Illinois Authors

Oxford : ℗2006.

A bus full of children is taken hostage in this “screaming hit” (The New York Times Book Review) from the bestselling author of The Never Game and The Bone Collector. Along a windswept Kansas road, eight vulnerable girls and their helpless teachers are forced off a school bus and held hostage in an abandoned slaughterhouse. The madman who has them at gunpoint has a simple plan: One hostage an hour will die unless the demands are met. Called to the scene is Arthur Potter, the FBI’s best hostage negotiator. He has a plan. But so does one of the hostages—a beautiful teacher who’s willing to do anything to save the lives of her students. Now the clock is ticking as a chilling game of cat and mouse begins.

Isis, Oxford : 2002.

Move over, Bonnie and Clyde ... Hollywood location scout John Pellam thought the scenic backwater town of Maddox, Missouri, would be the perfect site for an upcoming gangster film. But after real bullets leave two people dead and one cop paralysed, he's more sought after than the Barrows gang. Pellam had unwittingly wandered onto the crime scene just moments before the brutal hits. Now the fed and local police want him to talk. Mob enforcers want him silenced. And a mysterious blonde just wants him. Trapped in a town full of sinister secrets and deadly deceptions, Pellam fears that life will imitate art, as the film shoot - and his life - race toward a breathtaking and bloody climax.

“The face of war is changing. The other side doesn’t play by the rules much anymore. There’s thinking, in some circles, that we need to play by a different set of rules too…” James Bond, in his early thirties and already a veteran of the Afghan War, has been recruited to a new organization. Conceived in the post-9/11 world, it operates independent of MI5, MI6 and the Ministry of Defense, its very existence deniable. Its aim: To protect the Realm, by any means necessary. A Night Action alert calls James Bond away from dinner with a beautiful woman. Headquarters has decrypted an electronic whisper about an attack scheduled for later in the week: Casualties estimated in the thousands, British interests adversely affected. And Agent 007 has been given carte blanche.

Bantam Books, New York : ©1990.

The explosion of the Velvet Venus Theater, an X-rated movie house, makes twenty-one-year-old Rune determined to create a documentary on adult films, but she soon discovers that she is also tracking a killer to her prospective film career forever, in a revised edition of the best-selling author's classic thriller.

When Washington D.C. police detective Ryan Kessler is targeted by "lifter" Henry Loving, he and his family are immediately put under government protection. Assigned to the Kesslers is protection officer Corte: uncompromising, relentlessly devoted to protecting those in his care and a brilliant game strategist. As the "lifter" closes in on his prey, Corte must decide whether to protect his charges, or expose them to a killer in the name of personal revenge.

Thomas & Mercer 2024

As a wave of murders grips Southern California, an unlikely pair must untangle the mysterious patterns of an elusive killer. A propulsive new series by New York Times bestselling author Jeffery Deaver and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Isabella Maldonado. Carmen Sanchez is a tough Homeland Security agent who plays by the rules. But when her sister is attacked, revealing a connection to a series of murders across Southern California, she realizes a conventional investigation will not be enough to stop the ruthless perpetrator. With nowhere else to turn, Sanchez enlists the aid of Professor Jake Heron, a brilliant and quirky private security expert who, unlike Sanchez, believes rules are merely suggestions. The two have a troubled past, but he owes her a favor and she’s cashing in. They team up to catch the assailant, who, mystifyingly, has no discernible motive and fits no classic criminal profile. All they have to go on is a distinctive tattoo and a singular obsession that gives this chillingly efficient tactician his nickname: Spider. Over the next seventy-two hours, Sanchez and Heron find themselves in the midst of a lethal chess match with the killer as they race to stop the carnage. As the victims mount, so do the risks. Because this spider’s web of intrigue is more sinister―and goes far deeper―than anyone could possibly anticipate.

Simon and Schuster, New York : cop. 2004.

