushes them to the edge…
Erica will have to risk it all if she wants to stop the killer, and when she does, Trent may have to put his own life on the line to make sure his mate is protected…

Dangerous Protector
If you run from love, you're asking for a chase...

James Brock lived the past ten years without the woman he loves. Using his job as head of the Federal Paranormal Unit to help others, he's done a good job of ignoring his lack of a personal life until she returns. His salvation. His first love.

Cynthia Vega had a very good reason to leave the only man she loved after she'd accepted his marriage proposal. Now she's back as his boss. And he's not willing to ignore their chemistry or the past.

Brock is determined to claim his mate and prove that their passion is even hotter than before. He wants her and her explanation behind their separation. Except, some secrets won't stay buried in the past. Brock will fight his demons to follow her lead, but Cynthia's reluctance to explain their lost love may be the one key to their destruction...

Unwanted Protector
Jane Donovan has been living a lie. Every day for the past ten years, she's run from reality and the temptation that Tony Ramirez represents. But this year, Jane’s getaway is filled with more than just relaxation; there’s a dead man on her kitchen floor. Suddenly, keeping Tony away is the last thing Jane can do.

Tony Ramirez has wanted Jane for ten years. While she may not be his mate, the attraction is undeniable. When he can’t shake the feeling he needs to check on her, he decides to crash her vacation to ensure her safety. When he gets to her cabin, Jane is gone and nobody knows where she could be.

Finding out who the dead man is may be the least of their troubles when a pint-sized, pink-haired little girl who needs help suddenly makes an appearance. Unfortunately for Jane, the trouble with a small lie is that it grows with time. The truth may come to light before she’s ready. Now they have a murder, a child, a mystery, and the unwavering attraction to deal with.

Reader Note: These books are a work of fiction. There's hot, sweaty, naughty sex, adult language, lots of violence and blood. Heroines with a sassy attitude and growly Alpha males that will claim their mates at any cost. If this is not the kind of stuff you like to read, skip this book. However, if you're a fan of all things naughty, sexual tension, action and humor, this is perfect for you. Enjoy!

The one guy I always wanted is finally back in my grasp.

My older brother’s best friend.

The hottest guy from my youth. The one that kept me awake at night.

And still does.

I wanted him to notice me so badly, but he never did.

And now I’m grown and have kick-ass curves.

A trip up the mountains brings me face to face with him again.

Nothing has changed except me. And my increased desire for this rugged, heartbroken man.

He’s been my crush all my life, but we’re about to be far more.

This time, I’m not giving up or giving in.

Not until he’s all mine.

COZY, CLASSIC TALES OF MURDER AND ROMANCE

A yummy anthology containing FIVE top-rated cozy mysteries, each featuring smart and savvy ladies—who aren’t afraid to kick some butt. PLUS a romantic puzzler bonus, which isn’t at all what you might expect…

From murder at a conference in fashionable Provence to an underground feminist bordello in San Francisco (with a pit stop on the Gulf Cost where a killer’s on the loose while a hurricane closes in), Cozy Leading Ladies is sure to satisfy mystery readers who love their independent female sleuths. (Friendly piece of advice: it’s probably best to read the collection with a box of chocolates or your favorite brand of potato chips really nearby).

Vol. 1: DEATH TURNS A TRICK, the FIRST book in the Rebecca Schwartz mystery series by Edgar Award Winner Julie Smith

A ROLLICKING TALE OF MURDER, ROMANCE, AND A BORDELLO…

Rebecca Schwartz, nice Jewish lawyer with a few too many fantasies, is happily playing the piano in a whorehouse when she suddenly finds herself assigned to make sure a near-naked state senator escapes a police raid. That dirty job done, a lovely evening turns even more delightful when she’s picked up by the cops and spends the next two hours at the Hall of Justice. Could this day get any worse? Of course! Guess who arrives home to find a dead hooker on her living room floor?

Vol. 2: THE AURA, the FIRST Kate Benedict Paranormal Mystery by Carrie Bedford

Life spins out of control for London architect Kate Benedict when she sees a dancing aura above certain people’s heads that seems to signal death. Suddenly she’s psychic. But that can't be! Psychic’s not acceptable in her circle, where the supernatural is strictly for the superstitious. And yet…people are dying. People close to her.

