Dana Stabenow’s Favorites of 2017

When I asked authors if they’d talk about their favorite books of 2017, I made it clear the book didn’t have to have been published in 2017. They just had to read it in 2017.  And, I tried to consider the authors are busy and I didn’t want to take up too much of their time, so I asked for three books. I think you’ll enjoy Dana Stabenow’s opening comments as much as I did.

But, first, about Dana.

Dana Stabenow

She’s the author of twenty-one books in the Kate Shugak series set in Alaska.The latest, Less Than a Treason, was released in May. But, her new book, Silk and Song, just came out.

Here’s the summary of Silk and Song.

Beijing, 1322. Sixteen-year-old Wu Johanna is the granddaughter of the legendary trader Marco Polo. In the wake of her father’s death, Johanna finds that lineage counts for little amid the disintegrating court of the Khan. Johanna’s destiny—if she has one—lies with her grandfather, in Venice. So, with a small band of companions, she takes to the road—the Silk Road—that storied collection of routes that link the silks of Cathay, the spices of the Indies and the jewels of the Indus to the markets of the west. But first she must survive treachery and betrayal on a road beset by thieves, fanatics and warlords.

Dana Stabenow’s books can be found in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2BFGAIM

Her website is https://stabenow.com. And, you really should sign up for her newsletter.

Here’s what you’re really waiting for, though: Dana Stabenow’s reading recommendations. Thank you, Dana.

*****

I am currently tasked with writing a brief post for the Poisoned Pen’s blog on my three favorite crime novels from this year.

I can’t. I just can’t.

I can, however, write about five. Open up another window to the order page of the Poisoned Pen Bookstore because I promise you you’re going to need it.  https://store.poisonedpen.com

First: Damien Boyd’s seventh Nick Dixon novel, Heads or Tails, has Nick transferred to Major Crimes to investigate a series of ever creepier killings in southwestern England that it turns out may be connected to a series of previously creepy killings in Manchester twenty years before. An exemplar of police procedurals, these novels are funny, poignant, and smart as hell, and so well written they are a joy to read.

Heads or Tales

Second: In Kelley Armstrong’s City of the Lost, big city homicide detective Casey Duncan is hiding in plain sight from her own demons and then her best friend Diana is attacked by her ex. Both flee to Rockton, a town of two hundred deep in the Yukon Territory to the purpose made for people like Casey and Diana to hide out in at $5000 a head. The crotchety local sheriff Duncan doesn’t want either one of them in his jurisdiction but people are going missing and being murdered and he needs Casey’s expert help in figuring out what’s going on. A mysterious Council governs all, sexy deputy Will is coming on strong, and no one is quite what he or she seems. In the meantime, there are monsters in the woods and possibly more right in town. A fun read.

City of the Lost

Third: In P.J. Tracy’s Shoot to Thrill, killers are posting video of murders online. The killers are so good at concealing their online IDs that the FBI convenes a group of the worst known hackers to ask for their help. Monkeewrench, aka Grace MacBride, Annie Belinsky, Harley Davidson and Roadrunner and computer nerds extraordinaire, steps up to help Minneapolis police detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth and FBI agent John Smith unravel a plot that feels far too realistic for the reader ever to be comfortable online again. The fifth book in the Monkeewrench series and my favorite, but they are all good.

Shoot to Thrill

Fourth: In Paul Thomas’ Fallout, the fifth of his novels featuring Maori cop Tito Ihaka, Tito works the cold case of a murdered 17-year old girl that spirals out into about five different plots including the death of his own father. Tito really clears the table in this one, with a final scene that left me a little dizzy, all while giving some great rants on religion and food. (In the previous book, Tito subdues a suspect by booting him “concussively behind the ear.” I’ve been in love with him ever since.)

Fallout

Fifth: The Nine-Tailed Fox is the twelfth in Martin Limón’s Sueño and Bascom series, featuring two CID agents in South Korea in the early 80s, and I think his best by far. Three GI’s have gone missing, all of whom have abused Korean women, and Command sends Sueño and Bascom to find them. It’s a solid whodunnit, a window into Korean culture, a sly sidestep into the women’s rights movement, a great villain, and some excellent insights into our heroes’ characters. And Mr. Kill and Officer Oh and — gulp–Dr. Bam are all back, too. I got your binge read for you right here.

