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Dying To Meet You |
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The
Not-So-Bad-Guys |
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Kelley Armstrong
Kelley Armstrong
grew up in
London, Ontario.
She graduated
from the
University of
Western Ontario
with a degree in
psychology she
but switched to
the study of
computer
programming. She
lives in rural
Ontario with her
husband and
three children
where she works
as a full time
writer.
The Protagonist
Law enforcement
is in Nadia
Stafford's
blood. She comes
from a long line
of police
officers, and
was one herself
until the wrong
case sent her
over the line
from cop to
killer. Now, to
keep her beloved
wilderness lodge
afloat, she's a
contract killer
for a small
Mafia family.
When a serial
killer with all
the earmarks of
a hit-man begins
murdering
innocent people,
the police
investigation
threatens to
unmask Nadia and
others, and she
bands together
with a small
group of
hit-men,
including her
mentor--the
mysterious Jack.
But once the
killer realizes
who's on his
trail, his
simple plan
twists into a
complex game as
both sides fight
to prove who is
the hunter - and
who the prey.
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Lawrence Block
Lawrence Block
Born in Buffalo,
N.Y. on June 24,
1938. He
attended Antioch
College, but
left before
graduating. His
earliest work
was published
under a series
of pen names, in
the 1950s, was
mostly in the
porn paperback
industry. The
first work to
appear under his
own name was the
1957 story "You
Can't Lose." He
has since
published more
than fifty
novels and more
than a hundred
short stories,
as well as a
series of books
for writers.
Lawrence Block
has lived in New
York City for
decades, setting
most of his
fiction there,
and has come to
be very closely
associated with
the city. He is
married to Lynne
Block, and has
three daughters
from an earlier
marriage. With
Lynne, he spends
much of his time
travelling (the
two have been to
nearly 100
countries), but
continues to
consider New
York his home.
The Protagonist
Keller is your
basic New York
lonely guy. He
lives by
himself, eats
out or brings
home takeout,
collects stamps
and does the
crossword over
morning coffee
just like eight
million other
guys in the
naked city. Not
very
interesting. But
every once in a
while he gets a
phone call,
packs his bag,
catches a plane,
flies across the
country and
kills somebody.
It's a living.
But is it a
life? Keller's
not sure.
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Lee Child
Lee Child was
born in 1954 in
Coventry,
England, but
spent his
formative years
in the nearby
city of
Birmingham. By
coincidence he
won a
scholarship to
the same high
school that JRR
Tolkein had
attended. 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."
During his
tenure his
company made
Brideshead
Revisited, The
Jewel in the
Crown, Prime
Suspect, and
Cracker. But he
was fired in
1995 at the age
of 40 as a
result of
corporate
restructuring.
Always a
voracious
reader, he
decided to see
an opportunity
where others
might have seen
a crisis and
bought six
dollars' worth
of paper and
pencils and sat
down to write a
book, Killing
Floor, the first
in the Jack
Reacher series.
The Protagonist
Jack Reacher was
born on an Army
base in Germany.
His father chose
his name; it
read "Jack-none-Reacher"
on the birth
certificate
faxed to the
Berlin Embassy.
They called his
brother Joe, but
nobody ever
called Jack by
his first name.
How it came
about, no one
knows but Jack
was always
called Reacher.
He left home at
18, graduated
from West Point.
Performed 13
years of
service, demoted
from Major to
Captain in 1990,
mustered out
with the rank of
Major in 1997.
Now he’s a
drifter, an
ex-military
policeman; a
trained killer,
a man of action
unafraid to take
justice into his
own hands; a man
of intelligence
and cunning. He
rights wrongs
and defends the
helpless.
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Tim Dorsey
Tim Dorsey was
born in Indiana,
moved to Florida
at the age of 1,
and grew up in a
small town about
an hour north of
Miami called
Riviera Beach.
He graduated
from Auburn
University in
1983 with a B.S.
in
Transportation.
While at Auburn,
he was editor of
the student
newspaper, The
Plainsman.
From 1983 to
1987, he was a
police and
courts reporter
for The Alabama
Journal, the
now-defunct
evening
newspaper in
Montgomery. He
joined The Tampa
Tribune in 1987
as a general
assignment
reporter. He
also worked as a
political
reporter in the
Tribune’s
Tallahassee
bureau and a
copy desk
editor. From
1994 to 1999, he
was the
Tribune’s night
metro editor. He
left the paper
in August 1999
to write full
time.
He lives in
Tampa with his
wife and two
daughters. He is
45.
The Protagonist
Serge A. Storms
is in his
mid-forties in
age. His father
was a Cuban
American jai
alai player who
was more popular
for his
unpredictability
than his skill.
He died when he
hurled a pelota
that rebounded
and struck him
forcefully in
the head. Serge
has been
diagnosed with a
variety of
mental
illnesses. He
takes a cocktail
of drugs to keep
him stable but
he often refuses
to take them
since he doesn’t
like their
effects. When
not under the
influence he
quickly becomes
manic and
obsessive.
