Meet Detective Kevin Byrne, rising star of the Philadelphia police force. Christmas Eve, 1988: Partnered with streetwise veteran Frankie Sheehan, Byrne is called to investigate the brutal assault of a young woman in a crime-ridden neighborhood, The Devil's Pocket. There, with the rest of the city hunkered down in their holiday celebrations, relentless rookie Byrne must step out from his partner's shadow to outwit a terrifying predator. It's the beginning of a long career for Byrne, who will revisit the same vicious streets in Richard Montanari's beloved Byrne and Balzano series. "A Christmas Killing" is a short story that includes an excerpt from Richard Montanari's terrifying Byrne and Balzano novel, Shutter Man.
In his sleek, visceral novels Deviant Way, Kiss of Evil, and The Violet Hour, Richard Montanari slammed into the suspense field like a force of nature. Now Montanari has written an astounding novel that pits two besieged detectives against a fiercely intelligent serial killer. Sprawling beneath the statue of William Penn, Philadelphia is a city of downtrodden crack houses and upscale brownstones. Somewhere in this concrete crazy quilt, one teenage Catholic girl is writing in her diary, another is pouring her heart out to a friend, and yet another is praying. And somewhere in this city is a man who wants these young women to make his macabre fantasy become reality. In a passion play of his own, he will take the girls–and a whole city–over the edge. Kevin Byrne is a veteran cop who already knows that edge: He’s been living on it far too long. His marriage failing, his former partner wasting away in a hospital, and his heart lost to mad fury, Byrne loves to take risks and is breaking every rule in the book. And now he has been given a rookie partner. Jessica Balzano, the daughter of a famous Philly cop, doesn’t want Byrne’s help. But they will need each other desperately, since they’ve just caught the case of a lifetime: Someone is killing devout young women, bolting their hands together in prayer, and committing an abomination upon their otherwise perfect bodies. Byrne and Balzano spearhead the hunt for the serial killer, who leads them on a methodically planned journey. Suspects appear before them like bad dreams–and vanish just as quickly. And while Byrne’s sins begin to catch up with him, and Balzano tries to solve the blood-splattered puzzle, the body count rises. Meanwhile, the calendar is approaching Easter and the day of the resurrection. When the last rosary is counted, a madman’s methods will be revealed, and the final crime will be the one that hurts the most. Relentlessly paced and vividly told, The Rosary Girls is a smart, emotionally complex, fiercely gripping thriller from an author who takes chances, breaks new ground, and leaves readers haunted and moved long after the last page is turned.
In this gripping, unforgettable thriller for readers of James Patterson and Lisa Gardner, someone is recreating infamous unsolved murders… and the killer is closer than anyone could imagine. Fall in Philadelphia. A man’s corpse is found in one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. It’s unmistakably the work of a killer. But to homicide detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano, it feels familiar. Eight years ago, another body was found in the same place, in the same position… killed in the same manner. Even the crime-scene photos are identical. That case was never closed. And now more copycat murders are happening. Someone is recreating the city’s most infamous unsolved killings, victim by victim — with more clues for Byrne and Balzano to unravel… Taut and suspenseful, The Echo Man is already an international bestseller. Discover what readers around the world already know: Richard Montanari’s novels are “relentlessly suspenseful” (Tess Gerritsen).
When the first body is found, mutilated and strangled on the riverbanks, Philadelphia homicide detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano suspect yet another case of random urban violence. Then it happens again. And again. Carefully dressed and posed, each victim seems to tell a story so gruesome that Byrne and Balzano struggle at first to make sense of the killer's dark and twisted imagination. But when they stumble upon a collection of old fairy tales, the fragile link between the murders suddenly becomes clear - and with it the terrifying conclusion of the killer's plan. Desperately, they try to anticipate the madman's next move, but as the body count rises, the killing spree spirals out of control ...
