James W. Ziskin Livres

Ellie Stone, a young newspaper reporter in 1960s' upstate New York, investigates a double murder at an abandoned stud farm near glamorous Saratoga Springs. August 1962. A suspicious fire claims a tumbledown foaling barn on the grounds of the once-proud Tempesta Stud Farm, halfway between New Holland and Saratoga Springs, NY. The blaze, one of several in recent years at the abandoned farm, barely prompts a shrug from the local sheriff. That is until "girl reporter" Ellie Stone, first on the scene, uncovers a singed length of racing silk in the rubble of the barn. And it's wrapped around the neck of one of two charred bodies buried in the ashes. A bullet between the eyes of one of the victims confirms it's murder, and the police suspect gamblers. Ellie digs deeper. The double murder, committed on a ghostly stud farm in the dead of night, leads Ellie down a haunted path, just a stone's throw from the glamour of Saratoga Springs, to a place where dangerous men don't like to lose. Unraveling secrets from the past--crushing failure and heartless betrayal--she's learning that arson can be cold revenge.

2016 ANTHONY AWARD FINALIST for Best Paperback Original2016 BARRY AWARD FINALIST for Best Paperback Original2016 LEFTY AWARD FINALIST for Best MysteryDecember 21, 1960, the shortest day of the year: Fifteen-year-old Darleen Hicks slips away from her school bus as it idles in the junior-high parking lot, waiting to depart. Moments later the bus rumbles away without her, and she is never seen again.New Year’s Eve, 1960: The small upstate town of New Holland, New York, is in the grips of a severe cold snap, when Ellie Stone receives a late-night caller—Irene Metzger, the grieving mother of Darleen Hicks. She tells Ellie that the local police won’t help her, that they believe Darleen has run off with some older boy and will return when she is ready. Irene has read Ellie’s stories in the paper on an earlier murder case and believes Ellie is her last hope. Ellie Stone is on a chilling journey to a place of uncertainty, loss, teenage passion, and vulnerability—where Ellie’s questions are unwanted and her life is in danger.

The last thing Danny wants to see published is his obituary The year is 1975. Danny Jacobs is an ambitious, young American journalist who' s just arrived in Bombay for a new assignment. He' s soon caught up in the chaos of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi' s domestic " Emergency." Willy Smets is Danny' s enigmatic expat neighbor. He' s a charming man, but with suspicious connections. As a monsoon drenches Bombay, Danny falls hard for Sushmita, Smets' s beguiling and clever lover-- and the infatuation is mutual. "The Emergency," a virtual coup by the prime minister, is only the first twist in the high-stakes drama of Danny' s new life in India. The assassination of a police officer by a Marxist extremist, as well as Danny' s obsession with the inscrutable Sushmita, conspire to put his career-- and life-- in jeopardy. And, of course, the temptations of Willy Smets' s seductive personality sit squarely at the heart of the matter. Democracy is fragile and the lines of loyalty and betrayal often cross and cannot be untangled. Perfect for fans of Ken Follett and Steve Berry