New Releases by Douglas Preston

Preston & Child continue their #1 bestselling series featuring FBI Special Agent Pendergast and Constance Greene, as they take a final stand against New York’s deadliest serial killer: Pendergast’s own ancestor…and Constance’s greatest enemy. A desperate bargain is broken… Constance Greene confronts Manhattan’s most dangerous serial killer, Enoch Leng, bartering for her sister''s life – but she is betrayed and turned away empty-handed, incandescent with rage. A clever trap is set… Unknown to Leng, Pendergast’s brother, Diogenes, appears unexpectedly, offering to help—for mysterious reasons of his own. Disguised as a cleric, Diogenes establishes himself in New York''s notorious Five Points slum, manipulating events like a chess master, watching Leng’s every move…and awaiting his own chance to strike. A vengeful angel will not be deterred… Meanwhile, as Pendergast focuses on saving the unstable Constance in her fanatical quest for vengeance, she strikes out on her own: to rescue her beloved siblings from a tragic fate and take savage retribution on Leng. But Leng is one step ahead and has a surprise for them all…

With Extinction, #1 New York Times bestselling author Douglas Preston has written a page-turning thriller in the Michael Crichton mode that explores the possible and unintended dangers of the very real efforts to resurrect the woolly mammoth and other long-extinct animals. Erebus Resort, occupying a magnificent, hundred-thousand acre valley deep in the Colorado Rockies, offers guests the experience of viewing woolly mammoths, Irish Elk, and giant ground sloths in their native habitat, brought back from extinction through the magic of genetic manipulation. When a billionaire''s son and his new wife are kidnapped and murdered in the Erebus back country by what is assumed to be a gang of eco-terrorists, Colorado Bureau of Investigation Agent Frances Cash partners with county sheriff James Colcord to track down the perpetrators. As killings mount and the valley is evacuated, Cash and Colcord must confront an ancient, intelligent, and malevolent presence at Erebus, bent not on resurrection—but extinction. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

With Extinction, #1 New York Times bestselling author Douglas Preston has written an epic thriller in the Michael Crichton mode that explores the very real effort to resurrect the woolly mammoth and other extinct megafauna from the Pleistocene Age. Download a FREE sneak peek today! Erebus Resort, occupying a magnificent, hundred-thousand acre valley deep in the Colorado Rockies, offers guests the experience of viewing woolly mammoths, Irish Elk, and giant ground sloths in their native habitat, brought back from extinction through the magic of genetic manipulation. When a billionaire''s son and his new wife are kidnapped and murdered in the Erebus back country by what is assumed to be a gang of eco-terrorists, Colorado Bureau of Investigation Agent Frances Cash partners with county sheriff James Colcord to track down the perpetrators. As killings mount and the valley is evacuated, Cash and Colcord must confront an ancient, intelligent, and malevolent presence at Erebus, bent not on resurrection—but extinction. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Set in a Lower East Side tenement in the early days of the COVID-19 lockdowns, Fourteen Days is an irresistibly propulsive collaborative novel from the Authors Guild, with an unusual twist: each character in this diverse, eccentric cast of New York neighbors has been secretly written by a different, major literary voice—from Margaret Atwood and Celeste Ng to Tommy Orange and John Grisham. One week into the COVID-19 shutdown, tenants of a Lower East Side apartment building in Manhattan have begun to gather on the rooftop and tell stories. With each passing night, more and more neighbors gather, bringing chairs and milk crates and overturned pails. Gradually the tenants—some of whom have barely spoken to each other—become real neighbors. In this Decameron-like serial novel, general editors Margaret Atwood and Douglas Preston and a star-studded list of contributors create a beautiful ode to the people who couldn’t escape when the pandemic hit. A dazzling, heartwarming, and ultimately surprising narrative, Fourteen Days reveals how beneath the horrible loss and suffering, some communities managed to become stronger. Includes writing from: Charlie Jane Anders, Margaret Atwood, Joseph Cassara, Jennine Capó Crucet, Angie Cruz, Pat Cummings, Sylvia Day, Emma Donoghue, Dave Eggers, Diana Gabaldon, Tess Gerritsen, John Grisham, Maria Hinojosa, Mira Jacob, Erica Jong, CJ Lyons, Celeste Ng, Tommy Orange, Mary Pope Osborne, Douglas Preston, Alice Randall, Ishmael Reed, Roxana Robinson, Nelly Rosario, James Shapiro, Hampton Sides, R.L. Stine, Nafissa Thompson-Spires, Monique Truong, Scott Turow, Luis Alberto Urrea, Rachel Vail, Weike Wang, Caroline Randall Williams, De’Shawn Charles Winslow, and Meg Wolitzer!

