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Worthy Brown's Daughter
Worthy Brown's Daughter
Margolin, Phillip
¥69.16
Inspired by a true story, New York Times bestselling author Phillip Margolin turns his hand to historical fiction in this masterful saga about justice in the American West.Like thousands of other Americans in the nineteenth century, Matthew Penny, a young lawyer, believes that he and his wife, Rachel, can forge a better future out West. But after she drowns on the Oregon Trail, Matthew arrives on the frontier with nothing but shattered dreams. Unable to face the memories that await back home, he joins the handful of lawyers practicing in Portland, Oregon—which in 1860 is just a riverfront town in a state less than a year old.Worthy Brown, a slave from Georgia, journeys west with his master, Caleb Barbour, who promises to reward Worthy and his daughter, Roxanne, with their freedom if they help him establish a homestead in Oregon. When Barbour reneges on his pledge, Worthy’s hope for a fresh start with his child is destroyed.In the hands of critically acclaimed thriller writer Phillip Margolin, the fates of these desperate men intertwine in a breathtaking narrative about the extent of evil and the high price of true justice. Matthew and Worthy decide to challenge Barbour in court, but events rapidly spiral out of their control and the stakes become higher than either of them could ever have imagined. And when Matthew, struggling to survive in the cutthroat, corrupt world of frontier law, crosses paths with Heather Gillette, the beautiful daughter of a wealthy Portland businessman, his grief-stricken existence is turned upside down, and suddenly he has everything to fight for.Over two decades in the writing, Worthy Brown’s Daughter is a compelling white-knuckle drama about two broken men risking everything for what they believe in. Powerfully evocative of time and place, woven through with rich historical detail, it charts new territory for Margolin—but its epic, deeply human scope is still defined by the suspense and energy his fans have come to expect from his books.
One Mile Under
One Mile Under
Gross, Andrew
¥69.16
In this long-awaited return of detective-turned-global-troubleshooter Ty Hauck, he and a courageous young whitewater guide step into a deadly showdown between downtrodden farmers and a clandestine energy giant bent on destroying their way of life in this topical and unrelenting thriller from New York Times bestselling author Andrew GrossDuring a routine trip down the rapids outside Aspen, Colorado, whitewater guide Dani Whalen finds a body washed up on the river's edge, and it turns out to be a close friend. Trey Watkins's death is quickly ruled an accident by local law enforcement, but, reading the signs, Dani is convinced that something far more sinister has occurred. She takes her case to Wade Dunn, the local police chief and her ex-stepfather, with whom she shares some unfinished business, and he repeats the company line: Trey's death is not worth an investigation. Undeterred, Dani secretly builds her case, and when Ron, a hot-air-balloon operator who says he saw something up in the air that day to back up her claims, is killed himself in a fiery crash, Dani threatens to take her suspicions public, goading Wade into tossing her in jail. Ty Hauck has been sailing the Caribbean for three months, recuperating physically and spiritually from his last deadly case. When Dani's father, an old friend, reaches him and says his daughter is in trouble out west, Ty doesn't hesitate to moor his boat and get involved. At first reluctantly, but then full-on, Ty and Dani become ensnared in a sinister scheme running deep beneath the surface of a quiet Colorado town that has made its own deal with the devil to survive. But in the deadly square-off between giant energy concerns and beaten-down ranchers and farmers, there is one resource even more valuable than oil in this drought-stricken region: water. As Ty and Dani discover the true price that all will pay to get it, they're drawn in deeper as the stakes grow even higher.
Phantom
Phantom
Bell, Ted
¥69.16
Visitors at an American theme park look on in horror as their carefree holiday is transformed in an instant into near chaos. In the skies over the Midwest, the pilot of a USAF F-15 inexplicably loses control of his jet, endangering the very important lives in an accompanying aircraft. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, technology is in open revolt.For counterspy Alex Hawke and his MI6 colleague, the brilliant former inspector Ambrose Congreve, the mission is clear: to get to the root of a terrifying series of unexplained "malfunctions." But how do you fight a phantom—an enemy you cannot seeCyber-warfare has been declared, and the hunt is leading Hawke on a breakneck race across the globe—on the trail of a villainous megalomaniac who may have created the perfect weapon: a devastating Artificial Intelligence nightmare that could shift the geopolitical balance of power for all time.
