About the Authors
F. Paul Wilson is the New York Times bestselling author of horror, adventure, medical thrillers, science fiction, and virtually everything in between. He is perhaps best known for the Repairman Jack series, which includes Ground Zero, The Tomb, and Fatal Error. He is also the author of the Adversary cycle, including The Keep, and a young adult series featuring the teenage Jack. Wilson has won the Prometheus Award, the Bram Stoker Award, the Inkpot Award from the San Diego Comic-Con, and the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Horror Writers of America, among other honors. He lives in Wall, New Jersey.
John Sandford is the pseudonym for the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist John Camp. He is the author of more than thirty Prey novels, as well as novels in the Kidd series and the Virgil Flowers series, among other books.
James Rollins is the New York Times bestselling author of international thrillers that have been translated into more than forty languages. Known for unveiling unseen worlds, scientific breakthroughs, and historical secrets, he has a knack for breakneck pacing and stunning originality that has been hailed by critics and embraced by millions of readers around the world.
Lee Child is one of the world’s leading thriller writers. His books consistently achieve the number-one slot on bestseller lists around the world and have sold over one hundred million copies. It is said one of his novels featuring his hero Jack Reacher is sold somewhere in the world every nine seconds. Two blockbusting Jack Reacher movies have been made so far, based on his novels. He is the recipient of many awards, including the CWA’s Diamond Dagger for a writer of an outstanding body of crime fiction, the International Thriller Writers’ ThrillerMaster, and the Theakstons Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award. He was born in England and now lives in New York.
Douglas Preston, a regular contributor to the New Yorker, worked for the American Museum of Natural History. He is an expert horseman who has ridden thousands of miles across the West. He and author Lincoln Child have cowritten numerous bestselling thrillers.
Lincoln Child is the New York Times bestselling author of The Forgotten Room, The Third Date, Terminal Freeze, Deep Storm, Death Match, and Utopia, as well as coauthor, with Douglas Preston, of numerous New York Times bestsellers, including Fever Dream.
HEATHER GRAHAM, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, has written over two hundred novels and novellas in numerous genres and has been published in approximately twenty-five languages. She has been honored with awards from booksellers and writers’ organizations for excellence in her work, is a proud recipient of the Silver Bullet from Thriller Writers, and was awarded the prestigious Thriller Master in 2016. She is also a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Romance Writers of America. Heather’s books have been featured in such publications as The Nation, Redbook, Mystery Book Club, People, and USA Today and appeared on many newscasts including Today, Entertainment Tonight, and local television. Married since high school graduation and the mother of five, her greatest love in life remains her family, but she is grateful every day to be doing something that she loves so very much for a living.
John Lescroart
is the author of numerous crime thrillers, including the Dismas Hardy series, of which several novels were New York Times bestsellers.
His novel Dead Irish was a finalist for the Shamus Award, just one of many awards he has received for his fiction.
Joseph Finder is the author of numerous New York Times bestselling novels, including. His novel Killer Instinct won the International Thriller Writers’s Thriller Award for Best Novel of 2006. Other bestselling titles include Paranoia and High Crimes, both of which became major motion pictures. Born in Chicago, he studied Russian at Yale and Harvard. He was recruited by the CIA, but decided he preferred writing fiction. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Jeffery Deaver is the New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty novels, three collections of short stories, and a nonfiction law book. His books are sold in 150 countries and translated into twenty-five languages. His novels have won the Nero Wolfe Award, three Ellery Queen Readers’ Awards, a British Thumping Good Read Award, and the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger and Short Story Dagger awards from the British Crime Writers’ Association. A former journalist, folksinger, and attorney, he was born outside of Chicago and has a bachelor of journalism degree from the University of Missouri and a law degree from Fordham University.
Linda Fairstein is an author of crime fiction.
R. L. Stine has more than 400 million English-language books in print, plus international editions in thirty-two languages, making him one of the most popular children’s authors of all time. Besides Goosebumps, he has written series including Fear Street, Rotten School, Mostly Ghostly, the Nightmare Room, Dangerous Girls, and Just Beyond. Stine lives in New York City with his wife, Jane, an editor and publisher.
Ian Rankin is an award-winning crime writer best known for his Inspector Rebus novels, including the New York Times bestsellers Rather Be the Devil and Even Dogs in the Wild. He is a winner of the Edgar Award and the Crime Writers of America’s Gold Dagger Award, among others, and was the recipient of a Raymond Chandler Fulbright Fellowship.
Linwood Barclay is the author of more than twenty novels and two thrillers for children. His books have been translated into more than two dozen languages. He wrote the screenplay adaptation for his novel Never Saw it Coming, and his book The Accident has been made into a television series in France. His novel No Time for Goodbye was a global bestseller.
Peter James is the international bestselling author of the Roy Grace series with more than thirteen million copies sold all over the world. His novels have been translated into thirty-four languages and three have been filmed. All his novels reflect his deep interest in the world of the police, with whom he does in-depth research. He lives in England.