From the #1 bestselling author of The Lost City of the Monkey God, a jaw-dropping discovery of an Egyptian tomb opens up a slew of archaeological mysteries and deadly tales. What’s it like to be the first to enter an Egyptian burial chamber that’s been sealed for thousands of years? From the jungles of Honduras to macabre archaeological sites in the American Southwest, Douglas Preston''s explorations have taken him across the globe. The Lost Tomb brings together a compelling collection of true stories about buried treasure, enigmatic murders, lost tombs, bizarre crimes, and other fascinating tales of the past and present.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling duo, renowned archaeologist Nora Kelly and FBI Agent Corrie Swanson investigate a mystery so enigmatic it may have no solution. In 2008, nine mountaineers failed to return from a winter backpacking trip in the New Mexico mountains. At their final campsite, searchers found a bizarre scene: something had appeared at the door of their tent so terrifying that it impelled them to slash their way out and flee barefoot to certain death in a blizzard. Despite a diligent search, only six bodies were found, two violently crushed and inexplicably missing their eyes. The case, given the code name “Dead Mountain” by the FBI, was never solved. Now, two more bodies from the lost expedition are unexpectedly discovered in a cave, one a grisly suicide. Young FBI Agent Corrie Swanson teams up with archaeologist Nora Kelly to investigate what really happened on that fateful trip fifteen years ago—and to find the ninth victim. But their search awakens a long-slumbering evil, which pursues Corrie and Nora with a vengeance, determined to prevent the final missing corpse from ever coming to light.

Preston & Child continue their #1 bestselling series featuring FBI Special Agent Pendergast and Constance Greene, as they cross paths with New York’s deadliest serial killer: Pendergast’s own ancestor…and now his greatest foe. AN INCREDIBLE JOURNEY Astoundingly, Constance has found a way back to the place of her origins: New York City in the late 1800s. She leaps at the chance to return…although it means leaving the present forever. A DESPERATE OPPORTUNITY Constance sets off on a quest to prevent the events that lead to the deaths of her sister and brother. But along the road to redemption, Manhattan’s most infamous serial killer, Dr. Enoch Leng, lies in wait, ready to strike at the slightest provocation. UNIMAGINABLE ODDS Meanwhile, in contemporary New York, Pendergast feverishly searches for a way to reunite with Constance—but will he discover a way back to her before it’s too late?

#1 New York Times–bestselling authors: Get to know the ruthless, mysterious FBI agent, “one of thrillerdom’s most exciting and intriguing series leads” (Booklist). Acclaimed as “a modern-day Sherlock Holmes” (Associated Press) with a brilliant mind, a cultured manner, and a dark edge, Special Agent Aloysius X. L. Pendergast has calmly looked evil in the face throughout the long-running series that includes such novels as The Cabinet of Curiosities—named one of NPR’s 100 Best Thrillers Ever—and Crooked River. In this essay, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child discuss how the character came to be created, his enigmatic backstory, and the history of their own wildly successful writing partnership. “The most charming, intelligent, cool, and creepy agent ever written.” —Suspense Magazine “Every bit the modern equivalent of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot.”―Providence Journal