Vol. 3: THE 13^th FELLOW, A Mystery In Provence by Tracy Whiting

POETRY, MURDER, BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE ... AND PROVENCE!

American Professor Havilah Gaie has always seen herself as “an academic version of Pam Grier’s characters: smart, quick on their feet, loyal with a keen sense of purpose.” Now she’s got a chance to suit up for action because suddenly she’s a witness in a murder.

Vol. 4: HURRICANE SEASON: Florida Panhandle Mystery #1 by Michaela Thompson

“Miss Marple meets Eudora Welty (with a trace of Erskine Caldwell)” –Kirkus

The 1950s fairly leap off the page in this classic cozy mystery set in northern Florida in the Eisenhower era, complete with Johnny Ray on the jukebox and a Womanless Wedding—this one interrupted by an explosion at a moonshine still. Lily Trulock, owner of Trulock’s Grocery & Marine Supply, leads a pretty quiet life until a stranger comes to town. Before she can say, “down the hatch,” Lily’s at the center of a vicious murder and a no-holds-barred bootlegging war—and a nasty storm’s on the way.

Vol. 5: PICK-UP LINE A New Orleans Love Story by Patty Friedmann

ROMANCE IS THE BEST PAIN-KILLER…

Cupid’s working overtime in the unlikely venue of N.O. Drugs, where plus-sized beauty Ciana Jambon works with dread-locked pharmacy student Lennon Israel, and she’s got the crush of the century. Unbeknownst to her, Lennon’s carrying his own torch, but family problems distract both of them until tragedy leaves Ciana reeling. Lennon wonders if there’s a murderer in her clan, and he’s pretty sure he’s the only one who can help.

BONUS! DIAMONDS IN THE SKY: A mysterious Southern Love Story by M.A. Harper

A curmudgeon. An iconoclast. A loner. That's how people describe Garrison Gage, and that's when they're being charitable.

After his wife's brutal murder in New York, and Gage himself is beaten nearly to death, the crippled private investigator retreats three thousand miles to the quaint coastal town of Barnacle Bluffs, Oregon. He spends the next five years in a convalescent stupor, content to bide his time filling out crossword puzzles and trying to forget that his wife's death is his fault. But all that changes when he discovers the body of a young woman washed up on the beach, and his conscience draws him back into his old occupation – forcing him to confront the demons of his own guilt before he can hope to solve the girl's murder.

"It was a shrewd marketing move for author Jack Nolte to entitle his first mystery novel The Gray and Guilty Sea. It makes it nearly irresistible for an old John D. MacDonald fan like me . . . Recommended." -- Brandywine Books

"The Gray and Guilty Sea is quite an enjoyable novel that engages a reader on multiple levels." -- Stimulated Outlet Book Reviews

“Jack Nolte’s outstanding debut crime novel set on the Oregon coast and starring a misanthropic former detective is as much a fascinating character study as it is an original story.” – Michael J. Totten, author of The Road to Fatima Gate.

JACK NOLTE lives a stone's throw from the Oregon coast with his wife and children. He is also author of the collection of crime and suspense stories, EVERYBODY LOVES A HERO. Find out more about his work on his website: www.jacknolte.com.

Princess of Sky, Earth, Fire and Water

The Princess of Nature Series, Book One

In 1772, Lady Aisling inherits an army of men and a fleet of merchant ships.
But her greatest legacy is her new powers -- the ability to control sky, earth, fire and water.

Thrust into a new world, she is now part of a secret society, serving as ambassador to kings and courts around the globe.

Hurled onto distant shores, she meets her greatest challenge - a warrior prince whose love is so fierce that it threatens to destroy both their lives.

Together, they face ruthless enemies and royal intrigue, fighting for their very survival, and a chance for enduring love.

If you like fantasy, action-adventure and romance, you'll love this novel by Cassandra Finnerty.

The Templetons have inherited a fortune but there's a catch...