T. Jefferson Parker is the author of numerous novels and short stories, the winner of three Edgar Awards, and the recipient of a Los Angeles Times Book Prize for best mystery. Before becoming a full-time novelist, he was an award-winning reporter.
Steve Berry is the New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author of seventeen Cotton Malone and four stand-alone novels, among other books and works of short fiction. He has twenty-five million books in print, translated into forty languages. He is an emeritus member of the Smithsonian Libraries Advisory Board and a founding member of International Thriller Writers. With his wife, Elizabeth, he is the founder of History Matters, which is dedicated to historical preservation.
Dennis Lehane is the author of numerous novels, including several New York Times bestsellers, as well as a collection of short stories and a play. Mystic River was a finalist for the PEN/Winship Award, and it won the Anthony Award, the Barry Award for Best Novel, and the Massachusetts Book Award in Fiction, given by the Massachusetts Center for the Book.
Steve Martini was born in San Francisco and grew up in Southern California. An honors graduate of the University of California at Santa Cruz, he worked as a newspaper reporter in Los Angeles and as a correspondent at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, specializing in legal issues. After obtaining his law degree, he appeared in state and federal courts; he also served as special counsel to the California Victims of Violent Crime Program. His first novel, Compelling Evidence, was published in 1992 and became a bestseller. He has gone on to write a number of other books, including The Trader of Secrets, Guardian of Lies, The List, The Judge, and Prime Witness, among others. He currently resides in the Pacific Northwest.
Michael Connelly, author of suspense thriller and detective mysteries, was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America in 2023. He has written several #1 New York Times bestsellers and numerous titles that made the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists. He has won most every award given in the mystery and thriller genres, including the Anthony Award for Best Novel and the Barry Award for Best Novel. He is a former newspaper reporter who also won numerous awards for his journalism.
Lisa Gardner is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-one suspense novels, including The Neighbor, which won Thriller of the Year from the International Thriller Writers.
Raymond Khoury is the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Templar, The Sanctuary, The Sign, The Templar Salvation, and The Devil’s Elixir. Also an acclaimed screenwriter and producer, he lives in London with his family.
M. J. Rose is the USA Today bestselling author of more than a dozen novels. Her novels have been named RT Books Reviews’ Best Historical Fiction and People magazine top picks. The Fox TV series, Past Lives, was based on her novel The Reincarnationist. She is a founding member of International Thriller Writers and the founder of the first marketing company for authors, AuthorBuzz.com.
Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1848) transformed the American literary landscape with his innovations in the short story genre and his haunting lyrical poetry, and he is credited with inventing American gothic horror and detective fiction. He was first published in 1827 and then began a career as a magazine writer and editor and a sharp literary critic. In 1845 the publication of his most famous poem, “The Raven,” brought him national fame.
David Baldacci is one of the world’s favorite storytellers and a global bestselling author, with twenty-one of his novels making the #1 spot on the New York Times bestsellers list. In 2011 he was inducted into the International Crime Writing Hall of Fame. His books are published in over forty-five languages and in more than eighty countries, with 150 million copies sold worldwide. His works have been adapted for both feature film and television. He is also the cofounder, along with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across America.
About the Narrators
Daniel Gerroll is an award-winning British actor who has many Broadway productions to his credit. He studied law and philosophy at Nottingham University and trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London and has won an Obie Award for sustained excellence in theater. He has also won five AudioFile Earphones Awards.
Dennis Boutsikaris is a two-time OBIE award winner. He has received five Audie Awards and seven Golden Earphone Awards for his work in over 100 audiobooks and was voted one of the Best Voices of the Year by AudioFile magazine. He has appeared in numerous Broadway, television, and film roles. He played Mozart on Broadway in Amadeus and has appeared on television shows including Shameless, The Good Wife, House M.D., Grey’s Anatomy, ER, and Law & Order.
Dylan Baker is an American stage, screen, and television actor. He attended Georgetown Prep and William and Mary College before earning his BFA at Southern Methodist University, where his passion for acting was ignited with numerous stage roles. Later refining his talents at Yale’s School of Drama, Baker turned professional with big screen roles in movies like Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Delirious, and Love Potion No. 9. His audiobook narration has won him eleven AudioFile Earphones Awards.
January LaVoy, winner of numerous awards for narration, was named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine in 2019. She is an American actress best known for her character Noelle Ortiz on the ABC daytime drama One Life to Live. In addition to working extensively in narration and television, including roles on Law & Order and All My Children, she has worked on and off Broadway as well as in regional theater.
Jeremy Bobb is an Earphones Award–winning narrator and an accomplished actor whose film credits include The Knick, Godless, Mosaic, and The Wolf of Wall Street. He has performed in numerous Broadway and Off-Broadway plays, including Is He Dead? and Cactus Flower.
Dan Bittner is an actor and voice talent and winner of several AudioFile Earphones Awards for audio narration. He has starred on stage and on the screen, in movies such as Men in Black, Adventureland, and the Producers: The Movie Musical. He has also appeared onstage as Macbeth and Sherlock Holmes in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.