Van Shaw

Former Army Ranger and thief Van Shaw is thrust into danger as lethal and unpredictable as the war he left behind in this emotionally powerful and gritty follow up to the acclaimed Past Crimes. When an old crony of Van Shaw's late grandfather calls in a favor, the recently-discharged Ranger embarks on a dangerous journey to the Olympic Mountains, in search of a missing girl tied to Van's own criminal past. What he finds instead is a brutal murder scene, including a victim from one of Seattle's most influential families. But the dead bodies are only the start of Van's troubles. A fellow Ranger from Afghanistan turns up at Van's doorstep, seeking support from his former sergeant even as Van wrestles with his own reemerging symptoms of PTSD. The murder investigation leads to heavy pressure, with a billionaire businessman on one side and vicious gangsters on the other, each willing to play dirty to get what they want. The price of his survival may be too high, demanding moral compromises that could destroy Van's relationship with his iron-willed girlfriend, Luce. And when a trusted friend's betrayal pushes him to the edge, Van has to enlist help from some unexpected places-including someone he believed was lost forever. The Ranger will need every ally he can get. A powerful, unseen player is about to unleash a firestorm on Seattle that will burn Van and his people to ashes-and it will take a miracle to stop it.

A favor for a dying ex-con turns into a violent battle against a mysterious enemy for Van Shaw in this emotionally powerful and gritty thriller from the award-winning author of Past Crimes and Hard Cold Winter. It sounds like a thief's dream to Van Shaw: A terminally ill ex-con tells him of an easy fortune in gold, abandoned and nearly forgotten after its original owner died in prison. For the dying man, the money is a legacy to ensure his preteen daughter's future. For Van, the gold is cash he desperately needs to rebuild his destroyed family home. The grandson of a career criminal who taught him all the tricks of his trade, Van suspects that nothing is ever that easy. Sure enough, the safe holding the fortune is a trap-set by a mysterious player armed with tremendous resources and a lifetime of hatred. Now, Shaw's partner is in the clutches of the hunters, and the former army ranger may be their next prey. But when the ex-con's innocent daughter is threatened too, Van's own hard childhood means he can't let her come to harm. To discover who has them in the cross hairs, Shaw must seek out the hunters' real prey. His quest leads him from an underground bare-knuckle fighting ring, which may be fronting a darker purpose, to a massive pop-culture convention, where Van and his allies, Hollis and Corcoran, play a dangerous game with foes on every side. It also introduces Van to a brash and beautiful aspiring journalist who poses a whole different kind of personal risk. For years, Van Shaw has tried to live every day above ground, on the right side of the law, even though crime is his gift . . . and in his blood. If he survives the coming storm, he'll have to decide what he wants-and whether he can live as an outlaw without sacrificing his honor.