#2 in Bishop Files Series
The new Bishop Files novel by the New York Times bestselling author of The First Prophet and the Bishop/Special Crimes Unit novels. John Brodie is a Guardian, a member of a secret network devoted to protecting the psychics in his charge from a ruthless—and virtually invisible—enemy. Tasha Solomon is unaware of the Guardians’ existence—until the night the gifted psychic suffers a shocking and violent attack and Brodie saves her life. Tough and resilient, Tasha isn’t used to depending on anyone. But the assault has left her vulnerable. Tasha doesn’t know who wants her dead, or why, or when he will strike again. Now, she is forced to trust that Brodie can guide her through a tangled web of danger and deception toward a safe harbor—one she fears is more elusive with each dark and endless night.
Joanna Flynn was lucky to be alive. But when the doctors told her she would suffer no lasting effects from the near-fatal accident, they were wrong. For that night the nightmares about Caroline began. As the dreams become more torturous, Joanna sets out to investigate this mysterious woman-a journey that takes her three thousand miles from home to a picturesque town where everybody seems to have a conflicting opinion of the woman who haunts her dreams. All too soon, Joanna realizes that unraveling the mystery of Caroline means uncovering secrets someone may have killed to hide. And that someone appears all too willing to kill again ...
He's the kind of killer we instinctively fear the most. A killer without boundaries, without conscience, without any fear of being caught. And his latest victim is terrifying proof that no one is safe: the daughter of a powerful U.S. senator. Now, with the national media calling for justice and a grief-stricken father seeking vengeance, Bishop and his FBI Special Crimes Unit find themselves in a unique situation. This time even psychic cops aren't enough to stop evil. Aid comes in the form of a fledgling civilian organization of unorthodox crime stoppers. Operating outside of any government oversight, without sanction or official authority, they are comprised of a membership every bit as talented and eccentric as Bishop's SCU - if not more so. And that is no coincidence. For Bishop helped launch this organization barely two years before. Dani Justice knows all about monsters. They haunt her nightmares - and her life. But she never expected to find herself doggedly on the trail of a real flesh-and-blood predator so cunning, he's eluded the best law enforcement could send up against him; so deadly, he doesn't hesitate to kill even a senator's daughter. Or a cop. Dani doesn't want to hunt this killer. She doesn't want to risk the life she's made for herself, or her hard-won peace. But she doesn't have a choice. Because his bloody rampage has hit far too close to home. Because Dani alone commands a weapon powerful enough to destroy him. And because Dani knows something even Bishop doesn't. Dani knows how the hunt ends. It ends in fire. And blood. And death. What she doesn't know is who will survive.
Young, vulnerable, attractive, Tessa Gray made the perfect victim. Which was why Noah Bishop of the FBI's Special Crimes Unit recruited her to play the role of grieving widow. As the supposed new owner of property coveted by the Church of the Everlasting Sin, she'd be irresistible bait for the reclusive and charismatic Reverend Samuel. His fortified compound in the mountains near Grace, North Carolina, had been the last known residence of two women murdered in ways that defied scientific explanation. Though hardly as naive or as vulnerable as she appears, Tessa knows she has a lot to learn about using her unique gift. She also knows that Bishop and the SCU have to be desperate to rely on an untried psychic agent in an undercover operation so dangerous. And desperate they are. For the killer they're hunting is the most terrifying they've ever faced and shakes even the most seasoned agents: a soulless megalomaniacal cult leader who can use their own weapons, talents, and tactics against them. By entering the cult's well-guarded compound, Tessa will be exposing herself to the dark magnetism of a psychopath on an apocalyptic crusade of terror that spares no one, not even the youngest victims. And Samuel has protected himself within a fanatically loyal congregation, many of whom occupy surprising positions of power within the community. Even Grace's chief of police, Sawyer Cavenaugh - a man Tessa will have to trust with her life - may be unable to protect her. Because no one, not even Tessa herself, can guarantee she's strong enough to resist - or powerful enough to battle - a killer who's less than human.
The elite Special Crimes Unit, the FBI's most controversial and effective team, is a group of mavericks and misfits trained to use their unique psychic abilities to hunt the worst monsters imaginable - human ones. Led by the enigmatic Noah Bishop, the SCU team has earned a reputation for pitting their skills and cunning against killers that other cops fear. But this time Bishop and his agents face an enemy who has them in his sights, a trained sniper with a deadly plan - and more than one ace up his sleeve. It starts with an unspeakable series of grisly murders across three states, a trail of blood leading, finally, to the small Tennessee town of Serenade. There, two more brutal murders lure the SCU into what may be the ultimate trap. One of the first investigators on the scene, Special Agent Hollis Templeton is willing to push herself as hard and as far as necessary. Risking more than her life to help and protect her fellow SCU members, Hollis is coping with psychic abilities that are evolving in unprecedented ways, an attraction to the most complex man she's ever known, and a serial murder investigation that has just turned very, very personal. In her time with the SCU, Hollis has shown an uncanny ability to survive even the most deadly attacks. But what she doesn't count on is that this killer intends to destroy the team from within. The clock is ticking. The body count is rising. And as Bishop and his agents race to uncover the identity of their true enemy, not even their special senses can warn them just how bloody, and how terrifyingly close, the truth will be.
C. J. Adams had been teased enough about her seeming lack of interest in the opposite sex. On a ski trip with her five best friends, she impulsively embraced a handsome stranger, pretending they were secret lovers-and the delighted lawyer who joined in her impetuous charade seized the moment to deepen the kiss. Astonished at his reaction, C.J. tried to nip their romance in the bud, but she found herself nipping at his neck instead. She had met her match in a man who could answer her witty remarks with clever ripostes of his own and a lover whose caresses aroused in her a passionate need she'd never suspected. Had destiny somehow tossed them together?