Minerva Templeton has a reputation for being, well, something of a recluse.  A wallflower, if you will. 
However, due to her grandfather’s demands, all that must change. She must travel to the wilds of Scotland to fetch a mysterious something. Minerva cannot fathom why she should be the one to have to bring home this object but if she does not, their grandfather’s fortune will go to a most underserving man. 

So off she sets to Scotland where she must brave all manner of awful things—things this wallflower avoids at all costs after a traumatic experience as a child. 

But after the death of her beloved Grandpapa, she cannot help wondering if she should be brave. Bolder. Try new things.

Like meeting a handsome Scottish farmer turned wealthy landowner.  Like kissing him perhaps?  Like falling desperately in love with the brooding, wonderful man?

No, that’s a few too many new things. After all, there’s only so many new experiences a wallflower can have…

Maddie Frye, the Checkerberry Inn's snarky, introverted chef, just wants to be left alone. But with the inn's upcoming gala, Maddie's boss has matchmaking on the brain. So when the gorgeous new guy in town helps her out for a night, she comes up with the perfect solution to her problem…

Cole Granville is looking for a fresh start. When a part-time job opens in the Checkerberry's kitchen, he takes it without a second thought. The only catch? He's got to help his sexy new coworker snag a date for an upcoming dance. But as he coaches Maddie on attracting her crush, Cole realizes he's the one falling for the curvy brunette.

Each book in the Checkerberry Inn series is a standalone story that can be enjoyed out of order.
Series Order:
Book #1 Her Unexpected Detour
Book #2 Her Unexpected Engagement
Book #3 Her Unexpected Hero

A RIP-ROARING, PULSE-POUNDING FLORIDA PUZZLER...
 

“A ripping good yarn … an exciting tale.” —Publishers Weekly
“... an imaginative plot, some rousing action, a black-hearted villain, a cute kid, some gently ironic humor, and a heroine who's appealing without being perfect.” —Booklist

As intricate as a fisherman’s net, Riptide fairly writhes with sinister delights—family secrets, family feuds, lost family fortunes, betrayals, puzzles, sunken treasure… and murder, of course. With a bit of illicit romance and treachery thrown in for seasoning. This rife atmosphere swirls around New york artist Isabel Anders, who’s summoned home to tiny St. Elmo, Florida to deal with an emergency: the aunt who raised her has been brutally—and mysteriously—injured.

Isabel arrives to find the family mansion in ruins, her aunt living in a trailer, and, dangerous as a cottonmouth, the lover she left at sixteen just where he used to be. Waiting for her. Except now he’s got a grudge against her, a secret of his own, and some unsavory companions. Just when Isabel’s aunt seems to be getting better (but before she’s able to talk again) she dies just as mysteriously as she was injured. Suspecting murder, Isabel quickly ties her aunt’s death to another.

But to find the killer, she has to hack her way through a small-town jungle of intrigue and several generations of interrelated secrets, producing hours of pulse-pounding delight for the confirmed puzzle fan.

WHO WILL LIKE IT: Fans of Laura Lippman, Kate Atkinson, intelligent cozies like those by G.M. Malliett, Elizabeth Zelvin, and Gillian Roberts, British puzzlemeisters like the great Dorothy L. Sayers herself, all BBC mysteries, and of course, Michaela Thompson’s own Hurricane Season.

In this runaway New York Times bestseller, a harrowing near-death experience brings together an English teacher and her student as they struggle to survive on a desert island.

Sixteen-year-old T.J. Callahan has no desire to go anywhere. With his cancer in remission, all he wants is to get back to his normal life. But his parents insist that he spend the summer catching up on the school he missed while he was sick.

Anna Emerson is a thirty-year-old English teacher who has been worn down by the cold Chicago winters and a relationship that’s going nowhere. To break up the monotony of everyday life, she jumps at the chance to spend the summer on a tropical island tutoring T.J.

Anna and T.J. board a private plane headed to the Callahans’ summer home, but as they fly over the Maldives’ twelve hundred islands, the unthinkable happens: their plane crashes in shark-infested waters. They make it to shore, but soon discover they’re stranded on an uninhabited island.

