Cut to the Quick

Zusatztext “Cut to the Quick’s razor-sharp pacing and twisted plot kept me on the edge of my chair from the first page to the last.” –Mariah Stewart! author of Last Breath “Dianne Emley sets a cracking pace in this crime thriller! a follow-up novel to her blistering debut! The First Cut.” –The Sunday Mail “Compelling.” – Publishers Weekly Informationen zum Autor Dianne Emley gained critical acclaim with her Los Angeles Times bestseller The First Cut ! the first thriller featuring homicide detective Nan Vining. She is also author of The Deepest Cut . She lives in Pasadena! California! with her husband! Charlie! and two cats. www.DianneEmley.com Klappentext The crime scene was like something out of a horror movie. Billboard tycoon Oliver Mercer has been brutally slain in his home in the Pasadena hills! joined in death by his long-legged trophy girlfriend-both of their bodies displayed in a chilling tableau. The murder scene reawakens terrible memories for homicide detective Nan Vining! who survived her own harrowing attack a year earlier. While tracking the taunting gameplayer her daughter Emily dubbed T. B. Mann-The Bad Man-she is now working the Mercer case alongside her ex-flame Jim Kissick! stirring up conflicted feelings in her. From the ritzy estates of L.A.'s Lamborghini-driving set to a rocky desert outpost where rattlesnakes whisper murder! Nan will risk both her badge and her heart on a case that cuts close to the bone. ONE   Nothing bad ever happened to Oliver Mercer. He hadn’t followed Mercer long before he’d figured that out. Nothing really bad. Having your teeth kicked out bad. Watching someone slit your girlfriend’s throat in front of you bad. Watching someone slit your girlfriend’s throat while you’re gurgling through your own slit throat bad. Or losing all your money. A guy like Mercer probably thought that was the worst thing that could ever happen to him. Or handing over his Rolex to a robber. Or finding his girlfriend in bed with his best friend. The fool.   Mercer had all the advantages. Born into money. While following Mercer around Pasadena, he’d heard people call it “old money,” like that made it even more important and special. Dough was dough as far as he was concerned. No better cushion from life’s problems than a mountain of cash. If at all, real trouble had just skimmed the surface of Mercer’s life, its misery lasting as long as a tiny baby’s frown. And when his troubles were over, those little tears and that wrinkled brow melted away, leaving nothing behind. It took decades of worry for those frown lines to dig in. That’s what Mercer was, as far as he was concerned: a big, fat baby acting like he’s something special because he has money he didn’t earn. Having airs and looking down on people. He’d seen Mercer do it. He’d gotten that close. He’d worn his favorite disguise, but Mercer would have looked right through him anyway. He was one of the little people.   He smiled. Sometimes little people had big plans that could whip around and bite a guy like Mercer right in the ass.   He’d heard Mercer go on about a billboard company he’d bought into. “Outside advertising,” he’d called it, like that dressed it up or something. Guess it made Mercer feel like he had a real job. A well-placed billboard, Mercer had said, like the ones along the Sunset Strip, could earn fifty grand a month in rent. Billboards, for crying out loud. Who knew? Mercer’s partner had been having problems with the law for allegedly poisoning some expensive trees, city property, that were blocking his signs. Personally, he thought that was funnier than hell and had to hand it to the guy, if the story was true. Mercer had used unkind words when speaking of his business partner. Well, you gotta know who you’re getting in bed with, so to speak.   One thing’s for double damn sure, Mercer wouldn’...

Product details

• Authors: Dianne Emley
• Publisher: Ballantine
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 27.01.2009
• EAN: 9780345486202
• ISBN: 978-0-345-48620-2
• No. of pages: 400
• Dimensions: 108 mm x 178 mm x 26 mm
• Subject: Fiction > Suspense > Crime fiction, thrillers, espionage