The Ninth Day
The Ninth Day
Freveletti, Jamie
¥69.16
In less than nine days, terror crosses the border . . . Hiking in Arizona, biochemist Emma Caldridgeinadvertently interrupts the operations ofdangerous traffickers in human cargo—and ischased south into the arms of millionaire drugmerchants. Suddenly a prisoner of Mexico’s mostfeared cartel, Emma makes a shocking discoveryin the marijuana fields outside Ciudad Juarez: plants rotting with a flesh-eating toxin that causes a trulyhorrible death within nine days of exposure.And there is no antidote.The cartel believes that U.S. agents contaminatedthe plants, and, determined to make theirenemy pay, they prepare to spread their lethalproduct across America. Emma Caldridge searches desperately for a cure, but time is running outmore quickly than she anticipated. For Emmaherself has been infected—and, barring a miracle, she will die before the terrible dawning of . . .
The Beast
The Beast
Kellerman, Faye
¥69.16
The professional and the personal intersect in treacherous ways in this compelling and eerie installment in Faye Kellerman's thrilling New York Times bestselling Decker/Lazarus seriesThroughout his years with the LAPD, Peter Decker has handled a number of tough cases and strange killers. But few of his previous assignments compare to his latest case—the most bizarre of his storied career.When Hobart Penny is found dead in his apartment, the cops think that his pet cat—an adult female tiger—attacked the reclusive elderly billionaire. But it soon becomes clear that the beast that killed the eccentric inventor is all too human. Digging into the victim's life, Decker and his colleagues, Detectives Marge Dunn and Scott Oliver, discover that Penny was an exceptionally peculiar man with exotic tastes, including kinky sex with call girls.Following a trail of clues that leads from a wildlife sanctuary in the San Bernardino Mountains to the wild nightlife of Las Vegas, the LAPD detectives are left juggling too many suspects and too few answers. To break open a case involving the two most primal instincts—sex and murder—Decker wrestles with a difficult choice. Should he turn to a man with expert knowledge of both, Chris Donatti, the dangerous man who also happens to be the father of Decker's foster son, Gabriel Whitman, a boy not without his own problems?As their work and intimate worlds collide, Decker and his wife, Rina, find themselves facing tough questions. It just might be that family crises and work-related responsibilities prove too much for Decker's career. A confluence of ordeals can stress even the most intact of families. And when all these shocking truths comes out, exactly how well will Decker and Rina cope, and survive?
The Searcher
The Searcher
Toyne, Simon
¥69.16
Perfect for fans of Lee Child and Stephen King, the author of the acclaimed Sanctus trilogy conjures a haunting epic of good and evil, retribution and redemption—the first novel in the mesmerizing Solomon Creed seriesOn a windy hilltop in the town of Redemption, Arizona, people have gathered at an old cemetery to bury a local man who died in a tragic accident. But the occasion is suddenly disrupted by a thunderous explosion several miles away. A plane has crashed, pouring a pillar of black smoke into the air.As Sheriff Garth Morgan speeds toward the accident, he nearly hits a man running down the road, with no shoes on his feet and no memory of who he is or how he got there. The only clues to his identity are a label in his jacket and a book that's been inscribed to him, both giving the name Solomon Creed. Solomon knows only that he's here for a reason—to save a man he has never met . . . a man who was buried that very morning.Miles away, three men scan the skies for a plane carrying an important package. Spotting the black cloud in the distance, they suspect something has gone wrong, and that the man who has sent them will demand a heavy price if the package has been lost.To uncover his real identity, Solomon must expose Redemption's secrets and the truth behind the death of the man he is there to save. But there are those who will do anything to stop him, men prepared to call on the darkest forces to prevent Solomon from succeeding. The Searcher delves into history, murder, criminal revenge, and personal betrayal while also exploring bravery, love, sacrifice, and renewal—all underpinned by a truly frightening and deadly mystery.
