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Barbara Nickless

Biography

Barbara Nickless

#1 Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Barbara Nickless promised her mother she’d be a novelist when she grew up. What could be safer than sitting at a desk all day? But a sense of adventure led her astray for a few decades. Now an award-winning author and creative writing instructor, she spends her free time snowshoeing, caving and hiking the Colorado Rockies.

Barbara Nickless

Books by Barbara Nickless

by Barbara Nickless - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Sisters Nadia and Cass Brenner are heirs to Ocean House, a decades-old empire that builds superyachts for the rich and powerful. They’re a next-generation success with the design of their soon-to-be-commissioned megayacht for a Chinese billionaire. But the sisters’ entrée into the coveted Asian market is tragically cut short when Cass falls from a 40th floor hotel balcony. Nadia’s been in the yacht business too long not to be suspicious. Especially when she discovers Cass’s involvement in dangerously illicit activities. Because uncovering the truth behind her sister’s death could tear the Brenner family apart --- and it just might get her killed. From Seattle to Austria to the South China Sea, Nadia must hold on to the one thing that can keep her safe. It’s the Brenner family motto: Trust no one.

by Barbara Nickless - Fiction, Mystery, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

On a stormy Chicago night, renowned semiotician Dr. Evan Wilding and his brother, River, reunite in a mystery. A package addressed to both of them contains a hand-drawn maze, an ancient Cretan coin and a cryptic greeting: Let the game begin. The opening move is murder. In a downtown alley, a man has been found nearly cleaved in two, a symbol drawn on his forehead and a savage rip in his throat. Given the clues, Evan sees a parallel to a fearsome Greek myth. Which means his friend, Detective Addie Bisset, is on the trail of a legendary flesh-eating monster --- one terrifyingly human and tumbling a panicked city toward chaos. Evan, Addie and River scramble to discover who’s behind the appalling crimes and decipher the baffling motives.

by Barbara Nickless - Fiction, Mystery, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

When esteemed historian Elizabeth Lawrence is found in her car, killed by a cobra’s bite, only a brilliant professor of semiotics, Dr. Evan Wilding, can see the signs around her strange death. As he helps homicide detective Addie Bisset decipher the scene, the puzzles left behind offer Evan chilling passage into the mind of a killer. His investigation merges with that of an Israeli agent, who claims Elizabeth was close to acquiring an invaluable artifact. She also was drawing the attention of unsavory treasure hunters, forgers and thieves. Was someone desperate to expose the truth of Elizabeth’s astonishing discovery? The deeper Evan and Addie delve into the case, the darker it gets. In a race where there can be only one winner, the final victim might be Evan.

by Barbara Nickless - Fiction, Mystery, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

On the muddy banks of the Calumet River, a body has been found posed next to a series of mysterious glyphs and bearing wounds from a ritualistic slaying. Chicago detective Addie Bisset knows only one man who can decipher the message left by the killer: her friend, Dr. Evan Wilding. A brilliant forensic semiotician, Evan decodes the etchings as Viking Age runes. They suggest either human sacrifice or righteous punishment. But to what god? And for what sins? Only one thing is clear from the disturbing runic riddles: there are more victims to come. As Evan races to determine the identity of the Viking Poet, he and Addie uncover the killer’s most terrifying secret yet: the motive.

by Barbara Nickless - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Iraqi war vet and former railway cop Sydney Parnell is now the youngest homicide detective in Denver’s Major Crimes Unit. In the past, gut instinct has served her and her K9 partner, Clyde, well. But it’s not a trait that Len Bandoni, her old nemesis turned reluctant mentor, admires. Not until Sydney’s instincts lead to their first case: a man tortured and beaten to death, then left in a refrigerated train car with cryptic messages carved into his body. The victim is a well-liked member of an elite club called the Superior Gentlemen. At first glance, the club appears harmless. But beneath its refined surface swim darker currents. As Sydney, Clyde and Bandoni investigate the grisly murder, the three develop a bond that carries them through a shocking series of crimes and a horrifying conspiracy.