When she hears that her younger brother, Danny, has committed suicide, Sayre Lynch relinquishes her vow never to return to Destiny, the small Louisiana town in which she grew up. She plans to leave immediately after the funeral but soon finds herself drawn into the web cast by Huff Hoyle, her controlling and tyrannical father. Her father and older brother, Chris, are as devious as ever with their new partner in crime, a disarming lawyer named Beck Merchant. When Sayre is thrown in closer contact with Beck, she senses something more sinister is at play.

At a Texas county fair, children’s book author Elle Portman is enjoying a rare night out with her favorite cowboy: her two-year-old son, Charlie. But just as they’re about to head home, the unthinkable happens: a shooter opens fire into the crowd, causing widespread panic to erupt all around them. Also caught in the melee is corporate consultant Calder Hudson. When he wakes up in the hospital, he's told he's lucky. Others didn't fare we well, which instills in Calder a furious determination to get justice.

Twenty years ago in the dead of night, four seemingly random individuals pulled the ultimate heist and almost walked away with half a million dollars. But by daybreak, their plan had been shot to hell. One of them was in the hospital. One was in jail. One was dead. And one got away with it. Arden Maxwell, the daughter of the man who disappeared all those years ago - presumably with the money, after murdering his accomplice - has never reconciled with her father's abandonment of her and her sister.

Since moving to Austin to ease the pain of tragic mistakes, Paris Gibson has led a life of virtual isolation, coming alive only at night when she hosts her popular radio show. Then one listener - who identifies himself as "Valentino" - tells Paris that the girl he loves jilted him because of Paris's on-air advice. He intends to exact revenge by killing the girl and then coming after Paris. Desperate to stop the sinister Valentino, Paris enlists the help of the police - including crime psychologist Dean Malloy, the very man she had hoped never to meet again....

New York book editor Maris Matherly-Reed knows a best seller when she sees one - even if it is just a tantalizing partial manuscript submitted by a writer identified only as P.M.E., with the return address of an obscure island off the Georgia coast. Maris is intrigued enough to search for him.