<div>The author of Straw Men continues his Memory Series with &ldquo;a terrific read for lovers of political suspense&rdquo; (Rebecca Forster, USA Today&ndash;bestselling author). Two men stand out in a crowd overlooking the Ohio River. A plane is being removed from the water where it crashed decades before. Both men helped put it there. Jim Christensen&rsquo;s adopted daughter, Melissa, has been troubled of late. She has dreams that feel like memories, unsettling images percolate to the surface. She remembers a terrifying past, possibly her own, from a time before she was adopted. Christensen&rsquo;s work as an expert in memory makes him the ideal person to help unlock his daughter&rsquo;s fragile grasp on her own history. But will he want to learn the truth of where Melissa came from? Who she was before? Who might still be looking for her? This dizzying novel of suspense takes the reader back into a dirty war and its human costs, into the fevered mind of one of its survivors, and through the crosshairs of a man desperate to keep his own history vanished. Praise for the Memory Series novels &ldquo;The creepiest good time I&rsquo;ve had in ages&mdash;a genuine page-turner!&rdquo; &mdash;Laura Lippman, New York Times bestselling author on Straw Men &ldquo;[Time Release] is a spellbindingly accomplished first novel.&rdquo; &mdash;James Ellroy, national bestselling author of L.A. Confidential </div>

The Disappeared Girl

<div>This chilling legal thriller that brings readers into the depths of human memory &ldquo;hooks you . . . right through to the last page&rdquo; (Michael Connelly, New York Times&ndash;bestselling author of The Black Box). For generations the Underhill family has dominated Pennsylvania politics. Now, with their youngest son locked in a tight gubernatorial race, a simple accident threatens to derail the entire campaign. Floss Underhill, the family&rsquo;s elderly matriarch, has been discovered alive after falling from a gazebo into a ravine, and Brenna Kennedy gets brought in as a defense attorney for the family. The police don&rsquo;t think her fall was an accident&mdash;and soon neither does Kennedy. Kennedy&rsquo;s partner, psychologist and memory expert Jim Christensen, has been studying Floss Underhill for months in a group of Alzheimer&rsquo;s patients. Her mind ravaged by the disease, her body broken by the fall, Floss Underhill nevertheless knows something, and is trying to tell Christensen a family secret so explosive it could bring down an empire. But to bring the truth out, Kennedy and Christensen will have to face some powerful enemies in this twisting mystery-thriller from an author who &ldquo;may well become a thriller force to be reckoned with&rdquo; (James Ellroy, New York Times&ndash;bestselling author of L.A. Confidential).</div>

Shadow Image

<div>&ldquo;An engrossing mystery with a wonderfully unique sleuth [who] tackles the most mysterious setting of all: the Bermuda Triangle of human memory&rdquo; (Barbara Seranella, author of the Munch Mancini Novels). Eight years ago, Brenna Kennedy defended Carmen DellaVecchio. He was a loner, a freak, and accused of the brutal rape and near-murder of Pittsburgh cop Teresa Harnett. She lost the case and DellaVecchio was sent to prison. But now, DNA evidence has cast doubt on DellaVecchio&rsquo;s guilt, and he is freed while waiting for a new trial. Kennedy continues to believe he is an innocent man. But if DellaVecchio is not guilty, then a dangerous sociopath is still out there. Kennedy&rsquo;s boyfriend&mdash;the brilliant and compassionate psychologist Jim Christensen&mdash;has dedicated his career to studying the effects of memory loss, including victims of trauma. When Teresa Harnett asks him to help her remember the events of that terrible night, he reluctantly agrees&mdash;and soon all of them are caught in the web of a madman who will kill to stay free . . . In this finalist for the Edgar and Barry Awards, Michael J. Smith delivers &ldquo;the creepiest good time I&rsquo;ve had in ages&mdash;a genuine page-turner&rdquo; (Laura Lippman, New York Times&ndash;bestselling author of And When She Was Good).</div>