Nine-Tailed Fox

Thank you, Dana. As she said, if you like her recommendations, check out the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com

Thomas Perry’s Favorites of 2017

Last December, I asked some authors to write about their favorite Christmas crime novels. This year, I thought I’d go a different direction. I asked authors if they would write a post about their favorite crime novels read during 2017. All of us who enjoy crime novels are lucky. So many of the authors said yes! Every post will be interesting, with its own slant. Don’t forget to check for their favorite books in The Poisoned Pen’s Web Store!  https://store.poisonedpen.com

*****

 

Thomas Perry
Thomas Perry

Can we do any better than Thomas Perry to kick off the book recommendations? Stephen King said of him, “The fact is, there are probably only half a dozen suspense writers now alive who can be depended upon to deliver high voltage shocks, vivid, sympathetic characters, and compelling narratives each time they publish. Thomas Perry is one of them.”

Before we get to the recommendations themselves, Perry has a new book coming out Jan. 2. It’s called The Bomb Maker. You can order a signed copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2nkz9U8    And, Perry will be at The Poisoned Pen on Thursday, Jan. 4 at 7 PM.

Bomb Maker

Here’s the summary of the book.

A bomb is more than a weapon. A bomb is an expression of the bomber’s predictions of human behavior—a performance designed to fool you into making one fatally wrong move. InThe Bomb Maker, Thomas Perry introduces us to the dark corners of a mind intent on transforming a simple machine into an act of murder—and to those committed to preventing that outcome at any cost.

A threat is called into the LAPD Bomb Squad and when tragedy ensues, the fragmented unit turns to Dick Stahl, a former Bomb Squad commander who now operates his own private security company. Just returned from a tough job in Mexico, Stahl is at first reluctant to accept the offer, but his sense of duty to the technicians he trained is too strong to turn it down. On his first day back at the head of the squad, Stahl’s three-person team is dispatched to a suspected car bomb. And it quickly becomes clear to him that they are dealing with an unusual mastermind—one whose intended target seems to be the Bomb Squad itself.

As the shadowy organization sponsoring this campaign of violence puts increasing pressure on the bomb maker, and Stahl becomes dangerously entangled with a member of his own team, the fuse on this high-stakes plot only burns faster.The Bomb Maker is Thomas Perry’s biggest, most unstoppable thriller yet.

*****

Check out Thomas Perry’s website at www.thomasperryauthor.com. Thank you, Thomas, for your post.

*****

It’s always fun to look back on a year of books.  Here are some good ones that brought me enjoyment in 2017:

The first is Patrick Hoffman’s fine “Every Man a Menace.”

Every Man

 

 He presents us with a complex and fascinating set of scenes.  Segments of a particular network in the illegal drug industry work together almost like the organs of a single creature.  When a disturbance occurs in one operation of the system, it causes reactions that require adjustments in each stage from the refining and packaging section in Asia all the way to the sales and distribution end in San Francisco, with murders at each stop along the way.  It’s brilliantly conceived and realistically violent, but told with calm, lucid, intelligent prose.  It shows off the knowledge and skills of an excellent writer who should be with us for a very long time.

Another book that gave me a lot of pleasure was Deon Meyer’s “Fever.”

Fever

 Meyer is a South African who writes in Afrikaans and has his books translated into English.  He has a worldwide audience for his crime novels, which are among the most suspenseful being published today.  “Fever” is a departure, a post-apocalyptic adventure that begins with the early aftermath of a devastating plague, when it is already apparent that the current civilization is over.  The plague has operated the way real ones do, in which many people die, but a few have an immunity that makes them the survivors.  The book carries the story well into the next generation’s effort to build a new civilization.  Probably because Meyer is a terrific crime writer there are some mysteries, action scenes, and big surprises, but I liked it for the wonderful sympathetic characters.  It’s a long book, and I worried about them between reading periods.

The third book on my list required some thought, because it is “Dead Is Good” by Jo Perry, who happens to be my old university colleague, former television writing partner, and wife of 37 years.

Dead is Good

 But I think this book is terrific, and I don’t penalize any other writers because I know and like them, so here it is. This is the third in a series of books that feature a man named Charles, who, in the first book finds himself murdered and in an afterlife with an Irish setter that he’s never seen before (also dead) with a rope around her neck.  In time he names her Rose.  In “Dead is Good” Charles and Rose make one of their infrequent trips to the living world to try to save from death the woman he now knows was the love of his life.  The story is part crime thriller and part mystery, and it’s moving, sometimes scary, sometimes shocking, sometimes funny, but always original and intriguing.  There is a scene in this book that made me gasp out loud and write “Wow!” in the margin.  