At first, their only thought is survival. But as the days turn to weeks, and then months, and as birthdays pass, the castaways must brave violent tropical storms, the many dangers lurking in the sea, and the worst threat of all—the possibility that T.J.’s cancer could return. With only each other for love and support, these two lost souls must come to terms with their situation and find compaionship in one another in the moments they need it most.

FOR FANS OF CHUCK PALAHNIUK AND JACK KEROUAC.

Zach just left the hospital determined to get his life together. But life away from the support of a team of doctor’s and nurses isn't easy. His demons pervade every aspect of life--no matter how much medication he’s on.

A tortured psychological romance between two deeply damaged people. Zach is a paranoid psychotic who falls in lust with a neurotic, compulsive cutter he meets online named Emma:

The lovely, but anxious and self mutilating girl with dyed hair has demons of her own.

As Zach and Emma get closer, they find themselves falling in love despite their dangerous idiosyncrasies. Will the pair be able to look past their own personal dervishes, or will mental illness unravel their blossoming love?

Nomad biker: a solitary life, riding from place to place.

Flux once wore the Insurgents MC patch and his territory was Colorado. Now his bottom rocker reads Nomad.

The open road is Flux’s therapy and facing a 1,500-pound bull in the rodeo ring is the way he blocks out the memories. One-night stands, booze and plenty of weed have done a damn good job at keeping his heart locked up.

Until he meets a sassy barrel rider.

The golden hair vixen runs rings around him faster than she rides her horse in the arena, and he can’t keep away from her. For the first time since the unspeakable tragedy happened, something stirs inside him.

But he has a long iceberg of guilt that he doesn’t want to get rid of. He’s chosen to live with it as a reminder of what has happened. Couple that with a bunch of inner demons that don’t play nice and he’s nothing but a shell of who he once was.

Maggie Haves hasn’t known anything except the discipline of practice. Touted as one of the best barrel riders to hit the rodeo circuit, Maggie doesn’t have time for anything that will veer her off the pro rodeo trail.

Rugged, tatted and muscular Flux is a very big distraction. Not to mention complicated beyond belief.

Flux has lived on the wild side most of his life, whereas Maggie has always played it safe. She knows the biker is danger in leather, but she’s drawn to him like a moth to a flame. Something about him keeps luring her, and she’s willing to take a chance on love with this imperfect man even if it destroys her.

Will Maggie be the one to show Flux that he deserves to live again … and forgive himself, or will his demons devour her before he throws her away?

Can two unlikely people find love in the midst of so much darkness?

The Nomad Biker series are standalone romance novels. This is Flux’s story. This book contains violence, abuse, strong language, and steamy/graphic sexual scenes. HEA. No cliffhangers. The book is intended for readers over the age of 18.

They have eyes for each other. But someone is eyeing them for murder. An erotic gay romance mystery.

In the Junior students’ dormitory at Oakschott Hall, a heavy gaslight falls from the ceiling, crushing the head of a student sleeping beneath it. Was it simply a tragic accident? To avoid publicity, the Headmaster asks Colin Revell, a young Oxford University graduate and former Oakschott student, to quietly investigate.
While interviewing the faculty and staff, Colin meets Max Lambourne, a handsome don who was wounded and gassed in WWI. When Colin tries to help Max overcome his trauma and depression, the two men fall in love and begin an erotic affair.
But when another student dies—diving at night into an empty swimming pool—murder is suspected. Students and faculty all come under suspicion, and rumors proliferate when Scotland Yard intervenes. Meanwhile, during all this confusion and wild theories, the murderer sees Colin and Max as threats. Unbeknownst to the two lovers, their lives are now in danger.

House of Blues is the FIFTH book in the Edgar Award-winning Skip Langdon Series by Julie Smith.

"One of the best of the Skip Langdon series" -St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"...two-fisted action, tender romance, and nail-biting suspense..." -The Jackson Clarion Ledger
DISTURBING FAMILY SECRETS, A CURIOUS KIDNAPPING, AND COLD-BLOODED MURDER HAUNT THIS GRITTY AND MYSTERIOUS SOUTHERN DRAMA.

