When it comes to gripping novels of unrelenting suspense, Julie Garwood is in a class by herself. In the course of her career, she has mastered the art of creating characters who live and breathe in compelling, page-burning stories that never fail to surprise. As her legion of fans can attest, she strikes the perfect balance between excitement and insight, action and heart. Now, in this breathless new novel, Garwood has written her most electrifying thriller to date.
Avery Delaney has always tried to put the past far behind her. Abandoned by her rapacious, conniving mother when she was only three days old, Avery was raised by her grandmother and beloved aunt Carolyn. Then, when she was eleven, she witnessed her grandmother's violent death, before Avery herself was shot and left for dead. Miraculously she survived. The man responsible is serving time in a Florida prison. This traumatic experience propels Avery into a life of law and order.
Her razor-sharp mind and ability to gather data and decipher evidence has made Avery an expert crime analyst for the FBI. But soon she will have to use every one of her adroit skills on a case that hits painfully close to home.
Avery's workaholic aunt, Carolyn Salvetti, is certain her (hopefully soon-to-be ex) husband sent her the gold-embossed reservation to the posh Utopia Spa in the mountains of Colorado. At first she is resistant, but then figures it will be a welcome respite from the cutthroat advertising business, not to mention a networking extravaganza. Plus she persuades her niece to join her for the two weeks of luxury and decadence.
But Carolyn never makes it to Utopia. Under false pretenses, she is taken to an isolated retreat by a handsome stranger with a dazzling smile, suave demeanor, and the darkest of motives. His name is Monk, a hired assassin. Now, with scant clues and fewer resources, Avery must track down and save Carolyn -- and outmaneuver a brilliant killer who is part of an elaborate plot of madness and lethal vengeance.
There are few authors who can weave nail-biting thrills, edge-of-your-seat drama, and romantic suspense as masterfully as Julie Garwood. Now she ratchets up the tension with Murder List, in which evil is on the hunt—and proves to be methodically organized and chillingly successful.
When Chicago detective Alec Buchanan is offered a prime position with the FBI, it is the perfect opportunity to leave the Windy City and follow in his brothers' footsteps to the top echelons of law enforcement. But first he must complete one last assignment (and one that he is not too happy about): acting as a glorified bodyguard to hotel heiress Regan Hamilton Madison. The gorgeous exec has become entangled in some potentially deadly business. Someone has e-mailed her a graphic crime-scene photo—and the victim is no stranger.
Regan suspects that the trouble started when she agreed to help a journalist friend expose a shady self-help guru who preys on lonely, vulnerable women. In fact, the smooth-as-an-oil-slick Dr. Lawrence Shields may be responsible for the death of one of his devotees, which was ruled a suicide. Hoping to find some damning evidence, Regan attends a Shields seminar.
At the gathering, the doctor persuades his guests to partake in an innocent little “cleansing” exercise. He asks them to make a list of the people who have hurt or deceived them over the years, posing the question: Would your world be a better place if these people ceased to exist? Treating the exercise as a game, Regan plays along. After ten minutes, Shields instructs the participants to bring their sheets of paper to the fireplace and throw them into the flames. But Regan misses this part of the program when she exits the room to take a call—and barely escapes a menacing individual in the parking lot.
The experience is all but forgotten—until the first person on Regan's list turns up dead. Shock turns to horror when other bodies from the list start to surface, as a harrowing tango of desire and death is set into motion. Now brutal murders seem to stalk her every move—and a growing attraction to Alec may compromise her safety, while stirring up tender emotions she thought she could no longer feel. Yet as the danger intensifies and a serial killer circles ever closer, Regan must discover who has turned her private revenge fantasies into grisly reality.
Slow Burn
Bestselling author Julie Garwood brings her storytelling powers to an electrifying new level in her first contemporary novel. A headstrong young woman becomes the target of a deranged killer in this heart-pounding page-turner that sparks with gripping suspense and passionate twists.
Bless me father, for I will sin.... The penitent knelt in the confessional and breathed the taunting confession that he has killed before -- and that he plans to shatter the calm of a small Iowa town with his next strike. Only this time, he raises the stakes, daring authorities to catch him if they can. This time, he has revealed the name of his intended victim: beautiful Laurant Madden.
When Nick Buchanan is called in to intercept the killer, the seasoned FBI agent can't refuse: Laurant is his best friend's sister. Placing himself by Laurant's side day and night, Nick finds himself falling for this courageous, spirited young woman who refuses to be shaken by a killer's threats.
Julie Garwood created an electrifying tour de force in her suspense-charged bestseller Heartbreaker, a "crackling good thriller" (New York Post) that pitted a relentless FBI agent against a madman in a frenzied race for one beautiful woman. Now, in this thrilling new novel, Garwood goes further down the dark road where passion and obsession meet. Like his FBI-agent brother Nick, Theo Buchanan is devoted to his crime-Þghting career. Only Theo works the other side of the desk as an esteemed Justice Department attorney. At a gala ceremony in New Orleans, he is suddenly struck ill and is rushed to a hospital where a brilliant and beautiful surgeon, Dr. Michelle Renard, saves his life. It is not the only life-and-death crisis that will ensnare Theo -- for he is about to uncover a ring of criminals bent on preserving their secrecy at any cost. They call themselves the Sowing Club: four white-collar professionals whose sophisticated crimes have amassed millions of dollars in a Cayman Islands bank account. The group is bound by a pact to leave the cash untouched until they accumulate a cool $40 million. But their leader, John, has begun to lose his focus in their "all-for-one" commitment, distracted by and nearly bankrupt from his wife's grave illness. Knowing what must be done, John turns to his three friends. For the sake of the pact, their brand of crime must turn to the mercy killing of John's wife. But the line between mercy and murder quickly vanishes.... Now, in the small bayou town of Bowen, Louisiana, Theo Buchanan comes to the aid of Michelle Renard when her medical clinic is vandalized. What he discovers is chilling and deadly. As the relentless and cold-blooded Sowing Club sets out to silence Michelle, the one person who may have the information that will destroy them, Theo confronts the lies, greed, and evil that bind the lethal foursome -- and risks more than he ever has before. Michelle saved his life...now can he save hers?