The next book is “Deep Freeze” by John Sandford.

Deep Freeze

This book is also difficult to write about fairly.  It’s the 10th Virgil Flowers book, and it’s been on the NY Times Bestseller list for three or four weeks now, so it doesn’t really need a plug.  But like all of the Virgil Flowers books, it’s intriguing, smart and funny, and deserves a plug.  It also has Virgil reading a book called “Thomas Perry’s The Old Man,” (p. 180), which shows Virgil has good taste.

I want to include a couple of books that won’t be out officially until 2018. I read them both in 2017, and they both happen to be published by Poisoned Pen Press, so I feel free to mention them.

Dennis Palumbo’s “Head Wounds” will be out in February.

Head Wounds

It’s his 5th book about psychotherapist Daniel Rinaldi.  I recommend it highly, particularly for people who have read the rest of the series, because it is one of those books that take up some issues we’ve been wondering about since the beginning of a series, and give us big, shocking answers to them.  I also think the villain in this book is more frightening than any other I’ve seen for quite a while.  Very early in the book he gets into the reader’s head like a recurring nightmare, and for the rest of the book we root for Rinaldi to get him out for us by catching him or killing him.

The other is Jeffrey Siger’s “An Aegean April,” which will be published in early January 2018.

Aegean April

It’s the latest in his Inspector Andreas Kaldis police series.  The writing is Siger’s usual clear, careful and readable style, and the action has lots of exuberance as well as some good conniving.  The central killer here has a perverse charm.  He’s a violent, evil man with panache and courage—almost a combination of the devil and Cyrano de Bergerac.  But I think the most memorable aspect of the book is that its criminal plot is a natural byproduct of the enormous humanitarian crisis that is still taking place in Greece and the Mediterranean, as millions of immigrants continue to try to escape poverty, war, and devastation by flooding into southern Europe.  Siger has taken on the task of making a very complex set of circumstances comprehensible, showing us why it matters, and done both well.

*****

Jeffrey Siger will be appearing with Thomas Perry at The Poisoned Pen on Thursday, Jan. 4 at 7 PM. You’ll want to mark your calendars!

And, you’ll want to come back tomorrow to read Dana Stabenow’s picks for the crime novels she enjoyed the most in 2017.

 

Coyle, Banks & Cameron, In Conversation

Matt Coyle (Blood Truths), Leo W. Banks (Double Wide), and Marc Cameron (Tom Clancy Power and Empire) were recently at The Poisoned Pen, in conversation, first with Patrick Millikin, and then with bookstore owner Barbara Peters.

Coyle, Banks, Cameron, Peters
Left to right – Coyle, Banks, Cameron, Peters

You can order signed copies of their books through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Tom Clancy

The discussion was filmed for Livestream, so you can watch and listen to the authors’ interview. https://livestream.com/poisonedpen/events/7956531

Coyle, Cameron, Banks
Left to right – Matt Coyle, Marc Cameron, Leo W. Banks

Hot Book of the Week – Krysten Ritter’s Bonfire

The Hot Book of the Week (well, this week that’s a pun) at The Poisoned Pen is Krysten Ritter’s Bonfire. Signed copies are available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2ioD6Wy

Bonfire

Here’s the summary of Bonfire.

Can you ever outrun your past?

From actress, producer, and writer Krysten Ritter, a gripping, tightly wound suspense novel about a woman forced to confront her past in the wake of small-town corruption

It has been ten years since Abby Williams left home and scrubbed away all visible evidence of her small-town roots. Now working as an environmental lawyer in Chicago, she has a thriving career, a modern apartment, and her pick of meaningless one-night stands.

But when a new case takes her back home to Barrens, Indiana, the life Abby painstakingly created begins to crack. Tasked with investigating Optimal Plastics, the town’s most high-profile company and economic heart, Abby begins to find strange connections to Barrens’s biggest scandal from more than a decade ago, involving the popular Kaycee Mitchell and her closest friends—just before Kaycee disappeared for good.

