There are few authors who can weave nail-biting thrills,
edge-of-your-seat drama, and romantic suspense as masterfully as Julie
Garwood. Now she ratchets up the tension with Murder List, in which
evil is on the hunt- and proves to be methodically organized and
chillingly successful.
When Chicago detective Alec Buchanan is offered a prime position with
the FBI, it is the perfect opportunity to leave the Windy City and
follow in his brothers' footsteps to the top echelons of law
enforcement. But first he must complete one last assignment (and one
that he is not too happy about): acting as a glorified bodyguard to
hotel heiress Regan Hamilton Madison. The gorgeous exec has become
entangled in some potentially deadly business. Someone has e-mailed her
a graphic crime-scene photo-and the victim is no stranger.
Regan suspects that the trouble started when she agreed to help a
journalist friend expose a shady self-help guru who preys on lonely,
vulnerable women. In fact, the smooth-as-an-oil-slick Dr. Lawrence
Shields may be responsible for the death of one of his devotees, which
was ruled a suicide. Hoping to find some damning evidence, Regan attends
a Shields seminar.
At the gathering, the doctor persuades his guests to partake in an
innocent little "cleansing" exercise. He asks them to make a list of the
people who have hurt or deceived them over the years, posing the
question: Would your world be a better place if these people ceased to
exist? Treating the exercise as a game, Regan plays along. After ten
minutes, Shields instructs the participants to bring their sheets of
paper to the fireplace and throw them into the flames. But Regan misses
this part of the program when she exits the room to take a call-and
barely escapes a menacing individual in the parking lot.
The experience is all but forgotten-until the first person on Regan's
list turns up dead. Shock turns to horror when other bodies from the
list start to surface, as a harrowing tango of desire and death is set
into motion. Now brutal murders seem to stalk her every move-and a
growing attraction to Alec may compromise her safety, while stirring up
tender emotions she thought she could no longer feel. Yet as the danger
intensifies and a serial killer circles ever closer, Regan must discover
who has turned her private revenge fantasies into grisly reality.