"...this short offering is a guilty pleasure that will appeal to romance aficionados and Hooper's fans."-AudioFile
When Robin Stuart is pulled from the stormy seas, she can only cling desperately to the arms that surround her. Robin has been too close to danger not to recognize it again: in the eyes of the rugged, fearless man. Michael Siran is an expert at playing dangerous games. But from the moment the terrified beauty with the piercing gaze sets foot on his ship, he's touched by a true sense of purpose. Robin insists on remaining by his side - even though she is asking the world of a man who trusts no one. Michael is determined to give her everything - if he can only make her understand that even heroes are human, and that her courage runs as deep as his love.
FBI agent Quentin Hayes always knew he had an unusual talent, even before he was recruited by Noah Bishop for the controversial Special Crimes Unit. But, as gifted as he is, for twenty years he's been haunted by a heartbreaking unsolved murder that took place at The Lodge, a secluded Victorian-era resort in Tennessee. Now he's returned one final time, determined to put the mystery to rest. Diana Brisco has come there hoping to unlock the mystery of her troubled past. Instead, she is assailed by nightmares and the vision of a child who vanished from The Lodge years ago. And an FBI agent is trying to convince her that she isn't crazy but that she has a rare gift, a gift that could catch a killer. Quentin knows that this is his last chance to solve a case that has become a dangerous obsession. But can he persuade Diana to help him, knowing what it could cost her? For something cold and dark and pure evil is stalking the grounds of The Lodge. Something Diana may not survive. Something Quentin never felt before: the chill of fear.
In New York Times bestselling author Kay Hooper’s novel, an SCU team investigates a troubling string of disappearances. But how do you find someone who has vanished without a trace?
Something strange is happening in the small mountain town of Serenity, Tennessee. People going on routine errands never reach their destination. It’s as if they simply disappear. Over the past few weeks, it’s happened to five men and women—and now a child.
The local police chief calls the FBI, and a team from the Special Crimes Unit is immediately sent in. Agents Lucas and Samantha Jordan, partners in work and in life, have very different abilities. Samantha is clairvoyant and Lucas possesses a unique ability to find the lost or abducted. With them are new partners Dante Swann, a medium, and Robbie Hodge, a telepath.
The town is already on the edge of panic, but the mysterious events take a sinister turn when a body unrelated to the missing persons case surfaces and one of the SCU agents vanishes. Now, the team’s hunt for the lost has turned into something very personal…and very dangerous.
Dear Reader,
As most of you probably know by now, I began my career writing series, or category, romance. I am very proud of my roots in romance, and consider myself lucky to have served a solid writing apprenticeship in a genre that allowed me to combine various elements in pursuit of a good story.
Because love stories can be told against the backdrop of history or within the framework of mystery, suspense, fantasy, paranormal, and even horror plots, I was able to exercise those writing muscles over time, undoubtedly leading to the suspense/thriller novels I'm writing today. Romance is no longer the central focus of what I write, but it remains at the heart of all my work.
So I give you here a romantic story with an edge of suspense, first published in 1989. Lara Callahan has come to the small town of Pinewood to start over and to hide. Devon Shane has come looking for answers. When the wary woman and mysterious man take roles in a community theater production, they risk far more than the judgment of an audience. They risk their very lives.
Because both of them have secrets. Both are living a lie. And both know the first rule of survival is Tell no one. It's a rule they'll have to break.
Kay Hooper
#15 in Bishop/Special Crimes Unit
New York Times bestselling author Kay Hooper returns with the new novel in her riveting Bishop/SCU series.How do you make peace with the dead if the dead aren’t ready to forgive? In New York Times bestselling author Kay Hooper’s novel, the answer lies in the twisting shadows of a small town, and its secrets yet unearthed…When Deacon James’s younger sister Melanie calls him, terrified, he goes to her aid in the small Georgia town of Sociable. What he finds is a scared young woman in the grip of what she insists is a paranormal nightmare—and murder. Two local men have been killed under mysterious circumstances. And Melanie is the prime suspect.Trinity Nichols left a high-stress job for quiet, small-town life. But news of the murders has left her—and the town—on edge, especially when there is nothing remotely ordinary about how the men died. And her investigation is yielding more than she bargained for, including a group of strangers who have descended on Sociable, some with abilities Trinity finds hard to believe, and agendas she refuses to trust. For some reason, they know a lot more than they should about what’s happening in town. And what’s happening is growing stranger by the minute.
Another nightmare, in the woods this time. Different: She was running. Trying to escape. But the same ending. Always the same ending. Another dead girl... Emma Rayburn was born and raised in Baron Hollow, North Carolina. It was a quiet life, then came the accident...and the nightmares - each filled with unshakable visions of darkness, blind panic, and desperate women chased toward inevitable death. With no reports of local women missing or found dead, Emma has written it off to troubled imaginings - night after dreaded night. Until her sister arrives. Jessie Rayburn, a psychic investigator for a firm called Haven, has been estranged from Emma for years. Unresolved issues from Jessie's past have not only kept them apart but have been clouding Jessie's unique abilities. A return to her hometown to face a dark and violent incident from years gone by is her chance to regain them. But reconciliation with the past comes with a price. Few people in Baron Hollow are welcoming Jessie back. No one dares to breathe a word. And in this conspiracy of silence, Emma's nightmares are becoming more vivid than ever. Even with the help of Noah Bishop, head of the FBI Special Crimes Unit and cofounder of Haven, Jessie and Emma soon find themselves outnumbered by the secrets buried in Baron Hollow - and outrunning an evil that has been festering for years, one that's targeting Jessie and Emma one last time.