In the most ingenious and provocative thriller yet from the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author Jeffery Deaver, a conscience-plagued mobster turned government hitman struggles to find his moral compass amid rampant treachery and betrayal in 1936 Berlin. Paul Schumann, a German American living in New York City in 1936, is a mobster hitman known as much for his brilliant tactics as for taking only "righteous" assignments. But then Paul gets caught. And the arresting officer offers him a stark choice: prison or covert government service. Paul is asked to pose as a journalist covering the summer Olympics taking place in Berlin. He's to hunt down and kill Reinhard Ernst -- the ruthless architect of Hitler's clandestine rearmament. If successful, Paul will be pardoned and given the financial means to go legit; if he refuses the job, his fate will be Sing Sing and the electric chair. Paul travels to Germany, takes a room in a boardinghouse near the Tiergarten -- the huge park in central Berlin but also, literally, the "Garden of Beasts" -- and begins his hunt. In classic Deaver fashion, the next forty-eight hours are a feverish cat-and-mouse chase, as Paul stalks Ernst through Berlin while a dogged Berlin police officer and the entire Third Reich apparatus search frantically for the American. Garden of Beasts is packed with fascinating period detail and features a cast of perfectly realized locals, Olympic athletes and senior Nazi officials -- some real, some fictional. With hairpin plot twists, the reigning "master of ticking-bomb suspense" (People) plumbs the nerve-jangling paranoia of prewar Berlin and steers the story to a breathtaking and wholly unpredictable ending.

Bantam Books, New York : 2001.

Rune is an aspiring filmmaker with more ambition than political savvy, paying her dues as an assistant cameraperson for the local news. But she's got her eyes on the prize, the network's hot newsmagazine, Current Events-and she's got the story she knows will get her there. Poking around in the video archives, Rune spots a taped interview with Randy Boggs, who's doing hard time in Attica for a murder he claims he didn't commit. Rune can't say exactly why, but she's sure he's innocent. If she can prove it, Current Events won't merely report the news, it'll make news-and, Rune's career.

HarperCollins 2022

Expert tracker Colter Shaw makes his living seeking out missing persons including those who don't wish to be found. One such person is Allison Parker, a brilliant engineer who, on the run from her stalker ex-husband, uses her skills to confound Colter at every turn.

Wheeler Pub., Rockland, MA : ©2000.

Twenty-year-old Rune hasn't been in Manhattan for very long. But she's crafty enough to have found a squatter's paradise in an empty TriBeCa loft, and a video store job that feeds her passion for old movies. It's a passion she shares with her favorite customer, Mr. Kelly, a lonely old man who rents the same video over and over a noir classic based on a real-life unsolved bank heist and a million missing dollars.--Jacket.

Bantam Books, New York : 1993, ©1992.

Taylor Lockwood spends her days working as a paralegal in one of New York’s preeminent Wall Street law firms and her nights playing jazz piano anyplace she can. But the rhythm of her life is disrupted when attorney Mitchell Reece requests her help in locating a stolen document that could cost him not only the multimillion-dollar case he’s defending but his career as well. Eager to get closer to this handsome, brilliant, and very private man, Taylor signs on . . . only to find that as she delves deeper and deeper into what goes on behind closed doors at Hubbard, White & Willis, she uncovers more than she wants to kno—including a plentitude of secrets damaging enough to smash careers and dangerous enough to push someone to commit murder. Yet who is capable of going to that extreme? With her life on the line, Taylor is about to learn the lethal answer. . . .

Clipper Audio, Rearsby : 2008.

'More Twisted' is a collection of gripping short stories by bestselling author Jeffery Deaver.

Hodder & Stoughton, London : 1994.

Praying for revenge...Murderer Michael Hrubek has escaped. He's finally free. And he'll show them all, especially the woman who put him away. She called him a killer. He'll show her what killing is all about. Praying for salvation...Lis Atcheson knows he's out there--the man who killed two of her students. He's haunted every sleepless night following her testimony. Now the nightmares are coming true. He's watching...and waiting...and he's going to take Lis to hell with him.