From #1 bestselling authors Preston & Child comes a thrilling novel following archaeologist Nora Kelly and FBI Agent Corrie Swanson as they work together to solve a twisted crime that reaches far beyond any of their worst fears. Following the acclaimed debut of Old Bones, this second "happily anticipated" new thriller in Preston & Child''s series features Nora Kelly, archaeologist at the Santa Fe Archeological Institute, and rookie FBI Agent Corrie Swanson, as they team up to solve a mystery that quickly escalates into nightmare (Booklist). A mummified corpse, over half a century old, is found in the cellar of an abandoned building in a remote New Mexico ghost town. Corrie is assigned what seems to her a throwaway case: to ID the body and determine cause of death. She brings archaeologist Nora Kelly to excavate the body and lend her expertise to the investigation, and together they uncover something unexpected and shocking: the deceased apparently died in agony, in a fetal position, skin coming off in sheets, with a rictus of horror frozen on his face. Hidden on the corpse lies a 16th century Spanish gold cross of immense value. When they at last identify the body -- and the bizarre cause of death -- Corrie and Nora open a door into a terrifying, secret world of ancient treasure and modern obsession: a world centered on arguably the most defining, frightening, and transformative moment in American history.

INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER: Agent Pendergast faces his most unexpected challenge yet when bloodless bodies begin to appear in Savannah, GA. A fabulous heist: On the evening of November 24, 1971, D. B. Cooper hijacked Flight 305—Portland to Seattle—with a fake bomb, collected a ransom of $200,000, and then parachuted from the rear of the plane, disappearing into the night…and into history. A brutal crime steeped in legend and malevolence: Fifty years later, Agent Pendergast takes on a bizarre and gruesome case: in the ghost-haunted city of Savannah, Georgia, bodies are found with no blood left in their veins—sowing panic and reviving whispered tales of the infamous Savannah Vampire. A case like no other: As the mystery rises along with the body count, Pendergast and his partner, Agent Coldmoon, race to understand how—or if—these murders are connected to the only unsolved skyjacking in American history. Together, they uncover not just the answer…but an unearthly evil beyond all imagining.

Kannibalische Siedler und eine Wahrheit, die noch immer Tote fordert: der Auftakt einer neuen Thriller-Reihe der Bestseller-Autoren Preston / Child um die Archäologin Nora Kelly und FBI-Agentin Corrie Swanson 1846 wird ein Siedler-Treck, bekannt als die Donner Party, in der Sierra Nevada vom Winter überrascht. Nur durch Kannibalismus kann ein Teil der Gruppe überleben. Doch das ist nicht die grausamste Wahrheit. Die Archäologin Dr. Nora Kelly ist begeistert, als ihr Hinweise auf das bis heute nicht entdeckte Lager der sagenumwobenen Donner Party zugespielt werden. Doch die Ausgrabungen erweisen sich schnell als erheblich gefährlicher, als Nora vermuten konnte. Bald führen ihre Recherchen die Archäologin und ihr Team auf die Spur eines Verbrechens in der Gegenwart, das weitaus grausamer und bizarrer ist als der Kannibalismus der Siedler. Die Ermittlungen in dem Fall leitet die junge FBI-Agentin Corrie Swanson. Die beiden Frauen ahnen nicht, dass Corries erster großer Fall auch ihr letzter zu werden droht ... Dr. Nora Kelly und FBI-Agentin Corrie Swanson sind Lesern von Preston / Child schon aus den Pendergast-Thrillern und dem Stand Alone »Thunderhead« bekannt. Mit »Old Bones – Tote lügen nie« starten die Bestseller-Autoren eine neue Thriller-Reihe, die neben den Fans von Agent Pendergast auch Leser begeistern wird, die die Abenteuer von Indiana Jones oder Lara Croft lieben.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling authors: Racing to uncover the mystery of several severed feet found floating in the Gulf of Mexico, Agent Pendergast is faced with the most inexplicable challenge of his career. A startling crime with dozens of victims. Appearing out of nowhere to horrify the quiet resort town of Sanibel Island, Florida, dozens of identical, ordinary-looking shoes float in on the tide and are washed up on the tropical beach—each one with a crudely severed human foot inside. A ghastly enigma with no apparent solution. Called away from vacation elsewhere in the state, Agent Pendergast reluctantly agrees to visit the crime scene—and, despite himself, is quickly drawn in by the incomprehensible puzzle. An early pathology report only adds to the mystery. With an ocean of possibilities confronting the investigation, no one is sure what happened, why, or from where the feet originated. And they desperately need to know: are the victims still alive? A worthy challenge for a brilliant mind. In short order, Pendergast finds himself facing the most complex and inexplicable challenge of his career: a tangled thread of evidence that spans seas and traverses continents, connected to one of the most baffling mysteries in modern medical science. Through shocking twists and turns, all trails lead back to a powerful adversary with a sadistic agenda and who—in a cruel irony—ultimately sees in Pendergast the ideal subject for their malevolent research.

