Showing results by author "Mary Stone" in All Categories

Menschengemachte Netze sind die gefährlichsten … Als Ryan O'Connelly – der unfreiwillige Komplize einer Bankräuberin, die zur Serienmörderin wurde – dem FBI durch die Maschen schlüpfte, rechnete niemand damit, je wieder von ihm zu hören, geschweige denn damit, dass er sich stellen würde. Doch fast ein Jahr nach seiner erfolgreichen Flucht taucht er beim FBI auf und hat Informationen, die Special Agent Winter auf die Spur eines brutalen Serienkillers führen.

Following the incident that brought justice to her parents’ killers but ended her career, former FBI Special Agent Rebecca West needs a fresh start. Hoping to find peace, she decides to spend a few months in the sleepy beach town of Shadow Island, where she spent idyllic summers as a kid. However, her vacation is cut short when a seventeen-year-old goes missing with no leads or clues. When the girl’s body is found in a nearby marsh with strangulation marks around her neck, Rebecca can’t say no when the overworked sheriff asks her to help investigate.

A local man has fatally overdosed on fentanyl at the ice cream parlor after polishing off a salted caramel cone. No history of drug use, no needles, no signs of addiction—only a body filled with poison. Rebecca suspects something far worse than a tragic accident. But how does fentanyl find its way into a dessert? When a father and his two children are poisoned by fentanyl after eating at a local diner, Rebecca comes to a startling realization. A sadistic killer is playing a dangerous game of chance, turning routine moments into fatal traps.

When the dead can't speak, the shadows whisper their secrets. There’s never a dull moment on Shadow Island, especially for its small but growing sheriff’s department. This time, Sheriff Rebecca West, along with new deputy Viviane Darby, discover a man hanging from the rafters of the caretaker’s shed at Oceanview Cemetery. Does death follow Rebecca? Or does she attract it? The scene suggests suicide—an unlocked padlock, a rope, a toppled bench, and the lifeless body.

A bank robbery turns into a blood trail as a pair of unhinged masterminds hack their way through a list of the most notorious US heists. The copycat crimes, emulating famous robberies, escalate as the FBI work with local law enforcement. But the federal team has problems of its own. Sun Ming, Winter Black’s partner and nemesis, has her own agenda, while Winter can’t keep her mind off The Preacher, the notorious serial killer who murdered her parents and holds the key to finding her missing little brother.

The serial killer who slaughtered Winter’s parents has come out of retirement, leaving bloody victims in his wake. Special Agent Winter Black has spent her entire life preparing for this moment, and she intends to end the man who took everything from her and solve the disappearance of her little brother — no matter the cost.

The path to power is paved with blood. In the wake of a landmark election on Shadow Island, the tide of power is set to turn. Newly elected Sheriff Rebecca West stands ready to dismantle the Yacht Club’s ruthless grip over the island. And she isn’t alone. She has her team as well as the newly elected chair of the Select Board by her side. But victory comes at a perilous cost. The ballots have barely been counted when tragedy strikes. The new Select Board Chair’s life hangs by a thread after a deliberate sabotage turns her victory drive into a fight for survival.

When a fisherwoman reports seeing a local young woman potentially assaulted or abducted, Shadow Island Sheriff Rebecca West’s heart constricts. The disappearance of three other girls in the span of a week can’t be a coincidence. But other than being about the same age, everything else about the girls and their mysterious disappearances are inconsistent. Besides, since all are legal adults with no jobs but plenty of nice things, it’s entirely possible they just took off on an impromptu vacation. Except none of the girls took their car. And no one is answering their phone.

Every clue is a countdown. A typical morning at Sandpiper Bank turns into chaos when an armed man in a clown costume storms in, shattering the calm. He trashes the lobby and executes the bank manager, even after securing the money, hinting at a motive beyond mere robbery. Maybe money isn’t the root of all evil, after all. Puzzled by the senseless violence, Sheriff Rebecca West is drawn into a labyrinth of mystery and danger as the bank’s connections to the Yacht Club are revealed. The arrival of the FBI, led by Rebecca’s former instructor, offers a mix of relief and renewed tension.