The Monterey Peninsula is rocked when a killer begins to leave roadside crosses beside local highways. Kathryn Dance, the California Bureau of Investigation's foremost kinesics -- body language -- expert, and Deputy Michael O'Neil follow a lead to Travis Brigham, a troubled teenager whose role in a fatal car accident has inspired vicious attacks against him on a popular blog, The Chilton Report. But as the investigation progresses, Travis vanishes -- and Dance is forced to take desperate and risky measures in this searing cliff-hanger.

A tragedy occurs at a small concert venue on the Monterey Peninsula. Cries of "fire" are raised and, panicked, people run for the doors, only to find them blocked. A half dozen people die and others are seriously injured. But it's the panic and the stampede that killed them; there was no fire. Kathryn Dance--a brilliant California Bureau of Investigation agent and body language expert--discovers that the stampede was caused intentionally and that the perpetrator, a man obsessed with turning people's own fears and greed into weapons, has more attacks planned. She and her team must race against the clock to find where he will strike next before more innocents die.

G.P. Putnam's Sons 2025

The New York Times bestselling master of suspense returns to his beloved series, adapted for TV (CBS's Tracker, starring Justin Hartley) as reward seeker Colter Shaw races against the clock to save a flooding town from a full-fledged disaster, where the culprit lurks in the plain sight. When a levee collapses in Hinowah, a small town in Northern California, Colter Shaw is brought on by his sister, Dorion, a disaster response specialist, to help locate a family swept away by the raging water, with mere hours to survive. But after a surprise attack along the river obstructs Colter's urgent search, the siblings are forced to consider a new reality: Is the levee at risk of failing from natural causes, or is someone sabotaging it? Colter and Dorion must race against a ticking clock to uncover the truth and save the citizens before the village washes out completely, destroying everything and everyone in its path.

Simon & Schuster, New York : ©2000.

Tate Collier, his ex-wife Brett, and their estranged daughter Megan are targeted by psychopathic psychologist Aaron Matthews for his own brand of revenge.

Simon & Schuster, New York : ©2001.

A sadistic computer hacker, code-named Phate, sets his sights on Silicon Valley, infiltrating his victims' computers, invading their lives, and luring them to their deaths. An imprisoned hacker named Wyatt Gillette is freed to aid in the investigation, and teams up with old-school homicide cop Frank Bishop, forming an uneasy alliance in which they must utilize every ounce of their respective talents to stop Phate.

Investigating a late night emergency call that came from a Wisconsin vacation home, deputy Brynn McKenzie narrowly escapes an encounter with two professional criminals, and flees into the woods with Michelle, the city-girl who rented the house for the weekend, but if the women want to survive, they will have to learn to trust one another.

Viking, New York, N.Y., U.S.A. : 1997.

A paralyzed New York detective is talked out of committing suicide to hunt for a cab driver who tortures and kills. The detective, Lincoln Rhyme, can only move his head so he is paired with police beauty Amelia Sachs. Together they go after the killer who tantalizes police with clues to his next murder. By the author of A Maiden's Grave.

Simon & Schuster, New York : 2008.

The mysterious 522 commits vicious crimes and then plants ironclad evidence to implicate innocent men. This timely thriller reunites Lincoln Rhyme with his partner and paramour Amelia Sachs, as they face their toughest adversary yet.

"DANGEROUSLY GOOD. DISTINCTIVELY DEAVER. New York Times bestselling author Jeffery Deaver returns to forensic detective Lincoln Rhyme in his most harrowing case yet. THE BURIAL HOUR A businessman snatched from an Upper East Side street in broad daylight. A miniature hangman's noose left at the scene. A nine-year-old girl, the only witness to the crime. With a crime scene this puzzling, forensic expertise of the highest order is absolutely essential. Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs are called in to investigate. Soon the case takes a stranger turn: a recording surfaces of the victim being slowly hanged, his desperate gasps the backdrop to an eerie piece of music. The video is marked as the work of The Composer ... Despite their best efforts, the suspect gets away. So when a similar kidnapping occurs on a dusty road outside Naples, Italy, Rhyme and Sachs don't hesitate to rejoin the hunt. But the search is now a complex case of international cooperation--and not all those involved may be who they seem. Sachs and Rhyme find themselves playing a dangerous game, with lives all across the globe hanging in the balance"--

Simon & Schuster, New York : 2010.