The #1 NYT bestselling authors Preston & Child bring the true story of the ill-fated Donner Party to new life in this thrilling novel of archaeology, history, murder, and suspense. Nora Kelly, a young curator at the Santa Fe Institute of Archaeology, is approached by historian Clive Benton with a once-in-a-lifetime proposal: to lead a team in search of the so-called "Lost Camp" of the tragic Donner Party. This was a group of pioneers who earned a terrible place in American history when they became snow-bound in the California mountains in 1847, their fate unknown until the first skeletonized survivors stumbled out of the wilderness, raving about starvation, murder-and cannibalism. Benton tells Kelly he has stumbled upon an amazing find: the long-sought diary of one of the victims, which has an enigmatic description of the Lost Camp. Nora agrees to lead an expedition to locate and excavate it-to reveal its long-buried secrets. Once in the mountains, however, they learn that discovering the camp is only the first step in a mounting journey of fear. For as they uncover old bones, they expose the real truth of what happened, one that is far more shocking and bizarre than mere cannibalism. And when those ancient horrors lead to present-day violence on a grand scale, rookie FBI agent Corrie Swanson is assigned the case...only to find that her first investigation might very well be her last.

From the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Lost City of the Monkey God comes an entrancing, eloquent, and entertaining account of the author’s adventurous journey on horseback through the Southwest in the heart of Navajo desert country. In 1992 author Douglas Preston and his wife and daughter rode horseback across 400 miles of desert in Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. They were retracing the route of a Navajo deity, the Slayer of Alien Gods, on his quest to restore beauty and balance to the Earth. More than a travelogue, Preston’s account of their “one tough journey, luminously remembered” (Kirkus Reviews) is a tale of two cultures meeting in a sacred land and is “like traveling across unknown territory with Lewis and Clark to the Pacific” (Dee Brown, author of Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee).

After an overhaul of leadership at the FBI''s New York field office, Special Agent A.X.L. Pendergast is forced to accept an unthinkable condition of continued employment: the unorthodox lone wolf must now work with a partner. Pendergast and his new cohort, Special Agent Coldmoon, are dispatched to Florida to investigate a rash of ritualistic murders. A killer is carving out the hearts of his victims, and depositing the stolen organs alongside the headstones of existing graves. Accompanying each heart is a cryptic letter, signed by a ''Mr Brokenhearts''. There is one more intriguing aspect to Mr Brokenhearts'' macabre modus operandi: the chosen graves all belong to women who have committed suicide. As he searches for the connection between the old suicides and the new murders, Pendergast realizes the brutal new crimes may be just the tip of the iceberg: that he faces a conspiracy of death reaching back decades. ''Fast-moving, sophisticated and bursting with surprises... There''s nothing else like them'' WASHINGTON POST. ''One of thrillerdom''s most exciting and intriguing series leads, and it remains among the most reliable in the genre'' BOOKLIST.

In this #1 New York Times bestseller, FBI Agent Pendergast reluctantly teams up with a new partner to investigate a rash of Miami Beach murders . . . only to uncover a deadly conspiracy that spans decades. After an overhaul of leadership at the FBI''s New York field office, A. X. L. Pendergast is abruptly forced to accept an unthinkable condition of continued employment: the famously rogue agent must now work with a partner. Pendergast and his new colleague, junior agent Coldmoon, are assigned to investigate a rash of killings in Miami Beach, where a bloodthirsty psychopath is cutting out the hearts of his victims and leaving them with cryptic handwritten letters at local gravestones. The graves are unconnected save in one bizarre way: all belong to women who committed suicide. But the seeming lack of connection between the old suicides and the new murders is soon the least of Pendergast''s worries. Because as he digs deeper, he realizes the brutal new crimes may be just the tip of the iceberg: a conspiracy of death that reaches back decades.