Plagued with a rare disease that prevents him from recognizing faces, Billy carries a photograph in his pocket that is his only way of identifying his next target. Killing is in Billy's bloodline, as a member of Philadelphia's dangerous Farren crime family. While Billy stalks Philadelphia, Detective Kevin Byrne is assigned to a series of bizarre home-invasion cases and is joined by his former partner-turned-assistant district attorney, Jessica Balzano. Their investigations circle Byrne's childhood neighborhood of Devil's Pocket, and they find themselves revisiting a crime from Byrne's past that has haunted him for decades. What Byrne witnessed as a child in Devil's Pocket jeopardizes the Farren family -- which makes him the next target on Billy's hit list. A multigenerational story of hardship, guilt, and redemption, Shutter Man is Byrne and Balzano's most tense and personal case to date. One of The New York Times's 10 Best Crime Novels of 2016
In each soul, a secret ...Philadelphia homicide detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano's first assignment from the Cold Case files is the brutal murder of a young runaway. The lifeless body of Caitlin O'Riordan was found carefully posed in a glass display case in the desolate Philadelphia Badlands but, as Byrne and Balzano rapidly discover, she was just the first pawn in the killer's twisted game...A mysterious phone call leads them on a scavenger hunt for a second victim. This time a young girl has been dismembered, her body parts left in three boxes in the basement of a deserted house. More clues lead to other victims and, as the body count rises, it becomes clear that there is a serial killer on the loose, hell-bent on completing the 'performance' of a lifetime.As more runaways vanish, Byrne and Balzano come to realize that the homicidal mastermind plans to complete seven depraved tricks in his dark and dangerous magic act. With Balzano increasingly obsessed by a case that haunts her, and Byrne struggling with a loss of his own, the stakes are mounting. But this is one game they can't afford to lose...
On a frigid December night, Karen sits at the edge of Philadelphia’s Schuylkill River, dressed in a flowing gown, like a visitor from the distant past. A beautiful and shining young woman, she gazes up at a bone-white winter moon like a fairy-tale princess frozen in time. At first glance, one might not even notice that she is dead, coated in a glistening patina of ice. Homicide cops Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano take the lead on the case, uncovering a plethora of eerie clues–each more warped and spine-chilling than the last. Yet the identity of Karen’s pitiless killer remains a mystery. Then the next victim is found upriver at an abandoned waterworks, posed with an unlikely object in her clasped hands. Struggling to link the victims and make sense of the madman’s agenda, Byrne and Balzano follow his twisted trail, which stretches into a past of dark crimes forgotten by all but a few. Now the past roars back into the present with a vengeance as the ingenious killer unleashes a torrent of rage upon the streets of Philadelphia. As Byrne and Balzano sift through suspects and clues, they unearth a shocking secret history: a legacy of malevolence and cold-blooded retribution dating back twenty years. And the farther they make their way up the body-strewn banks of the Schuylkill River, the closer they get to a villain from their worst nightmare, an evil as patient as it is merciless. Lightning fast and razor sharp, this jolting thriller from acclaimed author Richard Montanari coils back in time to deliver a fiendish mystery, a shattering revelation, and one hell of a wild ride. Lock your doors and turn up the lights. Montanari’s terrifying bedtime story will keep you up all night.
Detectives Byrne and Balzano return to the streets of Philadelphia to put an end to a macabre succession of murdered children. A quiet Philadelphia suburb. A woman cycles past a train depot with her young daughter. There she finds a murdered girl posed on a newly painted bench. Beside her is a formal invitation to a tea dance in a week's time. Seven days later, two more young victims are discovered in an abandoned house, posed on painted swings. At the scene is an identical invitation. This time, though, there is something extra waiting for Detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano: a delicate porcelain doll. It's a message. And a threat. With the killers at large, Detectives Byrne and Balzano have just seven more days to find the link between the murders before another innocent child is snatched from the streets.
