When ex-military contractor John Knox receives a text from partner Grace Chu warning that she fears her cover may have been blown while on assignment, he jumps into action. Knox must locate her overseas handlers, convince them of the danger, and then attempt to retrace the well-hidden steps of a woman who had been investigating how one million euros' worth of AIDS vaccine disappeared, all while eluding angry poachers on a parallel trail.
Corruption isn't a "problem" in Kenya, it's the way of doing business. The poaching of ivory from African elephants, driven by an insatiable demand from mainland China, fuels constant blood and slaughter. Knox faces police, national rangers, journalists, and safari companies who are each in their own symbiotic relationship with elephants, both good and bad. As the threat from al-Shabaab militants interferes with his pursuit of Grace, Knox finds himself pitted against the most savage and suicidal fighters in the world. And there's this woman, Grace, always in his head. His gut. As Grace watches her civilized self slip away while abandoned in the bush, Knox races against the clock to find her.
Police Sergeant Lou Boldt heads a special task force within Seattle's Homicide bureau. His job: find and stop the Cross Killer, a twisted, perverse serial murderer who has eluded police for six months and paralyzed the city. But when a body washes up on the shore of Puget Sound, Boldt thinks the killer has finally made a mistake. This body shows some of the work of the Cross Killer-but a job badly botched. Did this woman die while trying to escape? Did she knowingly jump in the water to preserve a clue? And is she now desperately trying to tell Boldt something? With the help of the alluring Daphne Matthews, a police psychologist, Boldt pieces together the complex puzzle-and the reader is taken along on a journey into the mind of a killer, and into the day-by-day nuts and bolts of police work, that is among the best in modern crime fiction. For readers of Caunitz, Wambaugh, and Sanders, Undercurrents is a roller-coaster ride in the dark that will intrigue, startle, and satisfy.
The Kingdom Keepers Series
A collection of Kingdom Keepers novellas perfect for fans of the series!When Amanda travels east to Orlando on a hunch, she’s met with the worst news possible. Kingdom Keeper Finn Whitman is missing. Calling on her own gift (she’s telekinetic), her sister Jess’s ability to dream the future, and their fellow Fairlie Mattie Weaver’s unexplained ability to read minds through physical contact, the three gifted girls must navigate treachery, deception, and the stubborn, unwilling parents of the missing Keepers if they’re to save their friends.
Grace Chu is an American-educated Chinese national now working as a forensic accountant after serving in the Chinese army as an intelligence officer. John Knox is an American who parlayed his military service during the first Iraqi war into a lucrative import/export business-which now provides him the official access he needs to work freelance undercover operations throughout the world. Both are highly skilled operatives capable of deft subterfuge or extreme violence, if circumstances require. They meet for the first (but not last) time in Shanghai when the security firm they work for is hired to retrieve a kidnapped employee critical to the success of a multi-billion dollar real-estate deal. But the stakes are high and Grace and Knox find themselves at the center of a deadly international imbroglio.
What’s it like to see yourself in a photograph you never knew was taken? Entrepreneur John Knox is a former government contractor trained in kidnapping extraction, surveillance, and delicate negotiations. No stranger to international dealings, Knox is understandably thrown when David “Sarge” Dulwich, his sometime employer at the private security firm Rutherford Risk, hands him a recent photo of himself engaged in a possibly illegal gray-market art sale. More curious to Knox, this revelation occurs inside Rutherford’s Red Room, a highly secure underground situation room. Why the cloak-and-dagger, Knox wonders. Dulwich is smart: he uses the photo to pressure Knox into brokering the sale of an ancient relic, all to gain five minutes with the buyer. With Grace Chu, the brilliant numbers woman and computer geek, Knox goes on to navigate a murky operation in Istanbul, a mysterious city located on two continents, where East meets West and Islam meets Christianity. As a variety of government agents surface, and Grace goes missing, Knox is forced to weigh country against friendship, loyalties against realities, and risk against reward. Tempted by an alluring woman, challenged by more questions than answers, an isolated Knox must make decisions that could cost the lives of those he holds most dear.
In Seattle, they're calling him The Pied Piper - someone who comes in the night and takes children away. To newly promoted police lieutenant Lou Boldt and police psychologist Daphne Matthews, it's clear this isn't about a single lunatic or random kidnappings: these crimes are well orchestrated, well executed, and, most chilling of all, occurring in cities across the country. Boldt is the first to establish that behind the kidnappings is a well-financed and brilliantly planned network, and his investigation soon attracts the FBI, which also brings heavy manpower - and political competition - that Boldt fears could slow them down until the trail runs dry. As long as the kidnappings continue, there may be a chance of getting the children back alive. Or is it already too late?