Despite his
psychological
disorders, he’s
a charismatic,
likeable person
except when
something or
someone offends
his subjective
sense of
justice. He can
quickly fly into
a homicidal rage
and has
committed a
string of
murders causing
the police
pursue him as a
serial killer.
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Barry Eisler
Barry Eisler was
born in New
Jersey, USA in
1964. He worked
for three years
for the CIA's
Director of
Operations.
During his time
with the Agency,
Eisler was
trained in small
arms, long arms,
hand-to-hand
combat,
improvised
explosive
devices, small
water craft, air
drops to
friendly forces,
surveillance,
counter-surveillance,
counter-terrorism,
agent
recruitment and
management, and
interrogation
and manipulation
techniques. He
was also placed
in a fulltime
Japanese
language
program. In
1993, after
leaving the
government,
Eisler moved to
Tokyo to train
intensively at
the Kodokan
International
Judo Center, to
continue his
language
studies, and to
immerse himself
in the country
and culture.
While commuting
to work one
morning, a vivid
image came to
him: two men
following
another man down
Dogenzaka street
in Shibuya. He
didn't know
where the image
came from, but
he started
thinking about
it. Who are
these men? Why
are they
following that
other guy? Then
answers started
to come: They're
assassins.
They're going to
kill him. But
these answers
only led to more
questions: why
are they going
to kill him?
What did he do?
Who do they work
for? Eisler had
always enjoyed
writing - short
stories as a
teenager, a
foreign policy
column for the
Cornell Daily
Sun while a law
student,
marketing copy
for companies
later in life -
and the way
these two men
were following
the third felt
like a story to
him. Eisler
started writing,
and the
character he
discovered
became John
Rain; the
manuscript, the
novel Rain Fall.
Today Eisler
lives and works
in the San
Francisco Bay
Area and
continues to
travel
frequently to
Japan and other
parts of Asia.
The Protagonist
John Rain is the
child of an
American mother
and a Japanese
father. He’s a
freelance
assassin who
kills for a
living. His
specialty is to
make it appear
his victims died
of natural
causes. He's
rigidly
disciplined, but
also haunted and
paranoid. He
learned his
skills as a
member of the
U.S. Special
Forces in
Vietnam, and is
still disturbed
by memories of
those years, and
the crimes he
committed. Rain
lives a life of
"meticulously
planned
anonymity” in
Tokyo. Haunted
by his past and
conflicted by
his present, he
trusts no one.
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Jeff Lindsay
Jeff Lindsay
lives in South
Florida with his
wife and three
daughters. He
claims to have
done a bit of
everything in
life, worked in
and around show
business, did
the coffee house
circuit as a
folk singer,
played in a few
bands and even
sang some lounge
music. He’s
worked as an
actor, director,
theatre
producer,
playwright,
stand-up comic
and series host
on radio and TV.
He’s also been a
gardener, a
carpenter, and a
detective. He is
a self-confessed
workaholic but
does enjoy the
outdoors,
especially
camping, fishing
and boating.
The Protagonist
Dexter Morgan is
a killer. He
likes kids,
can’t stand the
sight of blood
and he lives by
one rule that
sets him apart
from his
contemporaries
and allows him
to escape
detection; he
only kills bad
people. Dexter
was adopted at
the age of four
after having
undergone an
unspeakably
traumatic
experience of
which he has no
memory. His
adoptive father,
a policeman
named Harry
Morgan, realizes
when Dexter is
about ten that
he’s not like
other boys; he
is a psychopath
who kills
because he can’t
help it. Harry
knows that
Dexter can never
be rehabilitated
but what he can
do is choose who
he kills, and to
kill so
efficiently that
he’ll never be
caught. Dexter
has also learned
how to behave
like a real
human being, so
he’s become
quite a likable
fellow, and
attractive to
the ladies,
although he’s
totally unable
to respond to
their advances.
Dexter works as
a blood splatter
analyst for the
Miami Police
department, a
position that
affords him two
advantages: he
can keep up with
what the forces
of law and order
are doing and
keep an eye open
for his next
victim.
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Jeff Povey
Jeff Povey was
born in England,
grew up in
Scotland, and
returned to
England to seek
fame and
fortune. After
working at
various
ill-suited jobs,
he turned to
writing and has
since turned out
more than a
hundred hours of
mainly primetime
television, and
was a lead
writer for the
hit BBC TV show
EastEnders. He
currently lives
in England with
his wife, four
children, and
his gambling
habit.
The Protagonist
The anonymous
narrator of the
story is leading
an ordinary life
as a dock worker
when one night a
maniac with a
knife jumps out
of the shadows
and attacks him.
The victim
defeats the
would-be killer
and after going
through the dead
man’s wallet he
discovers his
adversary was
none other than
the
Grandson-of-Barney,
a notorious
serial killer.
Further
investigation of
the dead man’s
pockets turns up
an invitation
from Errol Flynn
to join the
Serial Killers
club, a club
where killers
adopt the name
of deceased
movie stars and
gather to
discuss their
kills. Our hero
takes the name
of Douglas
Fairbanks Jr.
and infiltrates
the
organization.
With no kills of
his own to brag
about the other
killers start to
get suspicious
so Douglas
decides it’s
time to start
killing the
killers.
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