In Richard Montanari's chilling new suspense novel, a sealed-off network of secret passages connects all of Philadelphia to the killer hidden within. Luther Wade grew up in Cold River, a warehouse for the criminally insane. Two decades ago the hospital closed it doors forever, but Luther never left. He wanders the catacombs beneath the city, channeling the violent dreams of Eduard Kross, Europe's most prolific serial killer of the 20th century. A two-year-old girl is found wandering the streets of Philadelphia in the middle of the night by detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano. She does not speak, but she may hold the key to solving a string of murders committed in and around Priory Park. As the detectives investigate, more bodies are found at Priory Park, and they're drawn closer and closer to the doors of Luther's devious maze and the dark secrets of Cold River.
With the breakneck pacing and intricate plotting of his most recent novel, The Rosary Girls, Richard Montanari established himself as one of the most exciting suspense writers working today. Now he proves himself a virtuoso with The Skin Gods, an explosive new thriller featuring Philadelphia homicide detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano. It is the steaming heart of summer in the City of Brotherly Love. Back on the force after taking a bullet during the arrest of a sadistic murderer, Detective Kevin Byrne warily returns to police headquarters. He cannot shake the memory of the Rosary Killer’s innocent victims–or his growing sense that the evil has not been vanquished. And when he and his partner, Detective Jessica Balzano, are called in on a bizarre case, Byrne’s gravest suspicions are confirmed. A madman, dubbed The Actor by the homicide unit, is meticulously re-creating Hollywood’s most famous–and most gruesome–death scenes. The first murder is caught on film, spliced into a rented VHS edition of the Hitchcock black-and-white masterpiece Psycho. But in place of Janet Leigh is a real-life woman, and this time, the blood is red and the knife is real. Soon, more thrilling classics are turned into terrifying snuff films and placed on video store shelves for an unsuspecting public to find. The key to this horrific puzzle could lie with any of The Skin Gods’ supporting cast: the A-list Hollywood director, the ruthless executive assistant, the convicted mass murderer–or perhaps someone else who has made a sinister art of gruesome violence. Hot on the psychopath’s trail, Balzano and Byrne descend into the mouth of madness and beyond, deep into the depraved underworld of S&M clubs and the porn industry, where the worship of flesh leads to malevolent evil. Before the final credits roll, the investigators will discover that none of The Actor’s victims are as innocent as they appear to be, and that the clue the police need to prevent future murders might be found in Detective Byrne’s own dark past.
In internationally bestselling author Richard Montanari’s acclaimed suspense series, veteran homicide cops Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano crack some of the most shocking and terrifying cases ever to hit Philadelphia. From a killer who re-creates Hollywood death scenes to a madman who uses the City of Brotherly Love as his gruesome game board, Byrne and Balzano have seen it all in their relentless pursuit of justice. This convenient eBook bundle takes you back to the beginning with four chilling novels: The Rosary Girls, The Skin Gods, Merciless, and Badlands. Includes an excerpt from Richard Montanari’s The Echo Man, now available exclusively as an eBook. Of this explosive new thriller, bestselling author Thomas Cook raves: “With The Echo Man, we are in the hands of one of the best in the business.”
Nothing will ever be the same again . . . In the heart of Philadelphia’s badlands, Homicide Detectives Byrne and Balzano are called out to a particularly chilling crime scene. Once the pillar of the neighbourhood, an abandoned church has become a killing room. At first it looks like a random act of violence. But then a second body is found, and a third. Each crime scene more disturbing than the last, each murder more brutal. And it soon becomes horrifyingly clear that a cold, calculating and terrifyingly precise mind is at work. With very few leads, and a mastermind who always seems to be one step ahead, Byrne and Balzano are faced with challenges they could never have imagined as they race against time to hunt down their killer, before it’s too late . . . Discover what readers around the world already know: Richard Montanari’s novels are “relentlessly suspenseful” (Tess Gerritsen)
A teenage runaway’s body is found in the basement of a rancid tenement building in the desolate, dangerous North Philly district dubbed the Badlands. The inexplicable cause of death: drowning. Months later, this dormant homicide case stirs back to life. A confession to the bizarre murder sends Philadelphia police detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano rushing to make an arrest. But what they find will chill these hardened veterans to the bone. As the body count grows, a terrifying design literally takes shape. Pieces of a gruesome puzzle are being set into place by a madman using the city as his game board. His playthings are the innocent, and his opponents–and pawns–are Byrne and Balzano, who must, before time runs out, decipher the truth about a shadowy house of horrors and its elusive master.
