After his wife, Helen, is brazenly abducted before his eyes, Special Agent Pendergast furiously pursues the kidnappers, chasing them across the country and into Mexico. But then, things go terribly, tragically wrong; the kidnappers escape; and a shattered Pendergast retreats to his New York apartment and shuts out the world. But when a string of bizarre murders erupts across several Manhattan hotels-perpetrated by a boy who seems to have an almost psychic ability to elude capture-NYPD Lieutenant D'Agosta asks his friend Pendergast for help. Reluctant at first, Pendergast soon discovers that the killings are a message from his wife's kidnappers. But why a message? And what does it mean? When the kidnappers strike again at those closest to Pendergast, the FBI agent, filled anew with vengeful fury, sets out to track down and destroy those responsible. His journey takes him deep into the trackless forests of South America, where he ultimately finds himself face to face with an old evil that-rather than having been eradicated-is stirring anew... and with potentially world-altering consequences. Confucius once said: "Before you embark on a journey of revenge, first dig two graves." Pendergast is about to learn the hard way just how true those words still ring.

“Because you love me no matter how much you hate me.” Seven years ago, Cole Flores was betrayed by the man he loved, and his very soul was left charred. He vowed that day that he would find Ned O’Leary and kill him, even if it was the last thing he did. But Ned disappeared, and life went on. Despite the flame of hate burning deep inside him, Cole’s hope to find Ned had dimmed. At least it left behind a lesson to never trust, never love, and never attach himself anywhere. That was the only way for a wanted man to stay off the noose in a world filled with liars and cheats. Just when Cole stops looking for Ned though, he finds the deceptive bastard, and life turns on its head again. Their reunion goes nothing as planned, and unanswered questions rise to the surface, poisoning Cole’s mind with lust and longing that have never gone away. Ned O’Leary is a traitor. Ned O’Leary is a scumbag. Ned O’Leary is everything Cole Flores craves. Torn between love and revenge, lust and sanity, Cole has to find out if the bruised and battered heart of an outlaw can ever trust again, or if he’s bound to fulfill his promise and be Ned O’Leary’s doom. * Dark, dangerous, yet desperately romantic, “The Man Who Hated Ned O’Leary” is a gritty western M/M romance novel and book 2 in the “Dig Two Graves” duology. Prepare for violence, emotional turmoil, and scorching hot, explicit scenes, as well as a Happy Ever After earned with blood, sweat, and tears. POSSIBLE SPOILERS: Themes: Enemies-to-lovers, second chances, revenge, outlaws and cowboys, crime, secrets, loyalty, betrayal, Old West, survival, angst, survivor’s guilt, snowed in Length: ~125,000 words (Book 2 in a duology) WARNING: This story contains scenes of violence, offensive language and morally ambiguous characters as well as sensitive topics of child abuse and suicide

Now, available for the first time together in a single volume: a digital-only, value-priced omnibus edition of the Helen Trilogy: Fever Dream, Cold Vengeance, and Two Graves-featuring Special Agent Pendergast--by #1 New York Times bestselling authors Preston & Child. FEVER DREAM:Yesterday, Special Agent Pendergast still mourned the loss of his beloved wife, Helen, who died in a tragic accident in Africa twelve years ago. Today, he discovers she was murdered. Tomorrow, he will learn her most guarded secrets, leaving him to wonder: Who was the woman I married? Why was she murdered? And, above all . . . Who murdered her?Revenge is not sweet: It is essential. COLD VENGEANCE:Devastated by the discovery that his wife, Helen, was murdered, Special Agent Pendergast must have retribution. But revenge is not simple. As he stalks his wife's betrayers--a chase that takes him from the wild moors of Scotland to the bustling streets of New York City and the darkest bayous of Louisiana--he is also forced to dig further into Helen's past. And he is stunned to learn that Helen may have been a collaborator in her own murder. Peeling back the layers of deception, Pendergast realizes that the conspiracy is deeper, goes back generations, and is more monstrous than he could have ever imagined--and everything he's believed, everything he's trusted, everything he's understood . . . may be a horrific lie.Nothing is what it seems. TWO GRAVES:For twelve years, he believed she'd died in an accident. Then, he was told she'd been murdered. Now, FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast discovers that his beloved wife, Helen, is alive. And Pendergast must embark on a furious cross-country chase to rescue her. But all this turns out to be mere prologue to a far larger plot: one that unleashes a chillingly--almost supernaturally--adept serial killer on New York City. His pursuit of the murderer will take Pendergast deep into the trackless forests of South America, to a hidden place where the evil that has blighted both his and Helen's lives lies in wait . . . a place where he will learn all too well the truth of the ancient proverb:Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.