Quadriplegic forensic criminologist Lincoln Rhyme leads his team--NYPD detective Amelia Sachs, officer Ron Pulaski, and FBI agent Fred Dellray--to find and stop a killer who uses electricity as modus operandi. Meanwhile, Rhyme is consulting on another high-profile investigation in Mexico with a most coveted quarry in his crosshairs: the hired killer known as the Watchmaker, one of the few criminals to have eluded Rhyme's net.

Simon & Schuster, New York, NY : ©1998.

A cat-and-mouse game between New York police and a killer, hired to eliminate a trio of witnesses in a trial. He has already killed one and detectives Lincoln Rhyme, a quadriplegic, and Amelia Sachs have to catch him before he kills the other two. By the author of The Bone Collector.

Pocket Star, New York : ©2007.

On a frigid December night, an eerie pattern emerges from two equally brutal murder scenes, where a killer's calling card is a moon-faced clock that seemingly ticked away the victims' last moments. From his wheelchair, criminologist Lincoln Rhyme tracks the Watchmaker, a time-obsessed genius. With every passing second, the Watchmaker is moving with razor-sharp precision to his next act of perfectly orchestrated violence -- and Rhyme can't afford to have his trusted partner, Amelia Sachs, distracted by a daunting homicide case of her own. Up against a brilliant madman, Rhyme and Sachs are locked in a blood-chilling race with their deadliest enemy: time itself ...

Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs return to New York City from their honeymoon in Italy to discover a killer is terrorizing New York City. Dubbed the Fiance Killer, their latest foe targets newly engaged couples by following them into jewelry stores, ending the couples' lives just before they can purchase the ring that symbolizes the future that will never be theirs. As panic grips the city, Rhyme and Sachs quickly spring into action with the full weight of the NYPD backing up the pair's forensic brilliance. But the killer proves elusive, and his agenda is much more than first meets the eye. Soon it becomes clear that the closer Rhyme and Sachs draw to the killer, the closer the killer draws to them. And their foe soon notices that there's something especially arresting about the ring Rhyme gave Sachs--something that could cost both of them their lives.

A classic thriller from New York Times bestselling author Jeffery Deaver featuring the intricate forensic detail, masterful plot twists, and harrowing breakneck pace that made A Maiden’s Grave, The Bone Collector, and The Coffin Dancer national bestsellers. It’s New Year’s Eve, December 31, 1999, and Washington, DC, is under siege. Early in the day, a grisly machine gun attack in the Dupont Circle Metro station leaves dozens dead and the city crippled with fear. A note delivered to the mayor’s office pins the massacre on the Digger, a robotlike assassin programmed to wreak havoc on the capital every four hours—until midnight. Only a ransom of $20 million delivered to the Digger’s accomplice—and mastermind—will end the death and terror. But the Digger becomes a far more sinister threat when his accomplice is killed in a freak accident while en route to the money drop. With the ransom note as the single scrap of evidence, Special Agent Margaret Lukas calls upon Parker Kincaid, a retired FBI agent and the top forensic document examiner in the country. Somehow, by midnight, they must find the Digger—before he finds them.

Simon & Schuster, New York : ©2000.

Reowned criminalist Lincoln Rhyme is pitted against Amelia Sachs, his own brilliant protegee, as they disagree on the analysis of a crime they began working together.

