LAGUNA HEAT

Laguna... Where every day the sun makes a promise the nighttime breaks, while the super-rich live out expensive fantasies in posh beach houses and drown their memories in Cuervo Gold margaritas... Laguna... Where trouble has swept in like a Santa Ana wind, blowing the cover off a world of torture, murder, and blood-red secrets... Laguna... Where a crazed killer has turned paradise into a Disneyland of depraved violence-with a fiery vengeance-and where homicide cop Tom Shephard unravels a grisly mystery that reaches back across forty years of sordid sex, blackmail, and suicide into the dark corners of his own past, and sweats out a deadly truth in the sweltering... Laguna Heat.

LITTLE SAIGON

Amateur surfer Chuck Frye feels like a wipeout. He's the prodigal son of Orange County's most powerful land baron - and suddenly, his life is about to receive a terrifying, life altering jolt. His brother's Vietnamese wife is kidnapped, without a ransom demand. For Chuck, what seems like a chance to prove himself, to regain his self-respect, soon becomes a harrowing, deadly adventure that takes him from lush oceanfront estates into the teeming, secretive maze of California's Vietnamese community.

PACIFIC BEAT

Two things you never do: kill a cop's wife or kill a cop's sister. Someone's done both...and Newport Beach is about to explode. A gritty, wire-taut tale of murder, corruption and family secrets.

SUMMER OF FEAR

The bestselling author of Laguna Heat follows his recent success, Pacific Beat, with this intricate tour de force of atmospheric style, hard-boiled suspense, and dark insight into the human heart. Its ingredients are the passions of a small group of intimates, a hot California summer, an Orange County killer who is massacring entire families, and a disturbing detail: The police, unaccountably, are keeping the killings under wraps. Its unsettling point of view is the troubled conscience of Russ Monroe, Laguna Beach's cop-turned-crime-writer, who stumbles onto a murder scene that looks exactly like the others. The eerie difference is, he knew this victim all too well, yet apparently all too little - and the police aren't even investigating. Something is maddeningly wrong. Knowledge is dangerous here. And Russ - catastrophically for everything he holds to be true - is about to partake.

THE TRIGGERMAN'S DANCE

There were two men in Rebecca Harris's life: Joshua Weinstein - the tough, dark, passionate, Jewish FBI agent she was engaged to; and John Menden - the blond, WASP, slick newsman who was her lover. Both men silently knew of the other's existence in Rebecca's life - and each hoped that when she made her ultimate decision between them, he would be the chosen one. Six months after Rebecca Harris was murdered in front of the Orange County Journal offices, Joshua Weinstein discovers the identity of the murderer: Van Holt, a brilliant military tactician and leader of a right-wing private security organization. Now, all he needs is the proof. And the only person he knows who is as driven about avenging the murder is John Menden. Using the most sophisticated FBI techniques and equipment, this unlikely duo teams up to bring down the man that ruined their lives. But neither expects that the man who is their target will be quite so intelligent and cunning, nor his daughter quite so alluring.

WHERE SERPENTS LIE

Terry Naughton, head of Orange County's Crimes Against Youth unit, is the champion of children. He's come up against his share of heinous criminals in his years on the force - but nothing has prepared him for the Horridus. Abducting children from their beds, dressing them like little angels, and releasing them the next day, the only clue he leaves is a piece of snakeskin tucked into the folds of their gowns. So far he hasn't physically harmed any of them, but as Naughton well knows, it's only a matter of time. As he races to find the madman before his crimes escalate, Naughton learns that the Horridus may not be the only enemy. When shocking (and seemingly irrefutable) accusations put his career on the line, he is forced to confront his dark and violent past in his search for the truth.

THE BLUE HOUR

Tim Hess is a semi-retired veteran cop staring at a death sentence - his own. In the throes of a losing battle against cancer, his time is literally running out. Three times divorced, childless, Hess is the classic loner cop - and he's happy to accept the job held out to him: tracking down a ruthless killer who's been abducting beautiful young women from Orange County. Merci Rayborn has a reputation for causing trouble. Brash, ambitious, and impatient, she hasn't devoted any time to her personal life, and she's not terribly popular with her peers or her superiors - a matter that isn't helped by the sexual harassment case she's recently filed against some fellow officers. Hess isn't thrilled to be taking orders from this difficult yet smart young woman. And he certainly isn't planning to fall in love with her....

SILENT JOE (review)

With the horrible remnants of a childhood tragedy forever visible across his otherwise handsome face, Joe Trona is scarred in more ways than one. Rescued from an orphanage by Will Trona, a charismatic Orange County politician who sensed his dark potential, Joe is swept into the maelstrom of power and intimidation that surrounds his adoptive father's illustrious career. Serving as Will's right-hand man, Joe is trained to protect and defend his father's territory - but can't save the powerful man from his enemies. Will Trona is murdered, and Joe will stop at nothing to find out who did it. Looking for clues as he sifts through the remains of his father's life - his girlfriends, acquaintances, deals, and enemies - Joe comes to realize how many secrets Will Trona possessed, and how many people he had the power to harm. But two leads keep rising to the surface: a little girl who was kidnapped by her mentally disturbed brother, and two rival gangs who seem to have joined forces. As Joe deepens his investigation - and is forced to confront the painful events of his troubled childhood - these two seemingly disconnected threads will intersect.