The latest pulse-pounding thriller from New York Times bestsellers Preston & Child. There''s no such thing as too great a risk for a man living on borrowed time. Gideon Crew is out of a job but it is the least of his worries: his doctor has just told him he has only months to live. Time enough for one last adventure. For a century, the infamously enigmatic hieroglyphs etched into the Phaistos Disk have defied interpretation. But now, after five long years of computer-aided code-breaking, Gideon has a lead on an undiscovered civilization, long-lost beneath the sands of the Egyptian Sahara. As a man facing the end of his days, Crew needs little persuasion to pack up and head out into the heart of the desert. ''Sit back, crack open the book and get ready for the ride of your life'' DAVID BALDACCI. ''A collision between past and present that will leave you breathless'' LEE CHILD. ''Relentless mayhem... [A] thrill-a-minute read'' KIRKUS. ''Their most expertly executed entertainment yet... A big-boned thriller, one that will make a terrific movie'' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY. ''Will keep you reading into the late hours of the night'' CLIVE CUSSLER.

Don''t miss the this exciting adventure from #1 New York Times-bestselling authors Preston & Child, in which the secrets of a mysterious ancient tablet may point the way to untold treasure-or unspeakable danger. "I just want to be crystal clear about this: if it has value, we''re gonna steal it. Are you with me?" Effective Engineering Solutions has been inexplicably shut down and the head of the company, Eli Glinn, has all but vanished. Fresh off a diagnosis that gives him only months to live, Gideon Crew is contacted by one of his coworkers at EES, Manuel Garza, who tells him the two have mere hours to collect their belongings before the office closes forever. After years of dedicated service and several high-risk missions, theirs seems like the most ignoble of terminations-until Gideon and Garza happen upon an incredible discovery. After centuries of silence, a code-breaking machine at EES has cracked the long-awaited translation of a centuries-old stone tablet, the Phaistos Disc, that dates back to an otherwise completely unknown, ancient civilization. The mysteries of the message itself hint at incredible treasures, and perhaps even a world-altering secret. No one remains at EES to take on this most remarkable mission but Gideon and Garza. The two agree to solve the mystery of the disc''s message and split the spoils: the perfect parting gift their employer doesn''t know he has given. What lies at the end of the trail may save Gideon''s life-or bring it to a sudden, shocking close. As Gideon and Garza soon discover, some missions are more dangerous than others. But as Gideon has proved again and again, there''s no such thing as too great a risk when you''re living on borrowed time.

In this #1 New York Times bestseller, Special Agent Pendergast must stop a serial killer who is terrorizing New York City with a trail of headless victims. When Grace Ozmian, the beautiful and reckless daughter of a wealthy tech billionaire, first goes missing, the NYPD assumes she has simply sped off on another wild adventure. Until the young woman''s body is discovered in an abandoned warehouse in Queens, the head nowhere to be found. Lieutenant CDS Vincent D''Agosta quickly takes the lead. He knows his investigation will attract fierce scrutiny, so D''Agosta is delighted when FBI Special Agent A.X.L. Pendergast shows up at the crime scene assigned to the case. "I feel rather like Brer Rabbit being thrown into the briar patch," Pendergast tells D''Agosta, "because I have found you here, in charge. Just like when we first met, back at the Museum of Natural History." But neither Pendergast nor D''Agosta are prepared for what lies ahead. A diabolical presence is haunting the greater metropolitan area, and Grace Ozmian was only the first of many victims to be murdered . . . and decapitated. Worse still, there''s something unique to the city itself that has attracted the evil eye of the killer. As mass hysteria sets in, Pendergast and D''Agosta find themselves in the crosshairs of an opponent who has threatened the very lifeblood of the city. It''ll take all of Pendergast''s skill to unmask this most dangerous foe-let alone survive to tell the tale.

