Jeffery Deaver - Roadside Crosses

Dance found herself clutching her wineglass to her chest as she watched O'Neil start down the deck stairs. She wondered if he'd turn back.

He did, briefly. They shared yet another smile, and then he was gone.

With thanks to Katherine Buse, whose excellent research gave me the lowdown on blogs and life in the synth world and who taught me how to survive (at least for a while) in massively multiplayer online role-playing games. Thanks too for the savvy editorial skills of Jane Davis, Jenna Dolan, Donna Marton, Hazel Orme and Phil Metcalf. My appreciation to James Chilton's webmaster, my sister, Julie Reece Deaver, and thanks, as always, to Madelyn and to the puppies-all of them.

A former journalist, folksinger and attorney, Jeffery Deaver is an international number-one best-selling author. His novels have appeared on a number of best-seller lists around the world, including The New York Times, The Times of London and The Los Angeles Times. His books are sold in 150 countries and translated into 25 languages. The author of twenty-four novels and two collections of short stories, he's been awarded the Steel Dagger and the Short Story Dagger from the British Crime Writers' Association, is a three-time recipient of the Ellery Queen Readers Award for Best Short Story of the Year and is a winner of the British Thumping Good Read Award. The Cold Moon was recently named the Book of the Year by the Mystery Writers Association of Japan, as well as by Kono Mystery Wa Sugoi magazine. In addition, the Japanese Adventure Fiction Association awarded the book their annual Grand Prix award for best translated adventure fiction of the year.

He's been nominated for six Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America, an Anthony Award and a Gumshoe Award and was recently shortlisted for an ITV3 Network award for best international author of the year.

His book A Maiden's Grave was made into an HBO movie starring James Garner and Marlee Matlin, and his novel The Bone Collector was a feature release from Universal Pictures, starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. His most recent books are The Bodies Left Behind, The Broken Window, The Sleeping Doll and The Cold Moon. And, yes, the rumors are true, he did appear as a corrupt reporter on his favorite soap opera, As the World Turns.

Deaver is presently writing the next Lincoln Rhyme novel for 2010, and another Kathryn Dance thriller for 2011.

Readers can visit his website at http://www.jefferydeaver.com .