Using a cutting-edge technology called DHI - which stands for both Disney Host Interactive and Daylight Hologram Imaging - Finn Whitman, an Orlando teen, and four other kids are transformed into hologram projections that guide guests through the park. The new technology turns out, however, to have unexpected effects that are both thrilling and scary. Soon Finn finds himself transported in his DHI form into the Magic Kingdom at night. Is it real? Is he dreaming? Finn's confusion only increases when he encounters Wayne, an elderly Imagineer who tells him that the park is in grave danger. Led by the scheming witch, Maleficent, a mysterious group of characters called the Overtakers is plotting to destroy Disney's beloved realm, and maybe more. This gripping high-tech tale will thrill every kid who has ever dreamed of sneaking into Walt Disney World after hours and wondered what happens at night, when the park is closed.
The New York Times bestselling author of the Peter and the Starcatchers and Kingdom Keepers series, Ridley Pearson, brings us the riveting first tale of the Lock and Key trilogy about the origins of the rivalry between literature’s most famous enemies—Sherlock Holmes and James Moriarty, told from the perspective of James’s observant little sister, Moria.
Before James grew up to be a ruthless, remorseless villain, he was a curious boy from Boston, with a penchant for trouble and an acid tongue. Thrown into a boarding school against his wishes, James winds up rooming with a most unlikely companion: a lanky British know-it-all named Sherlock Holmes (“Lock” to his friends). An heirloom Bible, donated by the Moriarty family more than a hundred years ago, has gone missing, and it doesn’t take long for the two to find themselves embroiled in the school-wide scandal.
The school is on lockdown until it’s found, strange clues keep finding their way to James, and a secret society lurks behind it all. It’s a brave new reimagining of the Sherlock Holmes series as only master of suspense Ridley Pearson could envision. As Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson series, says, “This tale will change the way you see Sherlock Holmes and leave you dying to know more.”
In this gripping novel, Lou Boldt is back and entering dark territory. A shipping container washed ashore leads Seattle television news anchor Stevie McNeal and reporter friend Melissa on the trail of a scam involving the importation of illegal aliens. A career stepping-stone for McNeal, the investigation puts her at cross-purposes with the Seattle Police Department's Lou Boldt and Sergeant John LaMoia. When Melissa disappears, perhaps at the hands of the Chinese Triad, McNeal turns from foe to ally and teams up with the detectives on an investigation that takes them from Seattle's docklands to the offices of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Aidan and Sarah Cooper have no idea what they're getting into one afternoon when they discover a mysterious coded document in a secret compartment of an antique English desk their father recently bought at an auction. Something about the document seems familiar to Sarah, and that night she realizes what it is: the document seems to be referring to some books she has read - the Starcatchers series, about the origin of Peter Pan. But how could that be? The document seems far older than the books. And of course, the books are just stories. . . . Curious, Sarah and Aidan begin to decipher the mysterious document. At first it's a game -unraveling the mystery piece by piece, each piece leading them to a new, deeper puzzle. But soon the game turns strange - and scary. They discover that the "stories" are real, and that what they thought was a fictional battle between good and evil is still going on. And the scariest part is: They have become part of it. Pursued by a being that can take any form and will stop at nothing to get what it wants from them, Aidan and Sarah embark on a desperate, thrilling quest for help - a quest that leads them to some unforgettable people in some unlikely places, including one that's not supposed to exist at all. At each step they must solve new puzzles and escape new dangers, all the while knowing that if they fail, the evil they are fleeing will be let loose on an unsuspecting world.
Years ago, Lou's wife Liz had an extramarital affair with David Hayes, a young computer specialist at the bank where she is an executive. Drained by the overwhelming demands of marriage to a high-profile cop, Liz fell into the temptation of an office fling, which she soon regretted. When Liz ended the relationship after reconciling with Lou, Hayes reacted by engaging in a daring embezzlement scheme that left millions missing. The money was never found. Now, years later, David Hayes is released from prison, only to be cornered and pressured by people who will torture and kill to get the missing money. Hayes contacts Liz and tries to coerce her into helping him gain access to the bank's mainframe. But for Liz, the past is only that. Torn between wanting to protect herself, her marriage, and also the bank, she is manipulated into playing double-agent by a former colleague of Boldt's - without her husband's knowledge. Boldt, sworn to uphold the law, but with his wife caught in the middle, must skate a delicate line between duty-bound detective and jealous husband if he is to find the bank's money and keep his family from shattering. Then when Hayes goes missing, and no body is found, Boldt must combine ruse with violent action to sort out lie from fact.
Years ago, Lou Boldt's wife Liz had an affair with David Hayes, a young computer specialist at the bank where she is an executive. When Liz ended the relationship after reconciling with Lou, Hayes engaged in a daring embezzlement scheme. Now, years later, Hayes is trying to retrieve the money he hid for the Russian mob and contacts Liz to try to gain access to the bank's mainframe. Liz is torn between wanting to protect the bank and needing to protect her family. Boldt, ripped apart by the discovery of his wife's possible blackmail, must skate a delicate line between his incompatible roles as determined detective and jealous husband if he is to find the money while exposing and stopping Hayes.
Intensely involving and revealing new aspects of Boldt's emotional makeup never before seen, The Body of David Hayes is Ridley's most gripping and engaging thriller yet.