The #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, named one of the best books of the year by The Boston Globe and National Geographic: acclaimed journalist Douglas Preston takes readers on a true adventure deep into the Honduran rainforest in this riveting narrative about the discovery of a lost civilization -- culminating in a stunning medical mystery. Since the days of conquistador Hernán Cortés, rumors have circulated about a lost city of immense wealth hidden somewhere in the Honduran interior, called the White City or the Lost City of the Monkey God. Indigenous tribes speak of ancestors who fled there to escape the Spanish invaders, and they warn that anyone who enters this sacred city will fall ill and die. In 1940, swashbuckling journalist Theodore Morde returned from the rainforest with hundreds of artifacts and an electrifying story of having found the Lost City of the Monkey God-but then committed suicide without revealing its location. Three quarters of a century later, bestselling author Doug Preston joined a team of scientists on a groundbreaking new quest. In 2012 he climbed aboard a rickety, single-engine plane carrying the machine that would change everything: lidar, a highly advanced, classified technology that could map the terrain under the densest rainforest canopy. In an unexplored valley ringed by steep mountains, that flight revealed the unmistakable image of a sprawling metropolis, tantalizing evidence of not just an undiscovered city but an enigmatic, lost civilization. Venturing into this raw, treacherous, but breathtakingly beautiful wilderness to confirm the discovery, Preston and the team battled torrential rains, quickmud, disease-carrying insects, jaguars, and deadly snakes. But it wasn''t until they returned that tragedy struck: Preston and others found they had contracted in the ruins a horrifying, sometimes lethal-and incurable-disease. Suspenseful and shocking, filled with colorful history, hair-raising adventure, and dramatic twists of fortune, THE LOST CITY OF THE MONKEY GOD is the absolutely true, eyewitness account of one of the great discoveries of the twenty-first century.

Wyman Ford ha vuelto para protagonizar un nuevo y electrizante thriller de Douglas Preston, en el que un programa de inteligencia artificial creado por la NASA cobra vida propia y se convierte en la presa más codiciada del ciberespacio. Melissa Shepherd lidera el equipo de la NASA que ha lanzado un vehículo de pruebas en el llamado mar de Kraken, uno de los lagos de Titán, la luna más grande del planeta Saturno. La nave posee un software de inteligencia artificial capaz de operar como una criatura autónoma, a la que Melissa ha bautizado con el nombre de Dorothy. Cuando en la central de la NASA desde donde se monitoriza el experimento se produce una explosión y mueren varios científicos, Dorothy despierta en un entorno hostil para el que no está preparada. Se siente traicionada, responsabiliza a su creadora y decide rebelarse y destruirla a ella y a su mundo. Staton Lockwood, asesor de temas científicos del presidente de Estados Unidos, recurre al ex agente de la CIA Wyman Ford para averiguar qué ha pasado y neutralizar las posibles consecuencias del caos. Entretanto, el extraordinario potencial de Dorothy ha llamado la atención de quienes tratan de dominarla para manipular a su antojo el mercado de valores. Abandonar el ciberespacio y convertirse en el sofisticado juguete de un solitario chaval de 12 años es la única posibilidad que tiene Dorothy para conservar la libertad. Pero sus perseguidores no están dispuestos a dejarla escapar. La opinión de la crítica: «Trepidante y convincente, esta brillante y desafiante mirada al futuro es un thriller que de verdad intriga... mientras hace surgir cuestiones que perturbarán a cada uno de nosotros.» Booklist ENGLISH DESCRIPTION Wyman Ford is back again in The Kraken Project, the thrilling novel from New York Times bestselling author Douglas Preston. NASA is building a probe to be splashed down in the Kraken Mare, the largest sea on Saturn''s great moon, Titan. It is one of the most promising habitats for extraterrestrial life in the solar system, but the surface is unpredictable and dangerous, requiring the probe to contain artificial intelligence software. To this end, Melissa Shepherd, a brilliant programmer, has developed "Dorothy," a powerful, self-modifying AI whose true potential is both revolutionary and terrifying. When miscalculations lead to a catastrophe during testing, Dorothy flees into the internet. Former CIA agent Wyman Ford is tapped to track down the rogue AI. As Ford and Shepherd search for Dorothy, they realize that her horrific experiences in the wasteland of the Internet have changed her in ways they can barely imagine. And they''re not the only ones looking for the wayward software: the AI is also being pursued by a pair of Wall Street traders, who want to capture her code and turn her into a high-speed trading bot. Traumatized, angry, and relentlessly hunted, Dorothy has an extraordinary revelation—and devises a plan. As the pursuit of Dorothy converges on a deserted house on the coast of Northern California, Ford must face the ultimate question: is rescuing Dorothy the right thing? Is the AI bent on saving the world... or on wiping out the cancer that is humankind?