Abby knows the key to solving any case lies in the weak spots, the unanswered questions. But as she tries desperately to find out what really happened to Kaycee, troubling memories begin to resurface and she begins to doubt her own observations. And when she unearths an even more disturbing secret—a ritual called “The Game”—it will threaten reputations, and lives, in the community and risk exposing a darkness that may consume her.

With tantalizing twists, slow-burning suspense, and a remote rural town of just five claustrophobic square miles, Bonfire is a dark exploration of what happens when your past and present collide.

Steven F. Havill via Livestream

Steven Havill again
Steven Havill and Barbara Peters

I’ve been a big fan of Steven F. Havill’s Posadas County mysteries for quite a number of years, maybe not as long as Barbara Peters, owner of the Poisoned Pen, and Havill’s editor. In Easy Errors, he takes us back to the early years of the storyline. Signed copies are available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2zSfoJv

Easy Errors

You can watch Peters’ recent interview with Havill via Livestream. https://livestream.com/poisonedpen/events/7774621

Here’s the summary of Easy Errors.

When the first Posadas County Mystery, Heartshot, published in 1991, Bill Gastner was the county Undersheriff. Over time Bill became Sheriff, then retired, and Robert Torrez took over the top spot. But what were Torrez’s first days as a rookie officer like? Terrible!

It’s 1986. Undersheriff Bill Gastner is enjoying his usual insomnia alone inside his old adobe when jolted by a horrendous noise. Dreading what he will find, he hastens to the nearby interstate exit where a violent crash has occurred. Not only is the vehicle that struck the support pillars totaled and the driver and a passenger crushed inside, a dead boy has been ejected.

As the appalled Gastner recognizes the youth and swings into action, the first deputy to join him at the scene is rookie Robert Torrez, the department’s newest hire. Before Gastner can head him off, Torrez sees that the boy is his spirited younger brother. And the girl crushed inside the SUV is a younger sister. The driver of the Suburban, also dead, is the assistant District Attorney’s teenaged son. Two local family tragedies.

A shaken couple reports that when the Suburban, careening at nearly 100 miles an hour, passed them on the interstate, activity inside hinted at its occupants’ panic. Were the three dead kids running from someone-or something-rather than speeding? Further investigation reveals that a fourth teen should have been in the vehicle, but is now missing. Where had the four kids been? And why? It appears they’d lied to their parents.

Following his usual meticulous procedure, Gastner traces the vehicle’s path to a remote canyon with attractive caves. The discovery he makes there balloons the case and introduces possible murder. Yet with a lack of witnesses hampering Sheriff Salcido, Gastner, Torrez, and other deputies, errors working the case can too easily be made.

Val McDermid, Insidious Intent

I’ve been saving this article for months, waiting until Val McDermid’s new Tony Hill/Carol Jordan crime novel was about to be released in the U.S. Insidious Intent is due out Dec. 5, but you can pre-order your copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2Amuc0h

Insidious Intent

I just couldn’t resist the title of Katy Guest’s article in The Guardian, “Val McDermid: Even on a romantic holiday my thoughts turn to murder.” https://bit.ly/2ikDapU

If your thoughts turn to murder when you hear the name Val McDermid, you might want to  read the summary of Insidious Intent.

“Powerful . . . McDermid’s prose is pure pleasure to read . . . The plot is tight, the story is thrilling, the ending is as satisfying as they come . . . A master operating at the height of her considerable powers. Prepare to be swept away.”—Mystery SceneonSplinter the Silence

Widely recognized as one of our finest crime writers, with numerous accolades and legions of devoted readers worldwide, internationally bestselling author Val McDermid is back with the latest installment in her series featuring psychologist Tony Hill and former police detective Carol Jordan. InInsidious Intent, Tony and Carol are on the hunt for a serial killer who victimizes women at weddings without a date—and forces the duo to confront their most haunting moral dilemma so far.

In the north of England, single women are beginning to disappear from weddings. A pattern soon becomes clear: Someone is crashing the festivities and luring the women away—only to leave the victims’ bodies in their own burned-out cars in remote locations. Tony and Carol are called upon to investigate—but this may be the toughest case they’ve ever had to face. Meanwhile, Detective Sergeant Paula McIntyre and her partner Elinor must deal with a cruel cyber-blackmailer targeting their teenage ward, Torin.

Impeccably plotted and intensely gripping,Insidious Intent reaffirms Val McDermid’s place as Britain’s reigning Queen of Crime.