The Ultimatum
The Ultimatum
Wolf, Dick
¥69.16
Detective Jeremy Fisk tracks a serial sniper who is terrorizing New York City with state-of-the-art airborne technology in this electrifying next novel in the New York Times bestselling series from Law & Order creator Dick WolfWhen hacker Merritt Verlyn releases sensitive documents from the NYPD Intelligence Divi-sion to WikiLeaks, some of New York City's deadliest criminals suddenly gain access to Detective Jeremy Fisk's unlisted home address. Within hours, three deadly assailants arrive at his Sutton Place apartment looking for blood.Authorities quickly identify and arrest Verlyn, but the damage is done. Forced from his home and his bank accounts drained, Fisk confronts Chay Maryland, the beautiful New York Times reporter who has been covering Verlyn's case. Fisk wants her help to get close to the leaker—to find out what Verlyn really wants and who else is involved—but Chay refuses to yield her sources.The investigation is nearly derailed when a series of seemingly random shootings leaves innocent people dead on the streets. A father running in Central Park and a retired math teacher searching for lost change in Battery Park are both shot and killed by an incredibly precise sniper who is never seen and leaves no traces. When the authorities receive a menacing message from someone named "Yodeler," who threatens to sacrifice a citizen every day until Verlyn is released, Fisk and Chay have no choice but to team up and discover what the leaker really knows.With the clock ticking and millions of lives at stake, Fisk and Chay must find the mastermind before he can wreak havoc on a city paralyzed by fear. This masterful, broad-shouldered American thriller is full of swagger and surprises, and ends in a heart-stopping, highly dramatic showdown, which no suspense lover will soon forget.
Black Horizon
Black Horizon
Grippando, James
¥69.16
Miami attorney Jack Swyteck finds himself in the middle of an international legal battle over a Cuban oil spill that sets him on a deadly mission.Three summers after the Deepwater Horizon environmental catastrophe, oil is spewing into the ocean again, this time from a drilling explosion in Cuban waters just fifty miles from the Florida Keys. The slick is headed straight for the United States, but the Cubans refuse American offers to assist with the cleanup, and threaten to fire on "hostile" U.S. vessels entering their waters. Backstopping the Cubans is the powerful consortium that owned and operated the rig, and is tied to the Chinese, Russian, and Venezuelan governments, who stonewall all inquiries and relief efforts.Jack and his new wife, Andie Henning, an undercover agent for the FBI, are honeymooning in the Keys when Andie is called away on an assignment shrouded in secrecy. Jack, too, is soon back at work, representing an American woman whose Cuban husband was killed in the rig explosion. Though the spill occurred in foreign waters, Jack draws on all his legal know-how to file a wrongful death suit in a U.S. court and hopefully bring the young widow a semblance of closure.Jack's pursuit of the unimaginably complicated international case plunges him into a dangerous world filled with treacherous twists that lead him—and Andie—to the same shocking realization . . . that the looming environmental disaster may have been no "accident" at all.
The Breaking Point
The Breaking Point
Bass, Jefferson
¥69.16
Past, present, and future collide to throw respected forensic anthropologist Bill Brockton's successful, secure life into devastating turmoil in this, the most poignant novel yet in the New York Times bestselling Body Farm mystery series"Bad guys lie. Bugs always tell you the truth."Dr. Bill Brockton—founder of the University of Tennessee's macabre Body Farm—is riding high, enjoying professional acclaim and personal contentment. While celebrating his thirtieth wedding anniversary with his loving wife, Kathleen, Brockton recalls how close he once came to losing Kathleen and their son at the hands of a sadistic serial killer named Satterfield. But that was long ago, and in the years since Satterfield's conviction, Brockton's family has grown to include a lovely daughter-in-law and two lively grandsons. His career has flourished, too, as the Body Farm's pioneering research—along with Brockton's forensic expertise—have brought him respect, renown, and high-profile cases.Now the FBI needs Brockton's help with his highest-profile case ever: identifying the remains of a pilot killed in a fiery plane crash outside San Diego. Are the charred bones indeed those of Richard Janus, a maverick humanitarian whose daring airlifts to international disaster sites made him a celebrityAnd was the nighttime crash on a mountainside an accident, or was it suicide—or murder?But a storm is about to hit Brockton with cataclysmic force. First, he discovers he's landed in the middle of a nasty political battle involving warring feds, secret agendas, a ruthless drug kingpin, and a celebrity whose life was a labyrinth of secrets. Then Brockton's identification of the crash victim is called into question, as is the future of his research facility. Reeling from these shocking blows, he receives a gruesome threat from the killer who nearly murdered the Brocktons more than a decade before. But worse is to come: from his beloved Kathleen—his lodestone and his source of security—Brockton gets the most shocking news of all.Will the legendary Dr. Bill Brockton be able to weather the onslaught . . . or will it push him beyond his breaking point?