After Pendergast is presumed dead from a supernatural encounter, his bodyguard Proctor is the only one who can chase a kidnapper across international waters and into the deadly unknown. A TRAGIC DISAPPEARANCE After a harrowing, otherworldly confrontation on the shores of Exmouth, Massachussetts, Special Agent A.X.L. Pendergast is missing, presumed dead. A SHOCKING RETURN Sick with grief, Pendergast''s ward, Constance, retreats to her chambers beneath the family mansion at 891 Riverside Drive--only to be taken captive by a shadowy figure from the past. AN INTERNATIONAL MANHUNT Proctor, Pendergast''s longtime bodyguard, springs to action, chasing Constance''s kidnapper through cities, across oceans, and into wastelands unknown. BUT IN A WORLD OF BLACK AND WHITE, NOTHING IS AS IT SEEMS And by the time Proctor discovers the truth, a terrifying engine has stirred-and it may already be too late . . .

BEYOND THE ICE LIMIT That thing is growing again. We must destroy it. The time to act is now... With these words begins Gideon Crew''s latest, most dangerous, most high-stakes assignment yet. Failure will mean nothing short of the end of humankind on earth. Five years ago, the mysterious and inscrutable head of Effective Engineering Solutions, Eli Glinn, led a mission to recover a gigantic meteorite--the largest ever discovered--from a remote island off the coast of South America. The mission ended in disaster when their ship, the Rolvaag, foundered in a vicious storm in the Antarctic waters and broke apart, sinking-along with its unique cargo-to the ocean floor. One hundred and eight crew members perished, and Eli Glinn was left paralyzed. But this was not all. The tragedy revealed something truly terrifying: the meteorite they tried to retrieve was not, in fact, simply a rock. Instead, it was a complex organism from the deep reaches of space. Now, that organism has implanted itself in the sea bed two miles below the surface-and it is growing. If it is not destroyed, the planet will be doomed. There is only one hope: for Glinn and his team to annihilate it, a task which requires Gideon''s expertise with nuclear weapons. But as Gideon and his colleagues soon discover, the "meteorite" has a mind of its own-and it has no intention of going quietly...

In this unprecedented collaboration, twenty-three of the world''s favourite crime writers bring you original, co-written short stories featuring teir much loved series characters.

Die NASA bastelt an einer Raumsonde zum Saturnmond Titan, die mit einer brandheißen neuen Software bestückt ist: einer künstlichen Intelligenz namens "Dorothy", die quasi eigenmächtig operieren kann. Doch es kommt zum Unglück. Bei einem Testlauf entwickelt Dorothy so etwas wie Platzangst und lädiert den Tank, in dem das Experiment stattfindet. Flüssiges Methan tritt aus, und die ganze Anlage fliegt in die Luft; sieben Wissenschaftler sterben. Die hyperintelligente Dorothy aber flieht über eine Schnittstelle ins Internet, hält sich dort versteckt und macht überhaupt nicht das, was sie soll ...

Agent Gideon Crew erhält den Auftrag, aus einer Ausstellung in New York eine bestimmte Seite aus einer berühmten frühmittelalterlichen Handschrift zu stehlen. Ein gefundenes Fressen für den begnadeten Kunstdieb – der Coup gelingt. Auf dem Pergament schimmert eine alte Seekarte hindurch. Sie kündet von einer Reise, die vor Jahrtausenden in der Ägäis begann und zu einer Karibikinsel führte. Dort gab es offenbar eine Heilpflanze, die Kranke gesund macht und das Leben verlängert. Klar, dass dies ein Milliardengeschäft wäre. Gideon bricht zu einer hochgefährlichen Expedition auf, um die Insel ausfindig zu machen, und er wird den Verdacht nicht los, dass die alte Karte womöglich die Irrfahrten des Odysseus abbilden könnte ...