There’s never a dull moment on Shadow Island, especially for its small but growing sheriff’s department. This time, Sheriff Rebecca West, along with new deputy Viviane Darby, discover a man hanging from the rafters of the caretaker’s shed at Oceanview Cemetery.

Thirteen years ago, Winter Black came home early from a sleepover to find her parents brutally murdered and her little brother gone — taken by a serial killer called The Preacher. Now a rookie FBI agent assigned to her first murder case, Winter has returned to the small Virginia town where she grew up. But when bones found by a hunter lead to the discovery of a secret burial ground containing the remains of children, the investigation suddenly hits close to home as the past and future collide with each new shocking discovery.

As the sun dips toward the horizon at Dee’s Dock, a yacht ignites more than just the evening sky— it sparks yet another deadly mystery on Shadow Island. Sheriff Rebecca West leads the charge as the tight-knit community bands together to battle the blaze. But as the smoke clears, a chilling discovery is made... arson is only the beginning, and the charred remains aboard signal murder.

For more than 13 years, special agent Winter Black has believed her little brother was dead - kidnapped and murdered by The Preacher, the same lunatic who killed her parents. A lead into Justin’s whereabouts brings her out of her hiatus to chase it, but other cases need her attention, too. At the FBI, tensions are high when a body is dug up, encased in a 55-gallon drum. The team soon realizes they aren’t hunting the typical serial killer, but a skilled surgeon.

Death is only the beginning. Shadow Island is a wreck. Buildings lay in rubble, construction crews swarm the island, and the aftermath of the Yacht Club Massacre has left many dead. But at least Sheriff Rebecca West put an end to the violence against young girls by dismantling the elite men’s club. Or so she thought. When a teenage girl is found stabbed and half-buried in a makeshift grave at the local cemetery, her arms carved with occult symbols, whispers of dark rituals and black magic spread through the community. The victim’s friends insist she died from the legendary witch’s curse.

Just a few short months ago, Sheriff Rebecca West thought her toughest battles were behind her. But nothing could have prepared her for the turmoil she’s faced since coming to Shadow Island. Attempts on her life. Heartbreak. Betrayal. And that’s just the beginning. The worst is yet to come. Still reeling from the shocking discovery of who’s behind Shadow Island’s exclusive and depraved "men’s" club, Rebecca is determined to take them down. There’s only one problem. One by one, the members end up dead. Tongues cut out, hands chopped off—the message is clear...

Sometimes, the beginning is the end. For 13 years, FBI Special Agent Winter Black has been haunted by a man who performed heinous acts. Murdering her parents. Abducting her baby brother. Leaving her in a coma that changed her life forever. For 13 years, she’s suffered mentally and physically. Often doubted her sanity and ability to move forward to achieve her goal of bringing that brutal man down. Thirteen years of regret. Of hope. Of fear. Of hate.

Less than twenty-four hours after Hurricane Boris ravages Shadow Island, it delivers one final blow. Two corpses, lashed together, wash up on the shore. Some of them, anyway. With no primary crime scene, no witnesses, and barely any human remains, Sheriff Rebecca West has precious little to work with. Are these victims connected to the seemingly untouchable Yacht Club, or did Boris’s awesome power simply push them onto her beach?

When a man washes up onto Shadow Island, Sheriff Rebecca West has a moment of déjà vu. This isn’t the first body the ocean spat out on one of her beaches, but it’s the first one she’s found alive. Barely. The brutal gunshot wounds to the victim’s hand and the lower part of his face indicate he was shot offshore and dumped overboard, but there’s no boat or perpetrator. Just a few cryptic clues before the victim becomes unresponsive.

Shadow Island lore insists that anyone who steps in the shadow cast onto the old witch’s cottage is cursed. But when two bodies are discovered inside the cottage, their heads arranged in a ghastly tableau, Rebecca is more concerned about the real monsters—the human ones who’d commit such an atrocious murder.

After five months of training at Quantico, Dr. Autumn Trent is ready for her first day on the job as an official special agent with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit. She left for training with a heavy heart, feeling responsible for all that happened to her best friend and fellow agent, Winter Black. Now, her heart is just as heavy, but her spirit has grown stronger as she and Winter continue their fight against evil. She’s only home a few days when a woman with a paralyzing fear of water jumps to her death from a waterfall. Was it suicide or was something much more sinister at play?