Merci Rayborn, T. Jefferson Parker's stubborn, principled Orange County detective, is almost alone in believing that deputy Archie Wildcraft didn't kill his beautiful young wife and then turn his service weapon on himself. The evidence against Wildcraft--now hospitalized with a bullet lodged in his head--seems overwhelming. But Merci, who's still unpopular for exposing an old police scandal that caused the death of one cop and the ruination of others...

Terry Naughton, head of Orange County's Crimes Against Youth Unit, is pitted against a brilliantly insane sex offender called Horridus, who kidnaps children from their beds, dresses them as angels, and releases them the next day with a piece of snakeskin tucked into the folds of their gowns. Knowing it is only a matter of time before the madman's crimes escalate, Naughton races to find him while struggling to confront his own dark and violent past....

"It started with their ancestor, Oanh, who dared to leave her marriage for true love—so a fearsome Vietnamese witch cursed Oanh and her descendants so that they would never find love or happiness, and the Duong women would give birth to daughters, never sons.​ Oanh’s current descendant Mai Nguyen knows this curse well. She’s divorced, and after an explosive disagreement a decade ago, she’s estranged from her younger sisters, Minh Pham (the...

When a serial killer begins abducting young women in Orange County, semi-retired cop Tim Hess teams up with Merci Rayborn and the two work together to stop the killer before he can strike again.

Judge Lara Sanderstone searches for the murderer of her sister and brotherin-law and is stalked by the killer whose attacks leave no clue or motive.

With the horrible remnants of a childhood tragedy forever visible across his otherwise handsome face, Joe Trona is scarred in more ways than one. Rescued from an orphanage by Will Trona, a charismatic Orange County politician who sensed his dark potential, Joe is swept into the maelstrom of power and intimidation that surrounds his adoptive father's illustrious career. Serving as Will's right hand man, Joe is trained to protect and defend his father's...

Robert Rivers is an honorable thief who has made a living conducting well-planned heists on the various businesses that dot the idyllic environs of southern California. But during a routine robbery of a local steakhouse, Rivers comes across something that shakes him from his comfortable existence. Stuffed inside the restaurant's safe, alongside the money, is a photograph of a teenaged Vietnamese girl. Though Rivers tries to enjoy the money and move...