Cash Landing
Cash Landing
Grippando, James
¥69.16
The New York Times bestselling author of Cane and Abe and Black Horizon delivers a wild, suspenseful story inspired by actual events, in which a band of amateur thieves pulls off one of the biggest airport heists in history, with deadly consequences.Every week, a hundred million dollars in cash arrive at Miami International Airport, shipped by German banks to the Federal Reserve. A select group of trusted workers moves the bags through customs and loads them into armored cars.Ruban Betancourt has always played by the rules. But when the bank takes his house and his restaurant business goes bust, he is driven over the edge. He and his wife deserve more than what life has handed them, and he's come up with a scheme to get a little payback. Ruban, with the help of an airport insider, his cokehead brother-in-law, Jeffrey, and two ex-cons, surprise the guards transferring the money to the armored cars and speed off with $7.4 million in the bed of a pickup truck.Investigating the heist, FBI agent Andie Henning, newly transferred to Miami from Seattle, knows that the best way to catch the thieves is to follow the money. Jeffrey's drug addiction is as conspicuous as the Rolex watches he buys for dancers at the Gold Rush strip joint. And one of the ex-cons, Pinky Perez, makes no secret of his plan to own a swingers' club, which will give him carte blanche with his patrons' wives. Meanwhile, levelheaded Ruban is desperately trying to lie low and hold things together.But Agent Henning isn't the only one on their trail, and in mob-meets-Miami fashion, these accidental thieves suddenly find themselves in way over their heads and sinking fast.
Desert Heat
Desert Heat
Jance, J. A.
¥69.16
A cop lies dying beneath the blistering Arizona sun a local lawman who may well have become the next sheriff of Cochise County.?The police brass claim that Andy Brady was dirty, and that his shooting was a suicide attempt. Joanna Brady, his devoted wife and mother of their nine-year-old daughter, knows a cover-up when she hears one . . . and murder when she sees it. But her determined efforts to hunt down an assassin and clear her husband's name are placing Joanna and her surviving family in harm's way because in the desert, the one thing more lethal than a rattler's bite . . . is the truth.
Got the Look
Got the Look
Grippando, James
¥69.16
From bestselling author James Grippando comes the newest Jack Swyteck thriller, in a series that critics have called "riveting," "a winner," and "lapel grabbing." In Got the Look, Swyteck is up against a killer who's so fiendishly clever and diabolical that even Jack may have at last met his match. FBI agent Andie Henning is tracking a ruthless kidnapper plaguing south Florida, one who's out to prove that all human life can be valued in dollars and cents. But at every turn, he has slipped through her net. This time he's taken the wife of one of the state's richest horse breeders and is asking a ransom of $1 million. The stakes go up when Andie finds the woman -- dead. Enter Jack Swyteck. He has a new girlfriend, Mia, and life is good -- until she goes missing. Then Jack gets a one-two punch: he discovers that his lover is married, and her rich husband receives a ransom demand that pegs Mia as the kidnapper's latest victim. Worst of all, her husband knows all about the affair with Jack, and he decides to pay the kidnapper exactly what his cheating wife is worth: nothing. Feeling deceived, Jack at first resists getting involved. But as secrets unfold about Mia's strange marriage and mysterious past, Jack is in for a twisty ride that may bring him face-to-face with a madman.
Last to Die
Last to Die
Grippando, James
¥69.16
In an exciting new series that critics have called "John Grisham meets Robert Ludlum," Miami criminal defense lawyer Jack Swyteck faces his biggest challenge yet. Tatum Knight is a former contract killer. Ruthless. Conniving. And he's Jack's newest client. Tatum is the older brother of Jack's best friend, Theo. Theo himself spent time on death row until Jack found the evidence to prove him innocent. Jack isn't so sure about Tatum. A gorgeous young woman has been shot dead in her Mercedes on a Miami street. Tatum denies that he had anything to do with it, but he admits to Jack that he did meet with her in Theo's bar, where she tried to hire him. Sally Fenning was worth forty-eight million dollars when she died. Money had never made her happy, so she left it all to her enemies -- left it for them to fight over, that is. She named six heirs in her will, but there's a catch: No one gets a penny until all but one of the heirs are dead. It's survival of the greediest. Quickly the lawyers gear up for a bitter legal battle, but Jack braces himself for much worse. He alone knows that heir number six -- Tatum Knight -- is a professional killer. As the heirs begin to fall, Jack and his unforgettable sidekick, Theo, are in a race against time to discover if Tatum is behind all the killing. Or is someone even more frightening, more dangerous, the odds-on favorite to be the last to dieFrom the harrowing first scene through its shocking climax, Last to Die delivers nonstop action and chilling suspense that fans around the world have come to expect from bestselling author James Grippando.
