Stone Cold (31 page)
Authors: Joel Goldman
Tags: #Mystery, #legal thriller, #courtroom drama, #thriller
Jeroen ten Berge,
www.jeroentenberge.com
, continues to create the best book covers in the business.
Thanks to Jason Chatraw who did a great job formatting the book for the Kindle. You can find him at
www.GreenE-Books.com
. And, thanks to Ross Burck for his terrific work formatting the print edition. You can find Ross at
[email protected]
.
And thanks to all the people who read Advance Reader Copies and shared their feedback with me.
And, finally, thanks to all the baristas at my Starbuck’s office for always keeping a pot of coffee on for me.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joel Goldman
is the author of the Edgar and Shamus nominated Lou Mason Thrillers, the Jack Davis Thrillers and the Alex Stone Thrillers. He lives with his wife and two dogs in Leawood, KS. He was a trial lawyer for twenty-eight years. He wrote his first thriller after one of his partners complained about another partner, prompting him to write a mystery, kill the son-of-a-bitch off in the first chapter and spend the rest of the book figuring out who did it. And he never looked back.
NOVELS & SHORT STORIES
BY JOEL GOLDMAN
THE LOU MASON THRILLERS
THE JACK DAVIS THRILLERS
THE ALEX STONE THRILLERS
Stone Cold
THE DEAD MAN SERIES BY WILLIAM RABKIN & LEE GOLDBERG
SHORT STORIES
Lee Child and Michael Connelly recommend
Motion To Kill
! If you like the action, suspense and excitement in their books, you’ll love
Motion To Kill
!
“The story line never skips a beat. Fans will set in motion a plea for Mr. Goldman to return with more Mason (Lou not Perry) legal thrillers.”
Harriett Klausner
“Lou Mason is the sexy, brilliant but flawed counselor who is thrown into chaos and finds order. The plot leads you to the edge like the thrilling Yungas cliff road in Bolivia.”
Elizabeth Wenig
When two of his partners are killed, corruption, sex and murder fill trial lawyer Lou Mason’s docket as he tracks the killer. Will Lou be the next victim? Find out in
Motion To Kill
, the action-packed, can’t-put-it-down first book in the Lou Mason Thriller series!
“Joel Goldman is the real deal!”
John Lescroart, NYT Bestselling Author
“A real page-turner with plenty of action and many surprising twists and turns along the way driven by the wise-cracking protagonist and a great supporting cast.”
David A. Berman
“The plot races forward.”
Amarillo Globe-News
If you love the twist, turns and suspense of John Grisham, you’ll love
The Last Witness
!
“Fast, furious and thoroughly enjoyable,
The Last Witness
is classic and classy noir for our time, filled with great characters and sharp, stylish writing.”
Jeffery Deaver, NYT Bestsellling Author
“
The Last Witness
is an old fashioned, ‘40’s, tough guy detective story set in modern times. There’s a lot of action, loads of suspects and plenty of snappy dialogue. It’s a fun read from beginning to end.”
Phillip Margolin, author of The Associate and Wild Justice
Lou Mason is back and this time it’s personal when his surrogate father, Homicide Detective Harry Ryman, arrests his best friend, Wilson “Blues” Bluestone, Jr. for murder. Mason unearths secrets someone will do anything to keep as he closes in on a desperate killer, setting himself up as the next target. Goldman goes Grisham one better!
“Joel Goldman has written another fast-paced legal thriller. Find a comfortable chair and plan to stay up late.”
Sheldon Siegel, author of The Special Circumstances and Criminal Intent
“
The Last Witness
is a legal thriller written the way criminal law should be practiced: from the gut…one of the premier crime novels of the year.”
Jeremiah Healy, author of Turnabout and Spiral
Move over John Grisham! Joel Goldman is in the courthouse!
If you like the knockout suspense of Michael Connelly and the gritty “who done its” by Linda Fairstein, you’ll love Joel Goldman’s
Shakedown
!
“Goldman tells a story at a breakneck pace…”
Kansas City Star
“A killer identified via a fleeting facial expression and behavioral cues turns a middle-agend FBI agent dealing with a disruptive disability into an unexpected hero in Goldman’s latest terrific thriller.”
Publisher’s Weekly
When FBI Agent Jack Davis investigates a mass murder, a leak of crucial information and his imploding personal life throw him into the ultimate danger zone – where truth lies at the heart of betrayal.
Need a thrill pill? Take
Shakedown
and stay up all night!
“
Shakedown
is a really fine novel. Joel Goldman has got it locked and loaded and full of the blood of character and the gritty details that make up the truth. Page for page, I loved it.”
Michael Connelly, NYT Bestselling Author
“
Shakedown
is a chillingly realistic crime novel – it’s fast-paced, smartly plotted, and a gripping read to the very last page. Joel Goldman explores – with an insider’s eye – a dark tale of murder and betrayal.”
Linda Fairstein, NYT Bestselling Author
James Patterson fan’s - take off on a rocket-fueled suspense ride with
Shakedown
, the first book in the Jack Davis Thriller series by Joel Goldman.
If you like John Grisham’s twists and turns and James Patterson’s page-turning thrills, you’ll love Joel Goldman’s
The Dead Man
, the second book in the Jack Davis Thriller series!
“A masterful blend of rock-solid detective work and escalating dread.
The Dead Man
is both a top-notch thriller and a heart-rending story of loss, courage and second chances. I loved it.”