Sugar Hebert arrives home from a ten-minute errand to find her husband shot to death and the rest of her family missing—including her daughter Reed, heir apparent to the Hebert restaurant dynasty, and Reed's eleven-month-old daughter.

Detective Skip Langdon’s hunt for a murderer and the missing Hebert heirs embraces worlds within worlds—splendid but dangerous Garden District digs, Faubourg Marigny drug dens, broken-down projects, lowdown bars, an elegant hangout for crooked politicos, and a dealer’s crib masquerading as a sultan’s palace, harem and all. A palm reader warns Langdon of danger, but it comes when she's least prepared for it. Before long, the mob’s involved (maybe there’s a reason Hebert’s Restaurant won the lucrative casino contract), and so are family secrets so ugly they’d make Tennessee Williams wince. Everyone has them—the Heberts, the mob princess, even the crooked cop.

And Langdon finds she should have listened to the damned palm reader.

"The real star of this superb effort is New Orleans, which has never seemed more dangerous or alluring—or less easy." -Publishers Weekly

"Smith brings the city strikingly alive." -Boston Sunday Globe

“...proves once again that Julie smith is one of our most talented mystery writers and that Skip Langdon is one of the most engaging modern detectives to have appeared on the American scene in the last two decades." -The Clarion Ledger

Fans of Ace Atkins, Tana French, and Marcia Muller will love cop-protagonist Skip Langdon’s pluck in this murder mystery of unusual emotional depth.

Excerpt:
Finally, arriving slightly out of breath, she remembered she hadn't brought her purse, had simply picked up Reed's key and hurried out.

Feeling silly, she rang her own doorbell and waited. It was probably a full two minutes before she realized no one was coming. Glancing around for Reed's car, she didn't notice it at first, wondered if Dennis and Reed had gotten so mad they'd stalked out.

But in that case why hadn't they come home?

She marched to the side of the house and turned over the rock under which she kept an extra key. Letting herself in, she felt for the first time a slight sense of foreboding; the lock didn't give at first, not until she'd turned the key a few times. Could it be the door hadn't been locked? Had she unwittingly locked it herself, then had to fiddle to unlock it?

"Arthur?" she called. Getting no answer, she turned from the hall into the dining room, where her family should have been.

Instead there was blood.

Red on the cream walls, splashed as if a kid had filled a balloon with blood and fanned his arm in a great and joyous arc to empty it. But it was as if he'd done it sitting on the floor. The blood was low on the wall, and above the splashes, there was a bloody handprint. Blood was also pooled on the floor.

Blood. Like something in a movie. Or on television; an event in someone else's life.

The heavy mahogany table had been upended. China, silver, and beans had spilled every which way, and chairs were overturned, though not Sally's high chair, which was empty.

Arthur lay on the floor, face-up, eyes open, white shirt soaked red. There was blood on his pants too, at the groin.

The house was so still Sugar's breath sounded like screaming.


COVER PHOTO BY PAUL RICO

For the past seventy years, deep in the mountains and totally secluded from civilization, a matriarchal society has thrived. In this small village there are no brothers, no fathers, no sons. In this village men exist only to serve the women, and boys have no mothers. In this village men do as they are told and defiance is severely punished.

This is the only life Wilderness has ever known, but when Jameson is brought in from the outside to be her husband, everything she thought she knew about strength and love is tested. As they struggle to find their place in the village, they suddenly find themselves face to face with outsiders who threaten to destroy everything they love, and it doesn’t take long to realize that they will have to work together, men and women alike, if they want to survive.

There are descendants of angels walking among us. Ember is one of them.