In six months, three women in their twenties have been brutally murdered. And each step that Homicide Detective Jack Paris takes to find their killer draws him closer to the heart of his own forbidden impulses.
The thing is, Detective... If you believe in God, you've got to believe in the Devil.' Deepest winter. Darkest Philadelphia. A murder shocks the frozen city - the most spectacular homicide in its 300-year-old history: an ex-cop has been lured to the basement of an abandoned chapel, wrapped in barbed wire - and kept alive for ten days. Twenty-four hours after the discovery, Detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano find another victim in another church, encased in a pristine block of ice. Someone is transforming the city's cathederals into killing rooms, someone who is determined to raise hell on earth. Packed with ingenious twists and relentless excitement, The Killing Room is a novel of blistering thrills and heart-stopping suspense.
As Cleveland homicide detective John Salvatore Paris tries to clear the name of his friend, Officer Mike Ryan, murdered two years before with his own weapon, a rash of brutal slayings rocks the city. Each murder is different, yet equally horrific. Each victim is connected by only a strange symbol carved into their flesh--and by one name: "Michael Ryan.
“Taut, propulsive and darkly gripping, Montanari is a master of suspense.” –Chris Ewan A haunting, nerve-jangling psychological thriller from Sunday Times bestselling author Richard Montanari, set in a small town hiding a very dark secret New York psychologist Will Hardy had it all—a loving family, a flourishing career, a bestselling book. Until the night it all ended in a tempest of fire and ash, leaving only Will and his fifteen-year-old daughter Bernadette to stand in the ruins. Haunted and grief-stricken, Will accepts an enigmatic invitation from his family’s past to begin their lives anew in the small town of Abbeville, Ohio. Meanwhile, Abbeville Chief of Police Ivy Holgrave is investigating the death of a local girl, convinced this may only be the latest in a long line of murders dating back decades—including her own long-missing sister. But what place does Will's new home have in the story of the missing girls? And what links the killings to the diary of a young woman written over a century earlier? The disappearances in Abbeville have happened before, and now Will’s own daughter might be next…
He's waited twenty years. He'll wait no longer. A gripping stand-alone thriller by the author of the Sunday Times bestselling Byrne and Balzano series. Johnny Angel is found brutally murdered with a dead prostitute in his bed and a needle full of heroin in his arm. It's all the more shocking because he's a priest. But when Dr Bennett Marc Crane, a prestigious plastic surgeon, is the next victim of a vicious attack of the same manner, it becomes clear that there is a serial killer on the loose... And as this homicidal maniac exacts his vengeance upon more innocent victims, evidence of another long-buried crime is uncovered. One that starts with a Halloween celebration at an exclusive college party twenty years ago and ends with a murderous plan for delayed revenge. For Nicky Stella, a hungry journalist, this is just the sort of sordid story that could land him a cover article. But when he digs a bit too deep, the killer's attention turns towards Nicky and he must find the killer before he becomes the next victim...
A rising star in the New York District Attorney's office and on the cusp of enormous success, Michael's perfect life begins to unravel when he finds himself the target of a depraved madman, a man who covets everything Michael has and will stop at nothing to take it all away.