Wendall Thomas – In the Hot Seat

IMG_20171106_142607 copy 2

I actually received a copy of Wendall Thomas’ debut mystery, Lost Luggage, to review for a journal. The mystery was so much fun, and Cyd Redondo so lively, that I wanted to introduce you to the author. You can find signed copies of Lost Luggage in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2AeMW3V

And, if you enjoy the interview, you can find more about Wendall at her website, www.wendallthomas.com.

Thank you, Wendall, for taking time for the interview.

******

Wendall, would you introduce yourself to the readers?

I grew up in North Carolina, went to UNC for undergrad and graduate school, then taught at a couple of New England prep schools before moving to Los Angeles to work in the movie business. I started out working in development and production while I wrote my first script ““ about a woman who says no to a genie — and have been writing, teaching screenwriting at UCLA, and doing various odd freelance jobs, like entertainment reporting, ever since. I also lecture and consult on screenwriting in Europe and the South Pacific, but the thing I’m probably most proud of is writing the speech for Bonnie Raitt’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  I’m married to an English journalist I had the luck to meet on my travels.

Would you introduce Cyd Redondo?

Cyd Redondo is the youngest cousin and the only girl in the extended Redondo Family in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. She lost her father when she was four and her Uncle Ray took her and her mother Bridget into his home, where her ten “brousins” both over-protected and tortured her growing up.  She’s tough and always striving to prove herself, but she can also can be naive about the world her family has protected her from. Now she runs her Uncle’s travel business, which focuses on senior citizens, but when the book opens, she’s never made it farther than New Jersey. She’s great at bartering for services, loves a bargain, can’t walk in flats, has basically dated everyone in Bay Ridge, and wants nothing more than to visit the places she’s always sending everybody else.

Without spoilers, tell us about Lost Luggage.

Lost Luggage

Lost Luggage opens with Cyd in the middle of a safari promotion. If she gets six more bookings, she wins a free trip to Tanzania for herself and a plus one. When she wins the promotion just days after a neighbor is murdered, she heads to Tanzania with new boyfriend Roger to find the dead woman’s missing son and try to have the first real vacation of her life.  When she runs afoul of a ring of endangered animal smugglers, it doesn’t quite turn out that way.  

I’ve read previous interviews, but readers probably didn’t. What was the inspiration for Lost Luggage?

Lost Luggage started out as a script. I love Romancing the Stone, as well as other caper/adventures like Charade, What’s Up Doc, and The In-Laws, so I’m drawn to the idea of a regular person thrown in over his or her head and having to rise to the occasion with humor and guts. I also love all the early screwball comedies and comedy heroines in Bringing Up Baby, The Lady Eve, Ball of Fire, It Happened One Night, etc. so I wanted a heroine who was sexy, inventive, tough, and pretty much created chaos wherever she went. All those things came together the first time I saw and heard Cyd in my mind, and once I had her, the story started to work. When the script didn’t sell, I couldn’t get her out of my head and wondered whether she might work as the center of a book series.

Can you give us a hint about Cyd’s next adventure? Where is she heading now?

In the next book, Cyd is headed on an Australian cruise to search for her ex-husband’s missing parents, and will wind up chasing bad guys both above and below deck, and on the exotic island of Tasmania.

As a travel agent, there’s a whole world for Cyd to explore. Where would you like to go, and why?

I’m still dying to go to Barcelona, Madagascar, Iceland, Macao, Bali, and Bora Bora. Since Cyd has limited travel experience, she’s still dying for basics like London, Paris, and Rome, but I think she’d agree with me on Macao and Bali. We are both crazy about Tasmania….

I’ve been to Los Angeles several times, and had extensive tours given by a friend who lives there. Where do you take people when they come to visit?  

IMG_2414 copy

My feeling is that most of the things people come to Hollywood for are disappointing, so I try to avoid Hollywood Boulevard,  Rodeo Drive, Universal City, etc.  I tend to take people to the Farmer’s Market at Third and Fairfax,  El Coyote ““ a Mexican restaurant that’s been in my neighborhood for over 80 years— the LA County Museum on Wilshire, and Downtown LA, for the rotating bar at the Bonaventure Hotel, The Pantry, the Drago Centro Happy Hour, and the wonderful Last Bookstore. I also love to take people to the tiny Fountain “Counter” in the bottom of the Beverly Hills Hotel for their pie.