Praise for Embers
“An impending apocalypse provides a compelling backdrop for romance in this page-turning first installment of a new YA series. Hopkins expertly weaves her plotlines together in this compulsively readable teen romance story…Hopkins delivers many successful elements of young-adult romance—appealing lead characters, high-voltage chemistry, repressed sexuality—which will win her ardent followers." Kirkus Reviews

“Embers is the start of an action-packed paranormal YA series. Ms. Hopkins draws the reader immediately in with her richly drawn prologue that introduces the lurking evil in a breath-taking manner. a must read for YA, paranormal, fantasy and suspense fans. Make that a delight for any reader!" Ind'Tale Magazine

Embers is an epic paranormal adventure/romance about an eighteen year old girl who discovers that she's immune to fire and any other injury when she’s in a horrific car crash that kills her parents. Following a violent episode with her aunt's boyfriend, Ember flees Ohio to live with an old relative in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. Ember's exuberance at escaping a bad home life soon turns to trepidation when she learns that she's a Watcher, a descendant of angels.

While Ember is instructed about her heritage and the powers that go along with it, she strikes up friendships with two teenagers who live inside of a frightening walled compound in the forest. Inexplicably drawn to one of the young men in particular, an impossible romance develops. But it’s cut short when Ember discovers that her new friends are fighting on the opposite side of a war that's been raging between two factions of Watchers for thousands of years. When the compound’s inhabitants threaten the townspeople, Ember takes action, sealing her fate in the ancient battle of good versus evil, and the grayness in between.

Gaia and Tempest, the second and third books in the Wings of War series, are now available!

Patricia Cornwell delivers the newest engrossing thriller in her high-stakes series starring medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta.

Depraved Heart: “Void of social duty and fatally bent on mischief.”

—Mayes v. People, 806 III. 306 (1883)

Dr. Kay Scarpetta is working a suspicious death scene in Cambridge, Massachusetts when an emergency alert sounds on her phone. A video link lands in her text messages and seems to be from her computer genius niece Lucy. But how can it be? It’s clearly a surveillance film of Lucy taken almost twenty years ago.

As Scarpetta watches she begins to learn frightening secrets about her niece, whom she has loved and raised like a daughter. That film clip and then others sent soon after raise dangerous legal implications that increasingly isolate Scarpetta and leave her confused, worried, and not knowing where to turn. She doesn’t know whom she can tell—not her FBI husband Benton Wesley or her investigative partner Pete Marino. Not even Lucy.

In this new novel, Cornwell launches these unforgettable characters on an intensely psychological odyssey that includes the mysterious death of a Hollywood mogul’s daughter, aircraft wreckage on the bottom of the sea in the Bermuda Triangle, a grisly gift left in the back of a crime scene truck, and videos from the past that threaten to destroy Scarpetta’s entire world and everyone she loves. The diabolical presence behind what unfolds seems obvious—but strangely, not to the FBI. Certainly that’s the message they send when they raid Lucy’s estate and begin building a case that could send her to prison for the rest of her life.

In the latest novel in her bestselling series featuring chief medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta, Cornwell will captivate readers with the shocking twists, high-wire tension, and cutting-edge forensic detail that she is famous for, proving yet again why she’s the world’s #1 bestselling crime writer.

Return to the sprawling universe of the Galactic Commons, as humans, artificial intelligence, aliens, and some beings yet undiscovered explore what it means to be a community in this exciting third adventure in the acclaimed and multi-award-nominated science fiction Wayfarers series, brimming with heartwarming characters and dazzling space adventure.

Hundreds of years ago, the last humans on Earth boarded the Exodus Fleet in search of a new home among the stars. After centuries spent wandering empty space, their descendants were eventually accepted by the well-established species that govern the Milky Way.

But that was long ago. Today, the Exodus Fleet is a living relic, the birthplace of many, yet a place few outsiders have ever visited. While the Exodans take great pride in their original community and traditions, their culture has been influenced by others beyond their bulkheads. As many Exodans leave for alien cities or terrestrial colonies, those who remain are left to ponder their own lives and futures: What is the purpose of a ship that has reached its destination? Why remain in space when there are habitable worlds available to live? What is the price of sustaining their carefully balanced way of life—and is it worth saving at all?

A young apprentice, a lifelong spacer with young children, a planet-raised traveler, an alien academic, a caretaker for the dead, and an Archivist whose mission is to ensure no one’s story is forgotten, wrestle with these profound universal questions. The answers may seem small on the galactic scale, but to these individuals, it could mean everything.