Lucas Davenport is investigating a case when the trail leads to the disappearance of a Minnesota political fixer, then --- very troublingly --- to the Minneapolis police department, then --- most troublingly of all --- to a woman who could give Machiavelli lessons. She has very definite ideas about the way the world should work, and the money, ruthlessness and sheer will to make it happen. No matter who gets in the way.

A heavy-handed developer is trying to buy up Henry Cimoli's condo on Revere Beach and sends thugs to move the process along. Soon Spenser and his apprentice find a trail leading to a mysterious and beautiful woman, and plans to turn to a chunk of land north of Boston into a sprawling casino. Bitter rivals emerge, alliances turn, and the uglier pieces of the Boston political machine look to put an end to Spenser's investigation.

Police officer Nina Hoffman finds her fellow officer David Lindholm naked on his bed with bullets through his head and stomach. His traumatized wife, Julia, rambles on about a woman entering the house, killing David and running off with her son, but all the evidence seems to point in Julia’s direction. Annika Bengtzon covers the case and is drawn in headfirst when she sees that Julia is about to be falsely charged.

After only a week at home with her new daughter, Lindsay Boxer is forced to return to work to face two of the biggest cases of her career. A rising star football player for the San Francisco 49ers is the prime suspect in a grisly murder. At the same time, an eccentric English professor has been having vivid nightmares about a violent murder and is convinced it’s real. Lindsay doesn't believe him, but then a shooting is called in --- and it fits the professor's description perfectly.

With this anthology, bestselling author Brad Meltzer introduces 21 original stories from today's most prominent mystery writers. From the foothills of Mount Fuji to Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp, from a physics laboratory in wartime Leipzig to an unusual fitness club in Boca Raton, these sometimes terrifying, sometimes funny, and always suspenseful tales will keep you riveted to the page.

Kari Vaara is recovering from the physical and emotional toll of solving the Lisbet Söderlund case when he’s approached with a plea: an Estonian woman begs him to find her daughter, Loviise, a young woman with Down syndrome who was promised work and a better life in Finland, and has since disappeared. As Kari works this new case, a past one comes back to haunt him when powerful enemies return to settle unfinished business.

From the outside, Carter Tomlin’s life looked perfect. In reality, he has lost his job, the bills are mounting, and that perfect life is hanging by a thread. Desperate, he robs a bank. Then another. As the red flags start to go up, FBI Special Agent Carla Windermere homes in on Tomlin from one direction, while Minnesota state investigator Kirk Stevens picks up the trail from another. But Tomlin has guns and a new taste for violence. And he’s not quitting anytime soon.

A teenage girl was assaulted and raped on a midsummer’s eve 15 years ago. Cut to present: a man is killed in a hit and run. He has no identification on him and is not reported missing. The same day, a priest and his wife are found dead in an apparent suicide. Fredrika Bergman and her colleagues are assigned to all three of the seemingly unrelated cases. What is the thread of evil that connects them all?

Jerome Cardy knew he was going to die and that it would be made to appear like an accident. He might not be able to prevent it, but he was determined to make sure that someone knew what was going to happen. After he is found beaten to death, Ash is unable to forget Jerome’s last awkward words to him: “I had a dog once. Othello. That was its name. Othello.” Certain there is a hidden message in these words, Ash is determined to discover the truth.

This comprehensive manual covers the methods, technologies, thought processes and judgments that a director must use throughout the fascinating process of making a film. The core of the book is the human, psychological and technical knowledge that every director needs, the enduring elements of the craft that remain vital.