Drug pirates stalk their victims in the treacherous waters of the Bahamas, then return to their fortress island of Murder Cay like primal sharks after a kill. Then comes skipper Nicholas Breakspear with the son and daughter of a U.S. senator. What should have been a simple de-tox cruise soon lurches into a voyage of terror and death when Breakspear is lured into a horrifying plot of cocaine, cash, and cold-blooded killings. Suddenly, he's racing through the shadowy kingdom of drug lords to save the woman he loves...one step ahead of his own murder, and one step away from the big crackdown on Murder Cay.

Welcome to the Custer Hill Club--an informal men's club set in a luxurious Adirondack hunting lodge whose members include some of America's most powerful business leaders, military men, and government officials. Ostensibly, the club is a place to gather with old friends, hunt, eat, drink, and talk off-the-record about war, life, death, sex and politics. But one Fall weekend, the Executive Board of the Custer Hill Club gathers to talk about the tragedy of 9/11 and what America must do to retaliate. Their plan is finalized and set into motion. That same weekend, a member of the Federal Anti-Terrorist Task Force is reported missing. His body is soon discovered in the woods near the Custer Hill Club's game reserve. The death appears to be a hunting accident, and that's how the local police first report it, but Detective John Corey has his doubts. As he digs deeper, he begins to unravel a plot involving the Custer Hill Club, a top-secret plan known only by its code name: Wild Fire. Racing against the clock, Detective Corey and his wife, FBI agent Kate Mayfield, find they are the only people in a position to stop the button from being pushed and chaos from being unleashed.

Darkness, or blackness, is the state of being dark, or the absence of light. In our world, it is associated with the strange, the unusual—the horrific, the evil that coexists in our universe. In this book, explore the darkest and most twisted depths of our world through six tales of terror and three unique poems. Don't wait, the horror awaits.

"How can a guy have driven a hundred thousand miles by the time he turns twenty-one, and never leave the same town?"T.J. Lawton keeps asking himself that question until one desert night when everything changes.Peter Claydon is an R.A.F pilot during The Battle of Britain. Fate leads him on a mission to pursue a traitor in occupied France.

From the Foreword by J.A. Konrath: "Crouch is one of the best thriller short story writers I know. He uses words like an artist uses a paintbrush; to hurt, to stun, to shock, to provoke, to touch. This collection also features my very favorite short story of all time. Not just my favorite by Crouch, but the best one I've ever read by anyone. It's called "Unconditional." It is flat-out brilliant and unforgettable, and that one tale is worth the price of this entire collection." From the author of DESERT PLACES and LOCKED DOORS comes this complete collection of short stories and novellas. *69 - Tim and Laura West receive a bizarre voicemail on their answering machine that seems to have unintentionally recorded a brutal murder. But what happens when the killer realizes their mistake? This story develops over one terrifying evening, and this young couple will never be the same. REMAKING - Tragic events unfold in a snowy, sleepy Colorado town. From the first scene, in which a man sits alone in the cold, watching a father and son in a diner, you know something is about to go horribly wrong. You may think you know what's happening, but in this thrilling, heartbreaking story, nothing is as it seems. ON THE GOOD, RED ROAD - A group of four hard men trying to reach a remote 19th Century mining town become stranded in an early blizzard and resort to drastic, terrifying measures, to stay alive. SHINING ROCK - An older couple encounter a strange and menacing visitor during a camping trip in the North Carolina mountains. Friendly at first, this stranger seems to know them, seems to know their secrets, and as things escalate, they become convinced that they may never leave these mountains alive. PERFECT LITTLE TOWN - Ron and Jessica Stahl are a power couple from California, on a Christmas holiday in Colorado. When they stop for the afternoon in sleepy Lone Cone, they're charmed by the quaint tourist town. But the folksy hospitality will vanish as the sun drops behind the mountains. The Stahls couldn't have picked a worse night of the year to get snowed into this perfect little town with a dark, dark secret. SERIAL - The classic horror short I wrote with J.A. Konrath, in which we turn our attention to the twin golden rules of hitchhiking: # 1: Don't go hitchhiking, because the driver who picks you up could be certifiably crazy. # 2: Don't pick up hitchhikers, because the traveler you pick up could be a raving nutcase. So what if, on some dark, isolated road, Crazy #1 offered a ride to Nutcase #2? THE NEWTON BOYS' LAST PHOTOGRAPH - At 25 words, the shortest story I ever wrote. But it packs a wallop. THE METEOROLOGIST - Peter, a disgraced meteorologist and chronic wanderer, has traveled the country for years in his Winnebago, in search of the only thing that gives his life meaning. He's just arrived in the middle of nowhere-Hokie, Kansas-for the same purpose, but when he meets a waitress named Melanie, another sufferer, he's faced not only with his first real human contact in years, but perhaps someone who can save him. UNCONDITIONAL - A conversation between two people-devastating, tragic, and beautiful. THE PAIN OF OTHERS - Letty Dobesh, a gorgeous, degenerate thief, is fresh out of the clink and back to her old tricks-in this case, burglarizing suites at a luxury hotel in Asheville, North Carolina. But when she's surprised by returning guests on her last room of the day, she's forced to hide in the closet to avoid getting caught, and inadvertently overhears a hitman being contracted to murder the wife of a wealthy lawyer. This 60,000-word short story collection also contains a foreword by J.A. Konrath and introductions to each story by the author. BLAKE CROUCH is the author of four novels and numerous short stories, including "Serial" which he co-wrote with J.A. Konrath and has been downloaded more than 300,000 times. He lives in southwest Colorado, where he is at work on a new book. His website is www.blakecrouch.co

