INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER For the second time in his short life, fourteen-year-old Teddy Clock has survived a massacre. Orphaned once more when his foster family is murdered, the traumatized teenager has nowhere to turn—until the Boston PD puts Detective Jane Rizzoli on the case. Jane spirits Teddy to the exclusive Evensong boarding school, a sanctuary where young victims of violent crime learn vital skills of survival. But even behind locked gates, Jane fears that Evensong’s benefactors aren’t the only ones watching. And when she learns of two other students whose pasts bear a shocking resemblance to Teddy’s, it becomes chillingly clear that a circling predator has more than one victim in mind. Joining forces with medical examiner Maura Isles, Jane races to stop an obsessed killer’s twisted quest—before an unspeakable secret dooms the children’s fate. Don’t miss Tess Gerritsen’s short story “John Doe,” and a sneak peek of her novel, Girl Missing, in the back of the book. “One of the most versatile voices in thriller fiction today.”—The Providence Journal “[Tess] Gerritsen has a knack for creating great characters and mysterious plots that seem straightforward but also dazzle with complexity and twists.”—Associated Press “An exciting and puzzling mystery . . . [Last to Die] is a key book in a series that keeps getting better and better.”—Bookreporter “Gerritsen skillfully heightens the tension right up to the suspenseful ending.”—Booklist

Inspiring and sometimes tragic personal stories of five Amerasian children left behind after the Vietnam War

Modern liberty was forged as a conspiracy in the Renaissance, heated by the twin fires of Jihad and Inquisition. The Last Byzantine is a first-hand look at this time when Greek wisdom and Roman values had to be salvaged from the wreckage of Old World theocracy. In a lifelong quest for Truth, John Palaeologus has discovered the centuries-long religious war of the End Times is a colossal mistake of secrets forgotten and common doctrine twisted over time. Unfortunately, his audience couldn't be less sympathetic. He has been captured by the Spanish Inquisition. In the 40 days he has to confess his sins, the rightful heir of Byzantium writes an autobiography of love, conspiracy and adventure spanning the Mediterranean. John's target for persuasion is the next Grand Inquisitor. His hope is to pass the baton of civilization to the heirs of Rome along with a prophecy of what is yet to come. This King Arthur story begins in the village of Mystras, where the boy as an orphan witnesses mysteries from Rome's ancient past. He moves to Constantinople with the court, only to find that city headed toward its greatest catastrophe in a thousand years. Just before the fall of the city in 1453, the boy learns the truth about his family. Captured as a slave, he comes of age as a janissary, exploring love and spirituality and getting to know his enemies. John spends the rest of his life as a Renaissance man on a mission -- to revive the culture of Wisdom and Freedom. The Last Byzantine is a novel; it's a prophecy; and it's a book of wisdom from the ancients for a New Age. Incidents from throughout this 15th century life highlight the difficulty of living up to one's ideals, of finding and hanging onto love, and how good and evil are rarely kept apart on this side of the Styx. The book explores the birth of the modern world from the ashes of the old. This is the book that had to be written after 9/11 and before 2012. The author says his inspiration came from living through the attack on the Pentagon and asking, "So why all the hate and how do we get over it?" His journey led him to create a character who could walk through the ideological minefield and come out the other side understanding ideas that connect East and West. The result is inspirational fiction with something for every student of history, religion, the occult and prophecy.