Deaver returns with a devilishly good thriller, and reward seeker Colter Shaw's most personal case to date. Just hours after the harrowing events of The Never Game and The Goodbye Man, Colter Shaw finds himself in San Francisco, where he has taken on the mission his father began years ago: finding a missing courier bag containing evidence that will bring down a corporate espionage firm responsible for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of deaths. Following the enigmatic clues his father left behind, Shaw plays cat and mouse with the company's sadistic enforcers, as he speeds from one gritty neighborhood in the City by the Bay to another. Suddenly, the job takes on a frightening urgency: Only by finding the courier bag can he expose the company and stop the murder of an entire family—slated to die in forty-eight hours. With the help of an unexpected figure from his past, and with the enforcers closing the net, Shaw narrows in on the truth—and learns that the courier bag contains something unexpected: a secret that could only be described as catastrophic. Filled with dozens of twists and reversals, The Final Twist is a nonstop race against time to save the family...and to keep the devastating secret Shaw has uncovered from falling into the wrong hands.

THE INSPIRATION FOR THE UPCOMING CBS ORIGINAL SERIES TRACKER In this twisty thriller from the New York Times bestselling master of suspense, reward-seeker Colter Shaw infiltrates a sinister cult after learning that the only way to get somebody out...is to go in. In the wilderness of Washington State, expert tracker Colter Shaw has located two young men accused of a terrible hate crime. But when his pursuit takes a shocking and tragic turn, Shaw becomes desperate to discover what went so horribly wrong and if he is to blame. Shaw's search for answers leads him to a shadowy organization that bills itself as a grief support group. But is it truly it a community that consoles the bereaved? Or a dangerous cult with a growing body count? Undercover, Shaw joins the mysterious group, risking everything despite the fact that no reward is on offer. He soon finds that some people will stop at nothing to keep their secrets hidden...and to make sure that he or those close to him say “goodbye” forever.

Grand Central Publishing, New York : 2013.

Renowned investigator and forensics expert, Lincoln Rhyme, is drafted to investigate the sniper-killing of a U.S. citizen in the Bahamas. While his partner, Amelia Sachs, traces the victim's steps in Manhattan, Rhyme leaves the city to pursue the sniper himself.

Doubleday, New York : ©1993.

Involved in a murder case, dedicated cop Bill Corde little suspects that the killer responsible for the death of a college student will befriend and run away with his own learning-impaired daughter.

Jeffery Deaver delivers the latest thriller featuring his beloved protagonists Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs as they search for a criminal whose fascination with breaking locks terrorizes New York City. A woman awakes in the morning to find that someone has picked her apartment’s supposedly impregnable door lock and rearranged personal items, even sitting beside her while she slept. The intrusion, the police learn, is a message to the entire city of carnage to come. Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs are brought in to investigate and soon learn that the sociopathic intruder, who calls himself "the Locksmith,” can break through any lock or security system ever devised. With more victims on the horizon, Rhyme, Sachs and their stable of associates must follow the evidence to the man’s lair… and discover his true mission. Their hunt is interrupted when an internal investigation in the police force uncovers what seems to be a crucial mistake in one of Rhyme's previous cases. He’s fired as a consultant for the NYPD and must risk jail if he investigates the Locksmith case in secret. The Midnight Lock is a roller-coaster read that takes place over just a few days’ time, features surprise after surprise and offers a fascinating look at the esoteric world of lockpicking.

A young woman goes missing in Silicon Valley and her father hires Colter Shaw to find her. The son of a survivalist family, Shaw is an expert tracker. Now he makes a living as a "reward seeker," traveling the country to help police solve crimes and private citizens locate missing persons. But what seems a simple investigation quickly thrusts him into the dark heart of America's tech hub and the cutthroat billion-dollar video-gaming industry. When another victim is kidnapped, the clues point to one video game with a troubled past-- The Whispering Man. In that game, the player has to survive after being abandoned in an inhospitable setting with five random objects. Is a madman bringing the game to life? -- adapted from jacket

One of Kirkus Review's "Best Books of 2013" The shocking end is only the beginning . . . #1 bestselling author Jeffery Deaver has created the most riveting and original novel of the year-a race-against-the-clock mystery, told in reverse. The October List Gabriela waits desperately for news of her abducted daughter. At last, the door opens. But it's not the negotiators. It's not the FBI. It's the kidnapper. And he has a gun. How did it come to this? Two days ago, Gabriela's life was normal. Then, out of the blue, she gets word that her six-year-old daughter has been taken. She's given an ultimatum: pay half a million dollars and find a mysterious document known as the "October List" within 30 hours, or she'll never see her child again. A mind-bending novel with twists and turns that unfold from its dramatic climax back to its surprising beginning, The October List is Jeffery Deaver at his masterful, inventive best.