Two secret societies vie for control of the ultimate medical miracle--Panacea--in the latest novel by New York Times bestselling author F. Paul Wilson. Medical examiner Laura Hanning has two charred corpses and no answers. Both bear a mysterious tattoo but exhibit no known cause of death. Their only connection to one another is a string of puzzling miracle cures. Her preliminary investigation points to a cult in the possession of the fabled panacea--the substance that can cure all ills--but that's impossible. Laura finds herself unknowingly enmeshed in an ancient conflict between the secretive keepers of the panacea and the equally secretive and far more deadly group known only as 536, a brotherhood that fervently believes God intended for humanity to suffer, not be cured. Laura doesn't believe in the panacea, but that doesn't prevent the agents of 536 from trying to kill her. A reclusive, terminally ill billionaire hires Laura to research the possibility of the panacea. The billionaire's own body guard, Rick Hayden, a mercenary who isn't who he pretends to be, has to keep her alive as they race to find the legendary panacea before the agents of 536 can destroy it. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

It is called zero point energy, and it really exists—a state of energy contained in all matter everywhere, and thus all but unlimited. Nobody has ever found a way to tap into it, however—until one scientist discovers a way. Or at least he thinks he has. The problem is, his machines also cause great earthquakes, even fissures in tectonic plates. One machine is buried deep underground; the other is submerged in a vast ocean trench. If Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala and the rest of the NUMA team aren’t able to find and destroy them, and soon, the world will be on the threshold of a new era of earth tremors and unchecked volcanism. Now, that can’t be good.

In The Silent Sister, Riley MacPherson has spent her entire life believing that her older sister Lisa committed suicide as a teenager. Now, over twenty years later, her father has passed away and she's in New Bern, North Carolina cleaning out his house when she finds evidence to the contrary. Lisa is alive. Alive and living under a new identity. But why exactly was she on the run all those years ago, and what secrets are being kept now? As Riley works to uncover the truth, her discoveries will put into question everything she thought she knew about her family. Riley must decide what the past means for her present, and what she will do with her newfound reality, in this engrossing mystery from international bestselling author Diane Chamberlain.

The Plank family moved from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to join the small Amish community of Painters Mill less than a year ago and seemed the model of the Plain Life—until on a cold October night, the entire family of seven was found slaughtered on their farm. Police Chief Kate Burkholder and her small force have few clues, no motive, and no suspect. Formerly Amish herself, Kate is no stranger to the secrets the Amish keep from the English—and each other—but this crime is horribly out of the ordinary. State agent John Tomasetti arrives on the scene to assist. He and Kate worked together on a previous case during which they began a volatile relationship. They soon realize the disturbing details of this case will test their emotional limits and force them to face demons from their own troubled pasts—and for Kate, a personal connection that is particularly hard to bear. When she discovers a diary that belonged to one of the teenaged daughters, Kate is shocked to learn the girl kept some very dark secrets and may have been living a lurid double life. Who is the charismatic stranger who stole the young Amish girl’s heart? Could the brother—a man with a violent past, rejected and shunned by his family and the Amish community, have come to seek out revenge? As Kate’s outrage grows so does her resolve to find the killer and bring him to justice—even if it means putting herself in the line of fire.

BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Dean Koontz's The City. A secret Arctic experiment becomes a frozen nightmare, when a team of scientists are set adrift on an iceberg--with a murderer in their midst, and a massive explosive charge only hours away from detonation. This original early Koontz novel--in the tradition of Winter Moon--is now available in large print edition, releasing simultaneously with Ballantine's mass market edition.

After the death of her parents, little Ann has lived under the guardianship of Aunt Margaret, constantly moving from place to place. For many, high school is a time of nostalgia, but for Ann it holds a secret so terrible that she has buried it under years of false memories. With the help of an unknown guide, they delve into her past to uncover a long hidden secret. The results will surprise you.Under the guardianship of Aunt Margaret; after the death of her parents at age five, Little Ann had suffered through a constantly changing environment before they finally settled in a small town outside Durango. For a time life was happy until she started high school. For many, looking back on high school is a time of nostalgia, but for Ann it held a secret so terrible that she had buried it under years of false memories. But with the help of a seemingly unknown guide, they delve into her past to uncover a long hidden secret that has plagued her since childhood. What will happen when her unknown guide forces her to face a conflict that has caused such heart break? Who will be her savior, as a voice from her past reaches out to guide and save her. And why is the voice so strangely silent as she faces the truth buried in her past? The results will not be what you expect.