You want revenge? Dig two graves. Ten years ago, a vicious gang called the Gotham Boys descended on a homestead in the mountains like a pack of wolves, leaving nothing behind but death and destruction. Ned O’Leary was the only one to survive the ordeal. He lost hope for revenge long ago, but its flame erupts in his heart when the gang is spotted again. By a stroke of luck, he is recruited to infiltrate the Gotham Boys and bring them all to justice. Ripped out of his wholesome life on a ranch, he has to find his footing with a band of ruthless outlaws who challenge his morals every step of the way But the one who tests him most of all is Cole Flores. Deadly, full of himself and unpredictable, the gang leader’s adopted son should be a man easy to hate, but instead, he sparks illicit desires Ned has never felt before. Cole Flores is forbidden. Cole Flores is corruption. Cole Flores is everything Ned O’Leary craves. Torn between love and revenge, lust and loyalty, Ned has to face impossible choices that are bound to leave scars, no matter how hard he tries to do the right thing. * “I don’t know what this means, or how to do this with you,” he whispered as his heart broke into a gallop. “But I want to. I need to.” Dark, dangerous, yet desperately romantic, “The Man Who Loved Cole Flores” is a gritty western M/M romance novel. Prepare for violence, emotional turmoil, and scorching hot, explicit scenes, as well as a heart-pounding cliffhanger to book 1. The epic love story of Ned O’Leary and Cole Flores gets its HEA in book 2 - “The Man Who Hated Ned O’Leary”. POSSIBLE SPOILERS: Themes: Enemies-to-lovers, first love, revenge, undercover, friends-to-lovers, forbidden romance, outlaws and cowboys, crime, gang, secrets, loyalty, betrayal, period-typical homophobia, Old West, survival, corruption of the innocent, self-discovery, opposites attract Length: ~155,000 words (Book 1 in a duology) WARNING: This story contains scenes of violence, offensive language and morally ambiguous characters as well as sensitive topics of child abuse and suicide

In the 1950s, a series of dams was proposed along the Brazos River in north-central Texas. For John Graves, this project meant that if the stream’s regimen was thus changed, the beautiful and sometimes brutal surrounding countryside would also change, as would the lives of the people whose rugged ancestors had eked out an existence there. Graves therefore decided to visit that stretch of the river, which he had known intimately as a youth. Goodbye to a River is his account of that farewell canoe voyage. As he braves rapids and fatigue and the fickle autumn weather, he muses upon old blood feuds of the region and violent skirmishes with native tribes, and retells wild stories of courage and cowardice and deceit that shaped both the river’s people and the land during frontier times and later. Nearly half a century after its initial publication, Goodbye to a River is a true American classic, a vivid narrative about an exciting journey and a powerful tribute to a vanishing way of life and its ever-changing natural environment.

Returning to her hometown of Catawissa, Pennsylvania, in 1867 to marry a man she has never met, seventeen-year-old Verity Boone gets caught up in the a mystery surrounding the graves of her mother and aunt and a dangerous hunt for Revolutionary-era gold.

In his gripping and provocative debut, anthropologist Jason De León sheds light on one of the most pressing political issues of our time—the human consequences of US immigration policy. The Land of Open Graves reveals the suffering and deaths that occur daily in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona as thousands of undocumented migrants attempt to cross the border from Mexico into the United States. Drawing on the four major fields of anthropology, De León uses an innovative combination of ethnography, archaeology, linguistics, and forensic science to produce a scathing critique of “Prevention through Deterrence,” the federal border enforcement policy that encourages migrants to cross in areas characterized by extreme environmental conditions and high risk of death. For two decades, this policy has failed to deter border crossers while successfully turning the rugged terrain of southern Arizona into a killing field. In harrowing detail, De León chronicles the journeys of people who have made dozens of attempts to cross the border and uncovers the stories of the objects and bodies left behind in the desert. The Land of Open Graves will spark debate and controversy.