Prey
Prey
Crichton, Michael
¥69.16
In the Nevada desert, an experiment has gone horribly wrong. A cloud of nanoparticles—micro-robots—has escaped from the laboratory. This cloud is self-sustaining and self-reproducing. It is intelligent and learns from experience. For all practical purposes, it is alive. It has been programmed as a predator. It is evolving swiftly, becoming more deadly with each passing hour. Every attempt to destroy it has failed. And we are the prey. As fresh as today's headlines, Michael Crichton's most compelling novel yet tells the story of a mechanical plague and the desperate efforts of a handful of scientists to stop it. Drawing on up-to-the-minute scientific fact, Prey takes us into the emerging realms of nanotechnology and artificial distributed intelligence—in a story of breathtaking suspense. Prey is a novel you can't put down. Because time is running out.
Shoot Don't Shoot
Shoot Don't Shoot
Jance, J. A.
¥69.16
A prisoner languishes in a Phoenix jail cell, accused of brutally slaying his estranged wife. No one believes the man is innocent, except the new female sheriff of Cochise County, in town for a crash course in police training. Joanna Brady is out of her jurisdiction—and possibly in over her head. For a human monster is on the prowl, hiding the grisly evidence of his horrific crimes in the vast emptiness of the Arizona desert. And an impromptu investigation, with no official sanction and no back up, is drawing a cold, ingenious serial killer much too close to Brady for comfort—and, worse still, closer to her little girl.
Day of the Dead
Day of the Dead
Jance, J. A.
¥69.16
For more than thirty years, the case has remained stone cold -- the brutal murder of a local Papago girl, her butchered body found stuffed into a large cooler that was left on the side of Highway 86. No one ever paid for the horrific crime ... except, that is, the victim's loved ones, who suffer to this day. Brandon Walker, once the sheriff of Pima County, Arizona, no longer feels he has purpose. A reluctant retiree living in the long shadow of his wife, Diana Ladd, a successful author of true-crime books, he is bored with golf, and more so with life. Salvation, though, comes with an invitation to join the ranks of The Last Chance, an exclusive nationwide fraternity of former cops and forensic experts who look into unsolved murders that have baffled local law enforcement agencies. And one such case is staring Brandon in the face with cold, dead, entreating eyes -- a murder investigation that may have been mishandled by his department when he was a young lawman. The trail of a sadistic, calculating, and blood-chillinglyefficient killer soon leads Brandon into a strange world at the unlikely border between forensic science and tribal mysticism: a place where evil hides behind a perfect facade. Now the seeds of terror sown three decades earlier have bloomed and are bearing awful fruit. A forgotten homicide in the Arizona desert is only the beginning of the nightmare that is about to ensnare a diligent ex-cop and his family, for Brandon Walker is the only one still alive who can unravel a blood knot of terror and obsession that will free a dark truth more frightening than he ever imagined. A novel that bristles with electrifying intensity and is alive with the breathtaking atmosphere and rich characterizations that have become J. A. Jance trademarks, Day of the Dead is a gripping and extraordinary journey into the darkness -- a welcome return to the shadow world of the sensational New York Times bestseller Kiss of the Bees -- and the author's most spellbinding and powerfully resonant thriller to date.
Last Call
Last Call
Grippando, James
¥69.16
Many years ago, Jack Swyteck saved Theo Knight's life. Theo grew up on the streets of Miami's roughest neighborhood and lost his mother to a violent crime. Although his uncle Cy tried his best to raise him right, by the time he was a teenager, Theo was on death row for a murder he didn't commit. Jack was the lawyer who proved him innocent. Now a successful bar owner, Theo has turned things around. But he needs Jack's help again, this time more than ever. An escaped convict from the old neighborhood shows up at Theo's back door, asking for help. In return, he'll finger the man who murdered Theo's mother. But the answers aren't so simple, and soon Theo's own life is in danger. Jack and Theo must piece together a twenty-year-old conspiracy of greed and corruption that leads to the very top of Miami's elite, while revisiting a past that Theo has tried hard to forget. But Theo also has the opportunity to seek the revenge that has fueled him since the day he found his mother dead in the street on a hot Miami night. Last Call is a brilliant and bullet-fast thriller, complete with revelations that no reader will ever forget.