Das Spiel beginnt. Das Spielbrett: eine ganze Stadt. Die Spielzüge: tödlich. Die Detectives Jessica Balzano und Kevin Byrne stehen vor einem Rätsel: In einem Keller wird die Leiche eines jungen Mädchens gefunden, Todesursache Ertrinken - doch weit und breit gibt es kein Wasser. Der einzige Hinweis ist ein Wort, gebildet aus vier Scrabble-Steinen: LUDO. Bald taucht eine weitere Tote auf, mit Säbeln durchbohrt - doch am Tatort gibt es keinen Tropfen Blut. Die Detectives ahnen, dass es ein Muster hinter diesen mysteriösen Morden gibt - und dass der Mörder ein grausames Spiel spielt. Um ihn zu stoppen, müssen sie ihm um einen Zug voraus sein ... »Ein gnadenlos fesselnder Thriller.« FRAnKFuRTER STADTKuRiER Nichts für schwache Nerven! Die spannungsgeladenen Thriller des Bestsellerautors Richard Montanari um das Ermittlerduo Byrne und Balzano: Band 1: Crucifix Band 2: Mefisto Band 3: Lunatic Band 4: Septagon Band 5: Echo des Blutes Band 6: Der Teufel in dir Band 7: Der Abgrund des Bösen Band 8: Tanz der Toten Band 9: Shutter Man Band 10: Mord am Heiligen Abend eBooks von beTHRILLED - mörderisch gute Unterhaltung.
In Philadelphia hat es ein eiskalter Mörder auf junge katholische Mädchen abgesehen. Er lehnt sich bei seinen Tötungsritualen an die Passion Christi an, und jedes der Opfer hält einen Rosenkranz in den Händen. Kryptische Zeichen weisen zudem auf den Ort des nächsten Verbrechens hin. Für die beiden Kriminalbeamten Kevin Byrne und Jessica Balzano beginnt ein Wettlauf gegen die Zeit, denn das Osterfest steht kurz bevor, und für diesen Termin hat sich der Killer die Krönung seiner mörderischen Aktivitäten vorbehalten ... »Ein meisterhafter Erzähler at his very best.« TESS GERRITSEN Nichts für schwache Nerven! Die spannungsgeladenen Thriller des Bestsellerautors Richard Montanari um das Ermittlerduo Byrne und Balzano: Band 1: Crucifix Band 2: Mefisto Band 3: Lunatic Band 4: Septagon Band 5: Echo des Blutes Band 6: Der Teufel in dir Band 7: Der Abgrund des Bösen Band 8: Tanz der Toten Band 9: Shutter Man Band 10: Mord am Heiligen Abend eBooks von beTHRILLED - mörderisch gute Unterhaltung.
Eine klare Nacht in Philadelphia. Eine schöne junge Frau in einem weißen Kleid sitzt am Ufer des Flusses und starrt mit großen Augen zum Mond. Auf den ersten Blick sieht sie aus wie eine Märchenfee, bedeckt von einer glitzernden Schicht aus Eis. Auf den zweiten Blick sieht man, dass ihre Schuhe fehlen. Und ihre Füße. Eine Spur von weiteren Leichen führt den Schuykill River hinauf. Verzweifelt versuchen Jessica Balzano und Kevin Byrne, Detectives der Mordkommission, die Zeichen zu deuten, die der Täter hinterlässt. Was hat der Verrückte im Sinn, der im Licht des Vollmonds grausige Märchen inszeniert? Nichts für schwache Nerven! Die spannungsgeladenen Thriller des Bestsellerautors Richard Montanari um das Ermittlerduo Byrne und Balzano: Band 1: Crucifix Band 2: Mefisto Band 3: Lunatic Band 4: Septagon Band 5: Echo des Blutes Band 6: Der Teufel in dir Band 7: Der Abgrund des Bösen Band 8: Tanz der Toten Band 9: Shutter Man Band 10: Mord am Heiligen Abend eBooks von beTHRILLED - mörderisch gute Unterhaltung.