Straw Men

<div>In this suspense thriller from the author of Time Release, a California cop investigates a developer&rsquo;s murder as his world catches fire. The dry season has hit the Inland Empire of California, depleting the ponds and revealing the muddy grave of Paul Dwyer. Dwyer lorded over Los Colmas, a small town he aspired to make big by building mansions for wealthy LA commuters. Some viewed him as a savior, providing construction jobs for locals. Others believed he was ruining their beautiful, close-knit community. But who was angry enough to kill him? Local cop Ron Starke is overwhelmed by the list of suspects and plagued by a difficult captain who is demanding results. Starke investigates Paul Dwyer&rsquo;s dirty money and handshake deals gone wrong. Then there&rsquo;s Dwyer&rsquo;s widow, Shelby, who has quite a few secrets, like who her husband really was behind closed doors. And what she knows about the murder&hellip; As the season&rsquo;s wildfires intensify to historic levels and surge towards Los Colmas, Starke must discover who killed Dwyer before all the evidence burns and the whole town is erased. &ldquo;A page-turner with a kicker at the end&hellip;Intricately plotted and full of character, this one is a great ride that burns with the intensity of a California wildfire.&rdquo;&mdash;Michael Connelly, #1 New York Times&ndash;bestselling author &ldquo;Fast as a bullet and bristling with suspense. Part Hitchcock, part Law and Order, all terrific.&rdquo;&mdash;T. Jefferson Parker, New York Times&ndash;bestselling author of The Room of White Fire As the season&rsquo;s wildfires intensify to historic levels and surge towards Los Colmas, Starke must discover who killed Dwyer before all the evidence burnsand the whole town is erased. &quot;Combustion is exactly what I love in a mystery&mdash;fast as a bullet and bristling with suspense. Part Hitchcock, part &#39;Law and Order,&#39; all terrific.&quot;&mdash;T. Jefferson Parker, New York Times bestselling author of The Room of White Fire</div>

Combustion

<div>An obsessed cop gets a second chance to take down a madman he failed to arrest a decade earlier in this thriller by the author of Combustion. Pittsburgh, 1986: The city is gripped in a panic as a maniac slips poison onto pharmacy shelves. All the evidence has pointed to Ron Corbett, but shoddy policework let Corbett off the hook and left the crime unsolved. Ten years later, it&rsquo;s happening again. This time, for the most personal of reasons, Detective Downing has made it his mission to see Corbett behind bars. He enlists the help of Jim Christensen, a psychologist who specializes in memory, to interview Corbett&rsquo;s son, now a young man with a painful past and problems of his own. Does the boy remember his father poisoning pill containers? Has he blocked memories of a horrific crime spree enacted in his own house? As Christensen explores the boy&rsquo;s memory and Downing grows more obsessive investigating the case, both men fear that the killings now may not be as random as they once thought, and that unlocking memories may draw them too close to a vicious predator. &ldquo;Time Release sizzles, cooks, and singes! It&rsquo;s a whipcord thriller full of deftly drawn characters, intrigue, and taut action. This is a spellbindingly accomplished first novel&rdquo;&mdash;James Ellroy, New York Times&ndash;bestselling author of The Big Nowhere &ldquo;A fast, smart read and one fine thriller.&rdquo;&mdash;Robert Ferrigno, New York Times&ndash;bestselling author of Prayers for the Assassin &ldquo;Unexpected plot twists and breathless tension combine for a suspenseful ride that doesn&rsquo;t let up.&rdquo;&mdash;The Kansas City Star &ldquo;Time Release is a fast, smart read and one fine thriller.&rdquo; &mdash;Robert Ferrigno, New York Times bestselling author of Prayers for the Assassin &ldquo;Unexpected plot twists and breathless tension combine for a suspenseful ride that doesn&rsquo;t let up.&rdquo; &mdash;The Kansas City Star</div>

Martin J. Smith
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Books By Martin J. Smith (5 Books)

The Disappeared Girl

Shadow Image

Straw Men

Combustion

Time Release

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© 2023 OPEN ROAD INTEGRATED MEDIA

Martin J. SmithFollow this author

Books By Martin J. Smith (5 Books)

The Disappeared Girl

Shadow Image

Straw Men

Combustion

Time Release

RELATED POSTS ABOUT MARTIN J. SMITH

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More from

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© 2023 OPEN ROAD INTEGRATED MEDIA

Martin J. Smith
Follow this author