Lee Child: Vengeance: Mystery Writers of America Presents

I had no insurance, obviously, working in that particular industry, so my house was sold to finance my stay in the hospital, which continues to this day, and from my bed I heard that the buyer of my house had also gotten hold of my neighbor’s place and was planning to raze them both and then build a mansion. Which got the hotshot son all excited, naturally, because finally the wrecking ball would do the work of the warrants no one had been able to get. The guy visited me often. Every time he would ask me, how was I feeling? Then he would ask me, wall or floor? Which showed his limitations, to be honest. Obviously the coat and the knife had exited the scene in the dope dealer’s stolen car. I had put them in the secret compartment in the fender and left the key in the ignition when I parked the car on the curb. They were long gone. I was fireproof.

Which brought me no satisfaction at all, because of the terrible pain I was in. I had heard of guys in my situation floating comfortably on IV drips full of morphine and Valium and ketamine, but I wasn’t getting that stuff. I asked for it, obviously, but the damn doctor bobbed and weaved and said it wasn’t appropriate in my case. And then the hotshot son would come in and ask how I was feeling, with a little grin on his face, and I’m ashamed to say it took me some time to catch on. Everyone was for sale. Everyone had a price. The city government, the cops, regular folks, all of them. Including doctors. I have no idea what the son was giving the guy, favors or money or both, but I know what the guy wasn’t giving me in return. The Hollywood I remember was a cold, hard, desperate place, and it still is.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Alafair Burkeis the author of seven novels, including the best-selling thriller Long Gone and two mystery series, one featuring NYPD detective Ellie Hatcher and one featuring Portland deputy district attorney Samantha Kincaid. A former prosecutor, she now teaches criminal law and procedure at Hofstra Law School and lives in New York City. She welcomes e-mails from readers at alafair@alafairburke.com.

Lee Childwas born in 1954 in Coventry, England, but spent his formative years in the nearby city of Birmingham. He went to law school in Sheffield, England, and after part-time work in the theater, he joined Granada Television in Manchester for what turned out to be an eighteen-year career as a presentation director during British TV’s “golden age.” But after being let go in 1995 as a result of corporate restructuring, he decided to see an opportunity where others might see a crisis, so he bought six dollars’ worth of paper and pencils and sat down to write a book, Killing Floor, the first in the Jack Reacher series. It was an immediate success and launched the series, which has grown in sales and impact with every new installment. Lee spends his spare time reading, listening to music, and watching the Yankees and Aston Villa and Marseille soccer. He is married with a grown-up daughter. He is tall and slim, despite an appalling diet and a refusal to exercise.

Michael Connelly’slatest novels are The Fifth Witness, featuring Mickey Haller, and The Drop, with LAPD detective Harry Bosch. His books have been translated into thirty-five languages and have won the Edgar Award, Anthony Award, Macavity Award, Los Angeles Times Best Mystery/Thriller Award, Shamus Award, Dilys Award, Nero Award, Barry Award, Audie Award, Ridley Award, Maltese Falcon Award (Japan), .38-Caliber Award (France), Grand Prix Award (France), Premio Bancarella Award (Italy), and the Pepe Carvalho Award (Spain). Michael was the president of the Mystery Writers of America organization in 2003 and 2004 and edited both the MWA anthology The Blue Religion and the Edgar Allan Poe anthology In the Shadow of the Master . He lives with his family in Florida.

Mike Cooperis the pen name of a former financial executive. Under a different name, his short stories have received wide recognition, including a Shamus Award and inclusion in The Best American Mystery Stories . His new novel, Clawback, has just been published by Viking. Mike lives outside Boston with his family. Visit his website at www.mikecooperbooks.com.

Brendan DuBoisof New Hampshire is the award-winning author of twelve novels and more than a hundred short stories. His latest novel, Deadly Cove, was published in July 2011 by St. Martin’s Press. His short fiction has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies, including Playboy, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century, edited by Tony Hillerman and Otto Penzler. His short stories have twice won him the Shamus Award from the Private Eye Writers of America and have also earned him three Edgar Allan Poe Award nominations from the Mystery Writers of America. Visit his website at www.BrendanDuBois.com.

Jim Fusilliis the author of six novels; his latest, Narrows Gate, is a gangster epic set in the first half of the twentieth century in the Italian-American community of a gritty waterfront city in the shadow of Manhattan. A resident of New York City, Jim is also the rock and pop critic of the Wall Street Journal . His book Pet Sounds, described as “an experiment in music journalism,” is his tribute to Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys’ classic album.

Michelle Gagnonis the author of The Tunnels, Boneyard, The Gatekeeper, and Kidnap & Ransom . Her bestselling thrillers have been published in North America, France, Spain, Argentina, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Australia. In 2012, she will release two young-adult novels: Don’t Turn Around, under the HarperCollins Teen imprint, and Strangelets, with Soho Crime. She lives in San Francisco, California.

Darrell Jamesis a fiction writer with residences in both Pasadena and Tucson. His short stories have appeared in numerous mystery magazines and book anthologies and have garnered a number of awards and honors, including finalist for the 2009 Derringer Awards. His first novel, Nazareth Child, was published in September 2011 by Midnight Ink/Llewellyn Worldwide Publishing. His personal odyssey to publication appears in the Writer’s Digest book How I Got Published, along with essays by J. A. Jance, David Morrell, Clive Cussler, and many other notable authors.

Janice Lawis a novelist who frequently commits short mystery stories. Her first novel, “The Big Payoff,” was nominated for an Edgar, and her stories have been reprinted in The Best American Mystery Stories, The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories, Alfred Hitchcock’s Fifty Years of Crime and Suspense, Riptide, Still Waters, and the fabulist anthology ParaSpheres .

C. E. Lawrenceis the byline of a New York-based suspense writer, performer, composer, poet, and prize-winning playwright whose previous books have been praised as “lively” ( Publishers Weekly ); “constantly absorbing” (starred Kirkus Review ); and “superbly crafted prose”( Boston Herald ). Silent Screams, Silent Victim, and Silent Kill are the first three books in her Lee Campbell thriller series. Her other work is published under the name of Carole Bugge. Her first Sherlock Holmes novel, The Star of India, has recently been released in England by Titan Publishing. Visit her website at celawrence.com.

Dennis Lehanegrew up in the Dorchester section of Boston. Since his first novel, A Drink Before the War, won the Shamus Award, he has published, with William Morrow, eight more novels that have been translated into more than thirty languages and become international bestsellers: Darkness, Take My Hand; Sacred; Gone Baby Gone; Prayers for Rain; Mystic River; Shutter Island; The Given Day; and Moonlight Mile . Mystic River, Shutter Island, and Gone Baby Gone have been made into award-winning films. Dennis Lehane and his wife divide their time between St. Petersburg, Florida, and Boston. Visit his website at www.dennislehanebooks.com.