Illinois Authors

For Chicago cop Suze Figueroa, home is a sanctuary, a quiet refuge from the crime, corruption, and tragedy she encounters everyday on the job. The creaky old Victorian house she shares with her little boy, her invalid sister, and her sister's family seems far removed from the threats and dangers of the mean city streets. . . or so she believes. The truth is far more terrifying, for, unknown to Suze, a stranger has moved into the house: an intruder who waits in the attic by day and prowls her home at night, spying on both the unsuspecting adults and the defenseless children. While Suze spends her work day tracking down an elusive serial killer, she has no idea that a much more personal danger lives under her own roof, eating her food, handling her gun, and watching her loved ones.

TOR, New York : 2006, ©2004.

Forge, New York : 2013.

September 11 survivors Brenda and Daniel establish a secret anti-terrorist division within their new software security firm and expose a terrorist plot to rig a presidential election.

Forge, New York : 2009.

September 11 survivors Brenda and Daniel establish a secret anti-terrorist division within their new software security firm and expose a terrorist plot to rig a presidential election.

Out of jealousy a policeman attempts to ruin the career of his brother, a more successful policeman. Officer Aldo Bertolucci hopes to sink Superintendent Nick Bertolucci by bringing to light his involvement in a police massacre of black nationalists. The novel is based on a police raid against the Black Panthers in 1969 Chicago.

Forge, New York : 1999, ©1998.

Berkley Prime Crime, New York : 1995, ©1994.

CNIB, Toronto : 2011.

Researching a feature story on the Christmas-tree industry, Cat spends Thanksgiving with the DeGraaf family near Holland, Michigan. The beauty of the rural landscape and the clan's warm welcome mask growing tensions until someone puts a young farm worker through the tree baler.

Berkley Prime Crime, New York : [1996], ©1995.

Wheeler Pub., Rockland, MA : [2000]

Freelance Chicago journalist Cat Marsala's plans to relax at home with her significant other, Dr. Sam Davidian, and a temporary canine house guest, Dapper, is interrupted when Sam realizes that the bone Cat had purchased for the dog at the local food emporium is really a human leg bone.

Worldwide, Toronto ; 1993, ©1992.

Scribner's ; New York : ©1992.

Chicago-based journalist Cat Marsala investigates the mysterious suicide of a state lottery official and becomes a target of an odds-obsessed killer.

Scribner, New York : [2007], ©2001.

Worldwide, Toronto : 1992, ©1991.

Worldwide, Toronto ; 1994, ©1993.

Cat Marsala, a freelance writer, accompanies her uncle to a symposium debating the decriminalization of drugs in Illinois. She hopes to interview the leader of the pro-legalization movement, Louise Sugarman. A bomb explodes during the meeting, killing Sugarman and wounding Cat. Sensing a great story, Cat pursues the killer.

Forge, New York : 2001.

A child of a senator is kidnaped in Chicago and appears live on the World Wide Web, locked in a room, clock ticking, facing starvation unless a man is released from prison. Detective Polly Kelly goes after the kidnapers.

Forge, New York : 1997.

A Chicago policeman must stop a greedy computer mogul's plan to assassinate the president and to commandeer the world's power centers.

Five Star, Unity, Me. : 2000.

Five Star, Waterville, Me. : 2004.

Tor, New York : 2013.

Blue Eriksen is a famous forensic archaeologist based at Northwestern University. She and her team are traveling the globe, testing mummies to research the use of hallucinogens in the development of ancient religions. Armed with evidence from ancient peoples, Blue has become convinced that psilocybin--a hallucinogen derived from mushrooms--can prevent or cure drug addiction. She hopes to develop testing and treatment centers. Leeuwarden Associates is the cover name for a deeply secret international organization that facilitates the production, delivery, and sale of illegal drugs worldwide, much as OPEC facilitates the sale of oil. Leeuwarden considers Blue a long-term threat and sends Felix Hacker--one of their enforcers--to kill her. Blue has no idea she's being stalked and prepares for a dig high in the Peruvian mountains ... At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

Forge, New York : 2011, ©2010.

Blue Eriksen is a famous forensic archaeologist based at Northwestern University. She and her team are traveling the globe, testing mummies to research the use of hallucinogens in the development of ancient religions. Armed with evidence from ancient peoples, Blue has become convinced that psilocybin--a hallucinogen derived from mushrooms--can prevent or cure drug addiction. Leeuwarden Ltd. is the cover name for a deeply secret international organization that facilitates the production, delivery, and sale of illegal drugs worldwide. Leeuwarden considers Blue a long-term threat and sends Felix Hacker--one of their enforcers--to kill her. Blue has no idea she's being stalked and prepares for a dig high in the Peruvian mountains.

Berkley Prime Crime, New York : 1997.

Dr. Dooley McSweeny and his wife, Claudia, dearly love the son they adopted from Russia four years ago. But when medical tests indicate that their little boy could not possibly have come from Russia, the couple is plunged into the dark, complex, and emotionally fraught world of international adoption. Who is their son? Where did he come from? How did he come to them? The answers to these questions threaten to destroy their marriage, their happiness, and their lives, as they explode a powder keg of betrayal and deceit.

Forge, New York : 2002.

Dooley McSweeny and his wife discover their beloved little boy, adopted from Russia six years earlier, did not come from Russia, and they embark on a dangerous, politically sensitive search for their child's true identity.