Because of your extensive experience with movies and scripts, you may have a different answer than many mystery authors. What authors inspired you, or, if you prefer, what movies inspired your writing?

As I said before, screwball heroines as portrayed by actors like Barbara Stanwyck, Katherine Hepburn, Irene Dunn, and even Barbara Streisand were a big influence. In terms of books, of course the zany tone of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum books was a big inspiration, as was the sly humor of Delores Johnson’s dry cleaning mysteries. But I’ve realized lately that the book is probably most influenced by the fact that my parents got the Reader’s Digest Condensed Books every year and as a kid, I wound up reading all Dorothy Gilmour’s great Mrs. Pollifax novels.  I think they made me believe it was possible to do a mystery series which moved around, with an unexpectedly resourceful heroine, and when I look at Lost Luggage now that it’s done, I see her influence everywhere.

How does the mystery community compare to the movie community?

It’s a million times better!  First of all because it’s actually a community. There’s a sense of people helping each other to move forward and the kind of support which is not present in the screenwriting or television world, at least in my experience. Hollywood is very cut-throat. I find mystery authors—and readers–sharp, generous, self-deprecating, and well-read. Who doesn’t want to hang around with lovely people like that?

What author would you like to recommend who you think has been underappreciated?

Joseph Hansen’s Dave Brandstetter series is something I found only recently and I’m astounded the books aren’t more famous than they are. They’re set in Los Angeles and the Central Coast in the seventies and are based around an insurance investigator. I love Hansen’s writing and characterizations especially, as well as the LA he creates. I also find, amongst all the Scandanavian authors, that I particularly like Helen Tursten’s Inspector Huss books, which haven’t gotten as much attention as Jo Nesbo’s or Stieg Larsson’s.

 

Thank you, Wendall. I’m so glad I discovered Lost Luggage. I can’t wait to read more about Cyd’s adventures.

James Rollins & The Demon Crown

December 5 is release date for James Rollins’ latest thriller, The Demon Crown. However, he’ll be at The Poisoned Pen on Monday, Dec. 4 at 7 PM, so you can purchase and have him sign your books. And, if you pre-order a signed copy now through the Web Store, you’ll get a free, limited edition collector’s insert. https://bit.ly/2hYigJL

DemonCrown_Lockup

Curious? Now that I have your attention, here’s the summary of The Demon Crown.

“Bone-chilling.” ““Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

“One of the best in the series.” ““Booklist (Starred Review)

To save mankind’s future, the members of Sigma Force must make a devil’s bargain as they join forces with their most hated enemy to stop an ancient threat in this gripping adventure from #1 New York Times bestselling author James Rollins.

Off the coast of Brazil, a team of scientists discovers a horror like no other, an island where all life has been eradicated, consumed, and possessed by a species beyond imagination. Before they can report their discovery, a mysterious agency attacks the group, killing them all, save one: an entomologist, an expert on venomous creatures, Professor Ken Matsui from Cornell University.

Strangest of all, this inexplicable threat traces back to a terrifying secret buried a century ago beneath the National Mall: a cache of bones preserved in amber. The artifact was hidden away by a cabal of scientists—led by Alexander Graham Bell—to protect humankind. But they dared not destroy it, for the object also holds an astonishing promise for the future: the very secret of life after death.

Yet nothing stays buried forever. An ancient horror— dormant in the marrow of those preserved bones—is free once more, nursed and developed into a weapon of incalculable strength and malignancy, ready to wreak havoc on an unsuspecting world.

To stop its spread, Commander Grayson Pierce of Sigma Force must survive a direct attack on the island of Maui. To be there first has always been the core mission of Sigma Force, a covert team forged to be America’s front line against emerging threats. But this time, even Sigma may not be able to decipher the deadly mystery, one that traces back to the founding of the Smithsonian Institution.

With each new discovery, the menace they hunt is changing, growing, spreading—adapting and surviving every attempt to stop it from reconquering a world it once ruled. And each transformation makes it stronger . . . and smarter.

Running out of time and options, Commander Grayson Pierce will be forced to make an impossible choice. To eradicate this extinction-level threat and expose those involved, he will have to join forces with Sigma’s greatest enemy—the newly resurrected Guild—even it if means sacrificing one of his own.

*****

Of course you want to see the book trailer, don’t you?

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