First Mystery

Thou shalt not negotiate with terrorists. The president of the United States has broken the nation's number-one commandment, and by doing so has put himself in the crosshairs of America's number-one counter-terrorism operative, Scot Harvath.

A brutal murder, in which all the toes of a young student were amputated, causes horror in the murder department of Walter Kruger. The sometimes too casual main commissioner first hands over the case to his young assistant Marie Liebsam to show her how hard the job as a commissioner is. But she surprises all colleagues with a cool head and clever conclusions. Until she makes a fatal mistake. In the first part of the trilogy Blood, Corpses, Murder, Carlton Roster confronts the unequal team of investigators from Hamburg with very tricky investigations into extremely violent murderers.

A perfect mother. A loving daughter. A secret that could destroy them both. When I walk into my small family home after a long day at work, I find my mother in the living room, playing happily with my precious baby son, and my heart begins to race.

Bree’s new home is luxurious and private, with a fancy Beverly Hills address. What a shame it’s not hers. Widowed, penniless, living in her car, and out of options, she’s climbed the fence and crashed in the pool house. All she wants is a good night’s sleep. But when Sophie, the absentee owner, finds her, she gets a whole lot more.

In Coventry, Eric and Harry watch helplessly as they find themselves face to face with the latest arrival at Ground Zero. Tired and coming to terms with Eric’s devastating injuries, how can two men hope contain such an indestructible force, let alone escape the impenetrable energy shield that now envelops them and the city?

Ex-Minneapolis Police Detective Rembrandt Stone walked away from a career he loved - just the price of being sure he can come home to the wife and daughter he cherishes. But he can’t shake the deep regret over a case left behind. When his mentor dies and leaves Rembrandt with a box of cold cases and a mysterious watch, he finds himself thrust into a world he recognizes - the same world he’s woken from in a cold sweat a hundred times. But is it a dream, or some kind of twisted reality? If he solves the case that plagues him, will it destroy the life he loves?

harles II is well established at White Hall Palace, his mistress at hand in rooms over the Holbein bridge, the heads of some of the regicides on public display. London seethes with new energy, freed from the strictures of the protectorate, but many of its inhabitants have lost their livelihoods. One is Thomas Chaloner, a reluctant spy for the feared secretary of state, John Thurloe, and now returned from Holland in desperate need of employment.

Scout Randall’s life has turned from bad to worse. With her boyfriend’s murderous mother on the loose, that means she’s a target. But where will the attack come from? Scout thought they would have time to figure things out, time to regroup and come up with a plan. She was wrong. The next enemy is on their doorstep.

In a universe where the laws of physics and the speed of light are completely alien to our own, the travelers on the ship Peerless have completed a generations-long struggle to develop advanced technology in a desperate attempt to save their home world. But as tensions mount over the risks of turning the ship around and starting the long voyage home, a new complication arises: The prospect of constructing a messaging system that will give the Peerless news of its own future.

Noah is thrilled when the week's library theme is sea creatures. But when Noah can't find the stuffed shark, he is disappointed. Noah knows there is a shark in the library, and he is going to find it!

Della had the perfect life - the family, a boyfriend, and a bright future - until she was turned, and abandoned by everyone she loves. She takes refuge at Shadow Falls, a camp for teens with paranormal powers. It’s where she and her best friends, Kylie and Miranda, heal their heartbreak with laughter, and where Della is training to be a paranormal investigator - and she refuses to be distracted.

Maya is hiding in plain sight in London. The 26-year-old has abandoned the dangerous obligations pressed upon her by her father, and chosen instead to live a normal life. But Maya comes from a long line of people who call themselves Harlequins, a fierce group of warriors willing to sacrifice their lives to protect a select few known as Travelers.

Multiple murders in a quiet midwestern town had Detective Riley Willoughby's mind constantly spinning. There had not been murders like this in decades in the town of Woodlake. With the help of her partner, Jake Maxwell, they are on the journey of hunting down a killer. All the victims are women, and the killer begins leaving sinister notes with the bodies that are directed at Riley.

The last thing Jett Gavallan would call himself was a hero. A fighter pilot in the Gulf War, he found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. But he is determined not to let it destroy him. He has created Black Jet Securities, an international financial consulting firm, in order to use his expertise to create enough wealth to do some good in the world. It's a noble goal, but Black Jet Securities' latest and most ambitious deal could destroy everything that Gavallan has worked so hard to build.

First responders with any real time on the job believe in ghosts. They’ve experienced events they can’t otherwise explain. Same with other professions that deal with injuries, accidents, or death. Police officers, firemen, 911 operators, they’ve seen the worst that people can do to one another, and they’ve all had brushes with the unexplained.

Home again in Atlanta after years on the Left Coast, crime reporter Samantha Adams finds that the more things change, the more they remain the same. Beau, the boy who broke her heart eons earlier, is more handsome than ever and is now the medical examiner. Sam finds herself deep in the kudzu once more when a lawyer, a family acquaintance, goes missing, then turns up dead. When the sheriff rules it an accident, Sam and Beau team up to deliver their own unique brand of justice.

Everyone in Denmark knew that Yousef Ahmed, a refugee from Iraq, brutally murdered the right-wing politician Sanne Melgaard. So, when part-time blues musician, frustrated home renovator, and full-time private detective Gabriel Præst agrees to investigate the matter because his ex—the one who got away—asked him to, he knew it was a no-win case. But as Gabriel starts to ask questions, his face meets with the fists of Russian gangsters; the Danish prime minister asks him for a favor; and he starts to realize that something may be rotten in the state of Denmark.

When Sophie’s life falls apart, she accepts an invitation from a childhood friend, Caroline, to visit her family’s beautiful beach house, miles from the nearest town. The silence is broken only by the rhythmic crash of the waves against the jagged black rocks below. But when Sophie arrives, she finds her friend much changed. Caroline - who used to be so warm and confident - is secretive and on-edge, spending long, unexplained hours away from her family. And then there’s Caroline’s little daughter Lucy - who stopped speaking soon after they moved in.

It was supposed to be a place of healing - a place where doctors and nurses dedicated their lives to helping the sick and injured. Nobody wants to imagine a massacre at a hospital. So at Newton Memorial, staff and patients are left frightened and stunned after the brutal shooting death of Dr. John Connor and an attending nurse. And when Dr. Jack Norris is asked by police to help with the investigation, he will stop at nothing to figure out how a peaceful patient was suddenly turned into a violent killer.

Do you hate sleep and love real ghost stories? Then this 50-story collection is exactly what you’re looking for! These stories are unexplainable true accounts from first responders, police officers, firemen, and 911 operators, told from the perspective of everyday people. Every single tale between these covers is 100 percent true.