Le grand retour du Maître du thriller " Vous êtes entre les mains d'un maître. Préparez-vous à rester éveillé toute la nuit. " James Ellroy Lorsqu'on est flic trop longtemps dans la même ville, toutes les rues mènent à des souvenirs que l'on préférerait oublier. Chaque nouveau meurtre vous en rappelle un autre. L'obsession n'est jamais loin. Pour Kevin Byrne, inspecteur des homicides à Philadelphie, le traumatisme originel a eu lieu en 1976. Encore adolescent dans le quartier défavorisé de Devil's Pocket, il a été impliqué de près dans un meurtre jamais résolu. La fin de l'innocence pour Byrne. Quarante ans plus tard, une affaire de meurtres en série le ramène à Devil's Pocket, à ses amis d'alors, à ce passé qu'il a essayé, en vain, d'oublier. Bientôt, le voile va se lever sur des secrets, des mensonges et une vérité qu'il aurait peut-être mieux valu ne jamais connaître. À la façon de Dennis Lehane, Richard Montanari dépasse une nouvelle fois toutes les limites du genre pour sonder en profondeur les zones d'ombre de l'âme humaine.
Die Bevölkerung von Philadelphia wird mit Verbrechen konfrontiert, die alles bisher Dagewesene in den Schatten stellen: Ein eiskalter Mörder hat es auf katholische Mädchen abgesehen ═ und lehnt sich bei seinen Tötungsritualen an die Passion Christi an. Für die Kriminalbeamten Kevin Byrne und Jessica Balzano beginnt ein Wettlauf gegen die Zeit, denn das Osterfest steht kurz bevor, und für diesen Termin hat sich der Killer die Krönung seiner mörderischen Aktivitäten vorbehalten ...
In the most brutal killing crusade Philadelphia has seen in years, a series of young Catholic women are found dead, their bodies mutilated and their hands bolted together. Each clutches a rosary in her lifeless grasp. Veteran cop Kevin Byrne and his rookie partner Jessica Balzano hunt the killer.
Twenty years ago a group of students gathered to celebrate their daring and their freedom at an exclusive college party. Something terrible happened there: a woman was abased and destroyed. Now old memories are revived when a priest is killed.
Johnny Angel is found brutally murdered with a dead prostitute in his bed and a needle full of heroin in his arm. It's all the more shocking because he's a priest. But when Dr Bennett Marc Crane, a prestigious plastic surgeon, is the next victim of a vicious attack of the same manner, it becomes clear that there is a serial killer on the loose... And as this homicidal maniac exacts his vengeance upon more innocent victims, evidence of another long-buried crime is uncovered. One that starts with a Halloween celebration at an exclusive college party twenty years ago and ends with a murderous plan for delayed revenge. For Nicky Stella, a hungry journalist, this is just the sort of sordid story that could land him a cover article. But when he digs a bit too deep, the killer's attention turns towards Nicky and he must find the killer before he becomes the next victim...
Philadelphia police detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano are working a new beat: the Special Investigations Unit, aka the cold case squad. Ironic, given that it's the height of a blazing hot August. But even these hardened homicide veterans are chilled to the bone as a dormant murder case stirs to life -- leading Byrne and Balzano into the dark heart of their city, their souls, and a psyche of pure evil."--Taken from author's web p.
No one can hear you scream. The second spell-binding, unputdownable thriller in the Byrne and Balzano series from the Sunday Times besteller. The streets of Philadelphia are blistering in the summer heat, the homicide rate is soaring and the nights belong to the mad. Detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano are prowling the streets with a growing sense of unease. Where next will evil rear its ugly head? When a series of seemingly unrelated crimes shatter the restless silence of the city, their worst fears are confirmed. A beautiful secretary is slashed to death in a grimy motel shower. A street hustler brutally murdered with a chainsaw. Piece by piece, a strange and sickening puzzle presents itself: someone is meticulously recreating Hollywood's most well-known and horrifying murder scenes, capturing them on film and inserting the clips into videos - for an unsuspecting public to find. While Kevin Byrne begins furtive investigations of his own, Jessica Balzano goes undercover to work the steaming back alleys of Philadelphia, entering a violent world of underground film, pornography and seedy nightclubs, hidden to all but the initiated. Discovering that none of The Actor's victims are as innocent as they appear to be, the two detectives arrive at a terrifying reality: They are not just chasing a homicide suspect. They are stalking evil itself ...
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