Grand Central Publishing, New York : 2014.

Drafted in to investigate a series of killings by a butcher known as the Skin Collector, NYPD detective Lincoln Rhyme and his associate Amelia Sachs have little to go on but a series of cryptic messages left etched into the skin of the deceased.

Pocket Books, New York : ©2009, 2007.

Special agent Kathryn Dance and her partners at the California Bureau of Investigation hunt down escaped killer Daniel Pell, a self-styled Charles Manson. Pell is a master of control, who mesmerizes, seduces, and exploits people for his own murderous ends. Pell embarks on a mysterious and deadly quest once he's free.

"New York Times bestselling author Jeffery Deaver returns with his next blockbuster thriller featuring forensic detective Lincoln Rhyme. Amelia Sachs is hot on the trail of a killer. She's chasing him through a department store in Brooklyn when an escalator malfunctions. The stairs give way, with one man horribly mangled by the gears. Sachs is forced to let her quarry escape as she jumps in to try to help save the victim. She and famed forensic detective Lincoln Rhyme soon learn, however, that the incident may not be an accident at all, but the first in a series of intentional attacks. They find themselves up against one of their most formidable opponents ever: a brilliant killer who turns common products into murder weapons. As the body count threatens to grow, Sachs and Rhyme must race against the clock to unmask his identity--and discover his mission--before more people die."--

Pocket Books, New York : 2003, ©2002.

When a smuggler known as the Ghost scuttles a ship filled with undocumented Chinese immigrants right outside New York harbor, detective Lincoln Rhyme and his partner must stop him before he murders the two families who made it to shore.

Pocket Star Books, New York [etc.] : 2006.

In Harlem wordt een aanslag gepleegd op een scholiere die onderzoek doet naar een voorvader, een bevrijde slaaf die onterecht is beschuldigd van diefstal.

Simon & Schuster, New York : ©2003.

This thriller pits forensic criminologist Lincoln Rhyme and his partner Amelia Sachs against an unstoppable "invisible" killer. As the fatalities rise and the minutes tick down, they must move beyond the smoke and mirrors to prevent a terrifying act of vengeance that could become the greatest vanishing act of all.

G.P. Putnam's Sons 2023

Jeffery Deaver returns in this twisty new thriller, as forensic criminalist Lincoln Rhyme and detective Amelia Sachs track a criminal with a bizarre and catastrophic m.o.—toppling the construction cranes in New York City. When a New York City construction crane mysteriously collapses, causing mass destruction and injury, Rhyme and Sachs are on the case. A political group claims responsibility for the sabotage and threatens another attack in twenty-four hours, unless its demands are met. The clock is ticking. Then a clue reveals to Rhyme that his nemesis, known as the Watchmaker, has come to town to fulfill his promise of murdering the criminalist. Now Rhyme and Sachs have to dodge his brilliant scheme to destroy them both, while racing against time to stop the construction site terrorists. With New York in a panic, Rhyme and his team must unravel a handful of plots as tightly wound as a timepiece—before more cranes fall, raining down death and destruction from above.

Simon & Schuster, New York : ©2003.

The title applies in several ways to this wicked collection of crime short stories, to many of the stories' characters and protagonists, who include murderers, adulterers, thieves; to the stories' arcs, which offer numerous bends and suprises.

Simon & Schuster, New York : 2012.

Special Agent Kathryn Dance must use her considerable skills at investigation and body language analysis to stop a celebrity stalker set in the world of country music.