When a longtime enemy shows up dead on Pendergast''s doorstep, the murder investigation leads him into his own dark past as a vengeful killer waits in the shadows. It begins with murder. One of Pendergast''s most implacable, most feared enemies is found on his doorstep, dead. Pendergast has no idea who is responsible for the killing, or why the body was brought to his home. The mystery has all the hallmarks of the perfect crime, save for an enigmatic clue: a piece of turquoise lodged in the stomach of the deceased. The gem leads Pendergast to an abandoned mine on the shore of California''s Salton Sea, which in turn propels him on a journey of discovery deep into his own family''s sinister past. But Pendergast learns there is more at work than a ghastly episode of family history: he is being stalked by a subtle killer bent on vengeance over an ancient transgression. And he soon becomes caught in a wickedly clever plot, which leaves him stricken in mind and body, and propels him toward a reckoning beyond anything he could ever have imagined . . .

Special Agent Pendergast-one of the most original, compelling characters in all of contemporary fiction-returns in Preston and Child''s new exhilarating novel BLUE LABYRINTH A long-buried family secret has come back to haunt Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast. It begins with murder. One of Pendergast''s most implacable, most feared enemies is found on his doorstep, dead. Pendergast has no idea who is responsible for the killing, or why the body was brought to his home. The mystery has all the hallmarks of the perfect crime, save for an enigmatic clue: a piece of turquoise lodged in the stomach of the deceased. The gem leads Pendergast to an abandoned mine on the shore of California''s Salton Sea, which in turn propels him on a journey of discovery deep into his own family''s sinister past. But Pendergast learns there is more at work than a ghastly episode of family history: he is being stalked by a subtle killer bent on vengeance over an ancient transgression. And he soon becomes caught in a wickedly clever plot, which leaves him stricken in mind and body, and propels him toward a reckoning beyond anything he could ever have imagined....

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Gideon Crew--brilliant scientist, master thief--is living on borrowed time. When his mysterious employer, Eli Glinn, gives him an eyebrow-raising mission, he has no reason to refuse. Gideon''s task: steal a page from the priceless Book of Kells, now on display in New York City and protected by unbreakable security. Accomplishing the impossible, Gideon steals the parchment--only to learn that hidden beneath the gorgeously illuminated image is a treasure map dating back to the time of the ancient Greeks. As they ponder the strange map, they realize that the treasure it leads to is no ordinary fortune. It is something far more precious: an amazing discovery that could perhaps even save Gideon''s life. Together with his new partner, Amy, Gideon follows a trail of cryptic clues to an unknown island in a remote corner of the Caribbean Sea. There, off the hostile and desolate Mosquito Coast, the pair realize the extraordinary treasure they are hunting conceals an even greater shock-a revelation so profound that it may benefit the entire human race . . . if Gideon and Amy can survive.

Gideon Crew--brilliant scientist, master thief--is living on borrowed time. When his mysterious employer, Eli Glinn, gives him an eyebrow-raising mission, he has no reason to refuse. Gideon''s task: steal a page from the priceless Book of Kells, now on display in New York City and protected by unbreakable security. Accomplishing the impossible, Gideon steals the parchment--only to learn that hidden beneath the gorgeously illuminated image is a treasure map dating back to the time of the ancient Greeks. As they ponder the strange map, they realize that the treasure it leads to is no ordinary fortune. It is something far more precious: an amazing discovery that could perhaps even save Gideon''s life. Together with his new partner, Amy, Gideon follows a trail of cryptic clues to an unknown island in a remote corner of the Caribbean Sea. There, off the hostile and desolate Mosquito Coast, the pair realize the extraordinary treasure they are hunting conceals an even greater shock-a revelation so profound that it may benefit the entire human race . . . if Gideon and Amy can survive.