Hear No Evil
Hear No Evil
Grippando, James
¥69.16
Miami attorney Jack Swyteck is involved in the most explosive criminal trial of his career -- a case that starts with a murder on a military base and concludes with a shocking surprise that will change Jack's life forever. A beautiful woman comes to see Jack and begs him to represent her. She says she's about to be arrested for the murder of her husband, an officer stationed at Guantanamo Bay. Having no expertise in military law and sensing that the woman isn't telling him the entire truth, Jack turns her down. Then she drops a bombshell: She claims she's the adoptive mother of Jack's biological son -- a child he's never met. Either Jack must represent her or he'll never see the boy. So Jack agrees, but with great foreboding. He has an unreliable client -- a blackmailer who just might be a murderer -- and he has to travel to Gitmo and on to Havana to tussle with people who clearly have a lot to hide. This is a case with as many twists and turns as it has unanswered questions, and the personal toll on Jack won't end until he's forced to confront the ultimate surprise witness in a trial that rocks the city of Miami. In signature Grippando style, Hear No Evil is an intricate, fast-paced, and captivating thriller that will keep you guessing until the very end.
Lying with Strangers
Lying with Strangers
Grippando, James
¥69.16
A first-year resident at a major Boston children's hospital, Peyton Shields finally has the career she's always dreamed of, even though her marriage to Kevin, an up-and-coming young lawyer, is suffering from her hard work and impossibly long hours. But a late-night drive home in a heavy snowstorm changes everything when she is forced off the road and she loses something precious and irreplaceable. No one, not even Kevin, believes Peyton's claims that the "accident" was deliberate. Suddenly her wonderful life has turned dark and uncertain, and the terror has only just begun. Her husband is growing inexplicably distant and bitter, accusing her of paranoia, betrayal, and infidelity. And a series of bizarre and frightening events is moving Peyton steadily closer to a faceless, resourceful enemy who is watching her every move.
A King's Ransom
A King's Ransom
Grippando, James
¥69.16
The author of five bestselling novels, including Under Cover of Darkness and The Pardon, James Grippando writes compulsively readable thrillers that could be drawn from today's headlines, only better. Now his trademark gifts are wonderfully demonstrated in a taut new tale of intrigue that will keep you guessing to the final, breathtaking scene. Just two years out of law school, Nick Rey is on the career fast track at a hot Miami law firm when he is suddenly plunged headfirst into a dangerous bid to save his father. Matthew Rey has been kidnapped while on business in Columbia's exotic port city of Cartagena. The ransom demand of three million dollars is far more than the Rey family can ever hope to raise. Fortunately, Matthew had purchased an insurance policy to protect against just such a threat. Unfortunately, the kidnappers seem to know all about the policy, and the insurance company, suspecting fraud, is refusing to pay out. With nowhere to turn, Nick links up with Alex, a beautiful, street-smart woman who may be the only person capable of negotiating with Matthew's abductors. But Nick soon discovers that the gravest dangers to him and his family are not the kidnappers and their guns, but the men in suits: lawyers, to be exact, at a powerful firm with something to hide, and they will stop at nothing to keep Nick from unleashing the truth.
Minor in Possession
Minor in Possession
Jance, J. A.
¥69.16
A gripping story of buried truths, deceit, and sudden, brutal death from the New York Times bestselling author of Long Time Gone.All manner of sinners and sufferers come to the rehab ranch in Arizona when they hit rock bottom. For Seattle detective J.P. Beaumont, there is a deeper level of Hell here: being forced to room with teenage drug dealer Joey Rothman. An all-around punk, Joey deserves neither pity nor tears—until he is murdered by a bullet fired from Beaumont's gun. Someone has set Beau up brilliantly for a long and terrifying fall, dragging the alcoholic ex-cop into a conspiracy of blood and lies that could cost him his freedom . . . and his life.