What looks like a cathedral suddenly begins to emerge from the sands of the Mojave Desert. Scientist believe it is a natural phenomenon but a local religious leader insists it is a sign from the Lord of the second coming of Christ.Due to a freak auto accident, Jack Carpenter discovers a strange geological formation in the Mojave Desert near Bat Mountain, California. He thinks little about it until he returns out of curiosity and discovers the formation is growing, and doing so at a staggering rate. Fascinated by this, he calls in his friend George Parker, a local geology professor, and together they begin to study the Bat Mountain Formation in earnest.Professor Parker has never seen or heard of a geological formation that is growing nearly six inches a day, so he contacts a friend at the U.S. Park Service to get him to take a look. Eventually word of the bizarre discovery gets out and people flock to see this miracle in the desert, which is beginning to look like a cathedral. Seeing an opportunity to save his failing Church of the Living Desert, Reverend John Little proclaims that the Bat Mountain Formation is, indeed, a cathedral and it is being built by God to herald the second coming of Christ.But before Reverend Little and his flock can get their movement off the ground, the U.S. Army steps in and declares the formation a potential public hazard and possible threat to national security. A series of mysterious deaths and the inability of scientist to explain the phenomenon gives credence to the Army's concern.

The story of a man who is cloned so perfectly that no one can tell which is which ... including the clone and the original donor.Navy Commander Rob Tyler is a former SEAL who is close to retirement. He is looking forward to spending some quality time with his family when his friend Captain Benny Walsh asks him to be the test subject in a genetic experiment, something Tyler has strong moral convictions against. He balks at first, but in the end, out of loyalty to his friend, he agrees. In the midst of this, a hostile foreign government has infiltrated the cloning facility located beneath an Air Force base in central Georgia. Using new technologies, a team of scientists creates a clone of Tyler that is identical in every respect. The clone even believes that it is the real Rob Tyler. When both Tyler and the clone suffer a traumatic psychological event that leaves one in a coma and the other with a nine-year lapse in his memory, the scientists attempt to move them to a better-equipped medical facility. But on the way to this facility, a vehicle accident combined with an attempt by the hostile agents to steal the cloning technology sets an incredible stage. Among the tangled confusion of the wreck, no one is certain which is Rob Tyler and which is the clone. Henceforth, the two will be forced to travel down very different paths.

Detective Lindsay Boxer has everything she could possibly want. Her marriage and baby daughter are perfect, and life in Homicide in the San Francisco Police Department is going well. But all that could change in an instant. Lindsay is called to a crime scene at the Four Seasons Hotel. There is a dead man in one of the rooms, shot at close range. The man checked in under a false name with no ID on him, so the first puzzle will be finding out who he is. In the room next door are a dead young man and woman, also shot. They are surrounded by high-tech surveillance equipment. Could they have been spying on the man now dead in the room next to them? And in the utilities cupboard down the hall is the dead body of a house maid. The murders are all clearly linked and professionally executed. But what is the motive behind it all? Lindsay will need to risk everything she has to find out.

Investigator Arkady Renko, the pariah of the Moscow prosecutor’s office, has been assigned the thankless job of investigating a new phenomenon: late-night subway riders report seeing the ghost of Joseph Stalin on the platform of the Chistye Prudy Metro station. The illusion seems part political hocus-pocus and also part wishful thinking, for among many Russians Stalin is again popular; the bloody dictator can boast a two-to-one approval rating. Decidedly better than that of Renko, whose lover, Eva, has left him for Detective Nikolai Isakov, a charismatic veteran of the civil war in Chechnya, a hero of the far right and, Renko suspects, a killer for hire. The cases entwine, and Renko’s quests become a personal inquiry fueled by jealousy. The investigation leads to the fields of Tver outside of Moscow, where once a million soldiers fought. There, amidst the detritus, Renko must confront the ghost of his own father, a favorite general of Stalin’s. In these barren fields, patriots and shady entrepreneurs—the Red Diggers and Black Diggers—collect the bones, weapons and personal effects of slain World War II soldiers, and find that even among the dead there are surprises. Stalin’s Ghost is replete with Martin Cruz Smith’s trademark wit, dark humor and action. In this tale of Arkady Renko, Smith has again fashioned an unforgettable character as cynical as Philip Marlowe, but with the heart of a Chekhovian Everyman. The reader is treated to an unparalleled thriller woven with a depth of humanity found in the finest literature.