Robert Crais, NYT Best Selling Author
“
The Dead Man
is one of those rare novels you will be tempted to read twice: the first time to enjoy, and the second to appreciate how Goldman puts the pieces together. The hours spent on both will be more than worth it.”
Joe Hartlaub, Bookreporter.com
When people in a study of the human brain start to die exactly as they have dreamed they would die, Jack Davis crosses paths with a serial killer, taking him onto both sides of the law and into the path of a murderer’s terrifying rage.
Think John Grisham meets James Patterson and you’ve got Joel Goldman in
The Dead Man
!
“Goldman’s realistic setting, fast-paced dialogue and chilling plotting will have you wanting to read more in this gritty suspense series.”
Cindy Bauer, bookpleasures.com
“
The Dead Man
has all the plots and twists one may expect from a Grisham novel and the pace of a James Patterson crime story.”
Carolyn LeComte, Curledup.com
It doesn’t get any better than that, so grab
The Dead Man
and don’t let go!
Copyright © 2012 by Joel Goldman
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used factiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead) or events is entirely coincidental.
If you’ve enjoyed this Alex Stone novel, check out this excerpt from the bestselling Charlie Fox crime thriller series by Zoë Sharp.
DIE EASY: Charlie Fox book ten
by Zoë Sharp
In the sweating heat of Louisana, former Special Forces soldier turned bodyguard, Charlie Fox, faces her toughest challenge yet.
“ADDICTIVE READING.”
―
Chicago Tribune
Professionally, Charlie’s at the top of her game, but her personal life is in ruins. Her lover, bodyguard Sean Meyer, has woken from a gunshot-induced coma with his memory in tatters.
“CHECK OUT CHARLIE FOX―SHE’S THE REAL DEAL.”
―Lee Child
Working with Sean again was never going to be easy, but a celebrity fundraising event in post-Katrina New Orleans should have been the ideal opportunity for them both to take things nice and slow. Until, that is, they find themselves thrust into the middle of a war zone.
“SHARP MEANS BUSINESS.”
―New York Times
When an ambitious robbery explodes into a deadly hostage situation, the motive may be far more complex than simple greed. Somebody has a major score to settle and Sean is part of the reason.
Only trouble is, he doesn’t remember why.
“BREATHLESSLY COMPELLING AND UTTERLY REAL”
―Jeffery Deaver
And when Charlie finds herself facing a nightmare from her own past, she realises she can’t rely on Sean to watch her back. This time, she’s got to fight it out on her own …
www.ZoeSharp.com
DIE EASY: Charlie Fox Book Ten
One
EVEN ON A GOOD DAY I don’t enjoy being shot at. Been there, done that, and it bloody hurts.
I wasn’t kidding myself this was going to be a good day.
Maybe that had something to do with the fact that my gun hand—my right wrist—was securely handcuffed to a reinforced briefcase weighing probably twenty-five pounds.
That in itself wouldn’t have been so bad. I’d put in enough time on the range to be proficient with either hand. My left wrist, however, was just as firmly handcuffed to Sean Meyer’s right. Neither of us was exactly overjoyed by this state of affairs.
Especially when everything was about to go to shit around us.
We were on a quiet street of generic storefronts, parked cars dotted along either side. There were people nearby but nobody gave us a second glance.
And then, just when the tension began to give me heartburn, half a dozen rapid shots cracked out further down the street. I was half expecting them, but still they startled me. I forced out a strangled yelp, even though I knew they were scare shots, fired from a single weapon rather than part of an exchange, designed purely to start a stampede.
They got the job done.
Sean wheeled and I had to swing fast to stay with him. His eyes were everywhere. He’d already drawn the Glock 17 semiautomatic, hefted it in his left hand, but he stayed on his feet, upright, alert.
Next to him, useless as a stuffed lemon chained to that damn case, I felt helplessly exposed. I willed myself calm, knowing I
had
to rely on Sean to protect me—to protect both of us.
People started to stream past us. Some screaming, some shouting—unintelligible words filled with a contagious panic. I tugged deliberately at his arm.
“Sean! We need to get out of here—”
“Shut up.”
It was the vicious tone more than the words that shocked me into silence. As we turned, I caught a glimpse of figures crossing between the buildings. They were dressed in jeans and loose shirts like the rest of the crowd. Unlike everybody else, though, they moved with direction and purpose, and they were armed.
I didn’t speak, didn’t distract Sean, but by the way he tensed I knew he’d seen them, too.
His brows were drawn down flat in concentration, making his harsh face seem colder than usual. Cold enough to make me shiver.
He muscled me sideways effortlessly, snatching roughly at the cuffs so that it jarred my whole arm. I should have been protesting at this point, but I said nothing. It took willpower to remain passive.
Sean went down on one knee, pulled me down with him, using an old parked Chevy for cover. We stayed up by the front wheel where the engine block provided more of a shield.
More people sprinted by. A man tripped and went sprawling right behind us. Sean ignored him. He had the gun up in front of him, head tilted to best utilize his dominant eye.
A target broke cover, dodging through the remnants of the fleeing people. Sean fired on him without hesitation, four fast shots that somehow threaded through the crowd, tracked and hit. He went down.
Before the first man finished falling another had appeared, jinking between parked cars on the opposite side of the street. He had a machine pistol held at waist-level, and he strafed us as he ran. Sean held his nerve, his position and his aim, taking only two rounds to drop him.