New Releases by Mary Willis Walker

“Texas dog trainer Katherine Driscoll embarks on a perilous quest to unravel family mysteries in Walker’s gripping debut . . . harrowing.” —Publishers Weekly Winner of the Agatha and Macavity Awards for Best First Novel In Mary Walker’s Zero at the Bone, Katherine Driscoll is just three weeks away from disaster: foreclosure on her home and dog training business, even the sale of her beloved golden retriever, Ra. She has no hope of raising the $91,000 she so desperately needs—until the father she hasn’t seen for thirty years writes to her, offering her enough money to solve her problems . . . if she will do one thing in return. But Katherine may never learn what that is. When she arrives in Austin, she is hours too late: her father has died in a bizarre accident at the zoo where he worked. As she sifts through the cryptic notes he left behind, she finds herself caught up in terrible family secrets—and a deadly illicit trade. The more she learns, the more determined she becomes to prove her father’s death was no accident. In doing so, Katherine will make a bitter enemy—one desperate enough to kill . . . and perhaps, kill again. “Walker is terrific at goosebumps!” —The Philadelphia Inquirer “This book grabs readers from the beginning paragraphs and doesn’t let go until a satisfying conclusion . . . Katherine is a likable heroine with a gutsy intelligence that mixes well with her realistic human frailties. A gripping book.” —School Library Journal

The author and heroine of The Red Scream return in a novel so terrifying, so filled with squirming suspense, it''s bound for the bestseller lists. When Kirkus Reviews greeted Mary Willis Walker''s last book, The Red Scream, with "welcome to the big time," they weren''t kidding. That novel established Walker as an author with "the kind of clout that sets publishers'' mouths watering" (The Philadelphia Inquirer). And now she has done it again, with an unforgettable tale ripped from the headlines and more terrifying than our worst nightmares. Kidnapped by a cult of religious fanatics, an Austin school bus driver and eleven of his young charges have been held underground at the group''s highly fortified compound for forty-six days. While a team of federal negotiators begins to lose all hope of rescuing the hostages, crime reporter Molly Cates sets outto discover everything she can about the cult''s iron-willed leader, Samuel Mordecai. And as the clock ticks inexorably, she takes the role of Clarisse Starling opposite Mordecai''s Hannibal Lecter, engaging in a psychological confrontation as harrowing as any in The Silence Of The Lambs. Tough, terrifying, and relentlessly heart-wrenching, this is a novel whose images no reader will ever forget.

Texas-based crime reporter Molly Cates has just published her first book, describing the blood-curdling exploits of serial killer Louie Bronk. Now on death row, Louie''s sentence is about to be carried out. Molly will be there as a witness, and she wants to write about it--the final coda to Louie''s story. But suddenly, she''s being strongly discouraged by her boss at the Lone Star Monthly and by Charlie McFarland, the millionaire real estate developer whose first wife, Tiny, was Bronk''s most famous victim--and the only one whose murder is a capital offense. Then Molly starts to receive dark hints that Louie may not have killed Tiny after all. There is another murder following Louis''s M.O.--one he could not have committed. The veracity of Molly''s book is threatened--and then her very life. Caught between a rock and a hard place, Molly realizes that by attempting to save Louis she is putting her own life on the line, and discrediting her own work. Mary Willis Walker brings a lusty new voice to the mystery scene. Already recognized for her first novel, she has now created a character just cheeky and gusty enough to take her place among the top ranks of female protagonists such as Kinsey Millhone and Kay Scarpetta.

When crime reporter Molly Cates’s father died more than twenty-five years ago, the case was ruled a suicide, and Molly’s efforts to prove otherwise led to nothing but anguish and the breakup of her family. But now new information has come her way and she reopens the investigation–and a rush of old wounds–with a vengeance. Soon the personal becomes dangerously political as Molly’s search for the truth leads her from the stately halls of Texas government to the mean streets of Austin’s down-and-out–and ultimately to a moral dilemma she never could have anticipated.

Cela fait trente et un ans que Katherine Driscoll n''a pas vu son père quand celui-ci lui adresse une lettre énigmatique. Malgré sa rancoeur, elle accepte de le retrouver au zoo d''Austin, Texas, où il assure le gardiennage du pavillon des grands félins. Mais l''homme se dérobe à nouveau, et pour cause : il vient d''être déchiqueté par un tigre de Sibérie ! Furieuse de cette ultime rencontre manquée, et bien résolue à obtenir son héritage, Katherine se met en quête de renseignements. Hélas, au zoo, les hommes se révèlent parfois plus carnassiers que les fauves...

Mais quelle mouche a donc piqué Katherine Driscoll pour que, du jour au lendemain, elle abandonne sa " garderie pour chiens de bonne famille " et coure au zoo d''Austin ? Et pourquoi diable se bat-elle pour travailler au pavillon des reptiles, elle qui a toujours eu horreur des serpents ? Si les pensionnaires du zoo n''ont bientôt plus de secrets pour elle, elle a beaucoup plus de mal à percer ceux des hommes, qui se révèlent être plus carnivores que les fauves...

An Sénat du Texas, les comités d''autodéfense se battent contre toute réglementation du port d''armes. Dans cette atmosphère de tension politique extrême, la journaliste Molly Cates voit soudain ressurgir des ombres du passé. De nouveaux éléments la poussent à rouvrir l''enquête sur la mort de son père, vingt-huit ans plus tôt. Une mort qu''elle n''a jamais accepté de considérer comme un suicide. Tandis qu''elle s''approche d''une vérité difficile à admettre, Molly apprend qu''un attentat meurtrier se prépare contre le Sénat. Elle seule peut déjouer le complot... Après Cri rouge et Statues de sang, Mary Willis Walker plonge à nouveau son héroïne dans un suspense implacablement rythmé.

Elf kinderen en de chauffeur van hun schoolbus worden gekidnapt door een waanzinnige sekteleider.

Een journaliste tracht meer te weten te komen over de dood van haar vader en ontdekt een complot tegen de senaat van Texas.

Analyse : Roman policier (énigme).