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A twisting debut novel of murder and dark family secrets from a riveting new voice in crime fiction. A murdered woman. A grieving husband. And their son-a mentally handicapped adult with a history of violent outbursts. A very simple case. Or is it? Leo Hewitt, an Assistant DA once blamed for setting free a notorious child-killer, is eager to redeem himself with this intimate and grisly crime. As he digs below the surface he discovers more than he ever anticipated-including an emotionally disturbed wife, a husband who'd do anything to escape his disastrous marriage, and an accused young man with no apparent means of defense. But with each shocking new revelation, Leo is only led deeper and deeper into the darkness-an inescapable trap of blood bonds and twisted family secrets.
In his debut short fiction collection, A Scholar of Pain, Grant Jerkins remains--as the Washington Post put it--"Determined to peer into the darkness and tell us exactly what he sees." Here, the depth of that darkness is on evident, oftentimes poetic, display. We meet, and come reluctantly to sympathize with: The office chair-sniffer who only wants to be loved, a bottomed-out cough-syrup addict, a terminally ill school bus driver who takes her young riders on a drunken suicide run, and a cheated-on housewife who discovers her husband's other woman isn't a woman at all, but a...No spoilers here. Just read it. Read all sixteen of these deviant diversions. Peer into the darkness. Praise for A S...
Chaos? Or fate? What brought you here? Were the choices yours, or did something outside of you conspire to bring you to this place? Because out in the woods, in a box buried in the ground, there is a little girl who has no hope of seeing the moon tonight. The moon has forsaken her. Because of you. "There is some dark magic in this one. I mean, really dark. Like whittle-my-bones-to-a-bloody-point dark. Jerkins calmly, unflinchingly goes about his business of crafting some troubled yet sympathetic characters who are in dire straits. That he manages to make these characters sympathetic, their problems understandable, is impressive and prompts the reader to consider the justice in violence. But despite the skill of its execution...I must pass." -HarperCollins, Acquisitions Editor Grant Jerkins is the author of A Very Simple Crime, At the End of the Road, The Ninth Step, and Done in One. He lives in the Atlanta area with his wife and son. Visit his website at www.grantjerkins.com.
FATE: Abused at home, a high school outcast destined for a dead-end job, Billy Smith longs to be free — and to indulge his love of setting fires. CHOICE: One-legged ex-con Frank Dobbs suffers from severe rage disorder, but believes he can save himself by saving Billy. CHAOS: Sexual predator Chandler Norris has a plan that pits fate and choice against the chaotic spiral of his malignant mind. Chaos? Or fate? What brought you here? Were the choices yours, or did something outside of you conspire to bring you to this place? Because out in the woods, in a box buried in the ground, there is a little girl who has no hope of seeing the moon tonight. The moon has forsaken her. Because of you. Edit...
One bullet equals one kill. For SWAT sniper Jake Denton, the bullet casings he saves as grim reminders of his "kills" are beginning to add up. His wife, his department-ordered psychiatrist, and even Jake himself are all beginning to question just how these sanctioned kills are affecting his mental health. Nobody wants him to end up like Lee Staley, his mentor and ex-partner---now out on permanent psych leave, drinking himself to death, and the prime suspect in a series of shootings that have paralyzed Northern California. Jake doesn't believe that Staley's guilty, but since their job has taught them to kill, how easy would it be for his friend to cross over to the other side? How easy would it be for him? On every police force in the country, there's a SWAT sniper going about his daily life, acting like an average cop, until the moment when the call comes in. Then they become a hostage's last hope and a criminal's worst nightmare. To some, they are silent heroes---to others, silent killers. Grant Jerkins and Jan Thomas's Done in One pulls back the curtain on their world.
From the critically acclaimed author of A Very Simple Crime, a chilling story of a young boy coming to grips with genuine evil. A red dirt road on a sweltering day. A car loses control, flips through the air. A woman crawls out, bloody and battered, staggers toward the boy on the bike, the one she swerved to avoid. But he runs away... Kyle is ten in the summer of 1976, and his world is all about secrets-secrets hidden in the maze of cornfields, in caves, in the embers of scorched earth, behind creaking doors and down basement stairs...and in the darkest of hearts. But there's a policewoman at the front door. The Paralyzed Man watches him from a neighboring porch. And no matter which way Kyle turns, no place seems safe anymore...
One bullet equals one kill. For SWAT sniper Jake Denton, the bullet casings he saves as grim reminders of his "kills" are beginning to add up. His wife, his department-ordered psychiatrist, and even Jake himself are all beginning to question just how these sanctioned kills are affecting his mental health. Nobody wants him to end up like Lee Staley, his mentor and ex-partner---now out on permanent psych leave, drinking himself to death, and the prime suspect in a series of shootings that have paralyzed Northern California. Jake doesn't believe that Staley's guilty, but since their job has taught them to kill, how easy would it be for his friend to cross over to the other side? How easy would it be for him? On every police force in the country, there's a SWAT sniper going about his daily life, acting like an average cop, until the moment when the call comes in. Then they become a hostage's last hope and a criminal's worst nightmare. To some, they are silent heroes---to others, silent killers. Grant Jerkins and Jan Thomas's Done in One pulls back the curtain on their world.
In his debut short fiction collection, A Scholar of Pain, Grant Jerkins remains—as the Washington Post put it—“Determined to peer into the darkness and tell us exactly what he sees.” Here, the depth of that darkness is on evident, oftentimes poetic, display. We meet, and come reluctantly to sympathize with: The office chair-sniffer who only wants to be loved, a bottomed-out cough-syrup addict, a terminally ill school bus driver who takes her young riders on a drunken suicide run, and a cheated-on housewife who discovers her husband’s other woman isn’t a woman at all, but a…No spoilers here. Just read it. Read all sixteen of these deviant diversions. Peer into the darkness. Prai...
Is it true what they say? That we’re only as sick as our worst secret? Because Helen Patrice has one. Last night, she murdered a stranger… Helen is a recovering alcoholic struggling through a twelve-step program. Now it’s time to make amends for a crime she got away with—a hit and run accident that killed the wife of school teacher Edgar Woolrich. It’s time to face the consequences. When she finally gathers the courage to meet him, the ninth step begins with a lie—the first of many as their relationship grows, and Helen knows it’s far too late to reveal the truth to a man she’s come to love. Then one day, she receives an anonymous note: Does he know you killed his wife? Now her devastating trail of deceit is about to lead her into the darkest place so far—that of other people’s secrets…
Nominated for the 2017 Anthony Award for Best Anthology/Collection *** Proceeds from the sales of Unloaded will benefit the nonprofit States United To Prevent Gun Violence (CeaseFireUSA.org) *** For the first time, more than two dozen crime and mystery authors have joined together to use the strongest weapon at their disposal—words—in a call for reasonable gun control in the U.S.A. In this collection you get all the thrills and excitement you come to expect from a great crime story, but without any guns. From best sellers and writing legends to the brightest stars of the next generation of crime writers, the twenty-five authors here have taken pen in hand to say enough is enough. Gun vio...