Cody McFadyen Book order (chronological)

Im Haus der Familie Wilton ist Schreckliches geschehen: Die gesamte fünfköpfige Familie wurde ermordet, und der Täter hat durch eine mit Blut geschriebene Botschaft Smoky Barrett mit der Lösung des Falles beauftragt. Doch die Wiltons sind nicht die einzigen Opfer. Insgesamt drei Familien wurden in derselben Nacht und in unmittelbarer Nähe voneinander getötet. „Komm und lerne“, lautet die Botschaft an Smoky. Es wird für sie ein grausamer Lernprozess, das Böse in seiner reinsten Form und in seiner tiefsten Abgründigkeit zu spüren.

A young woman is murdered in her Oslo flat. One finger has been severed from her left hand, and behind her eyelid is secreted a tiny red diamond in the shape of a five-pointed star - a pentagram, the devil's star. Detective Harry Hole is assigned to the case with his long-time adversary Tom Waaler and initially wants no part in it. But Harry is already on notice to quit the force and is left with little alternative but to drag himself out of his alcoholic stupor and get to work. A wave of similar murders is on the horizon. An emerging pattern suggests that Oslo has a serial killer on its hands, and the five-pointed devil's star is key to solving the riddle.

David lebt mit zwei anderen Kindern bei einem Mann, den sie Vater nennen. Der Mann hält sie gefangen und stellt ihnen unmögliche Prüfungen, an denen sie wachsen sollen - „evolvieren“, wie er sagt. Wenn sie versagen, wird Vater sehr böse. Oft benutzt er einen Gürtel, manchmal eine Zigarette. Den Kinder bleibt keine Wahl: Wenn sie überleben wollen, müssen sie Vater töten. Zwanzig Jahre später. David ist ein erfolgreicher Autor. Doch noch immer träumt er jede Nacht von dem schrecklichen Mord, den sie begangen haben. Eines Tages erhält er einen Brief mit einem einzigen Wort: Evolviere. Vater ist vielleicht doch nicht tot. Die Vergangenheit kehrt zurück. Und mit ihr eine schreckliche Wahrheit.

In the fourth heart-stopping thriller from this supremely gifted storyteller ("Booklist"), FBI agent Smoky Barrett is chasing a serial killer who's in it for the money--and the ultimate price may be Barrett's life.

Smoky Barrett conosce bene la morte. L'ha vista in faccia molte, troppe volte. E il suo lavoro, all'FBI, dove dà la caccia ai serial killer più spietati. Studia il loro modo di ragionare, li insegue, li stana. Non ha paura di scavare nell'oscurità, neppure dopo che quella stessa oscurità ha inghiottito anche lei, rubandole il marito e la figlia, brutalmente uccisi da uno psicopatico. Anche Sarah conosce bene la morte. Ha solo sedici anni, eppure nei suoi occhi non c'è più luce. Fin dal giorno del suo sesto compleanno, quando lui, lo Straniero, è apparso per la prima volta sulla soglia di casa. Da allora quell'uomo e il suo viso nascosto dietro a un collant non l'hanno più lasciata. Lo Straniero trae il suo godimento dal dolore di Sarah e uccide tutti quelli che lei ama. Prima si è portato via la sua famiglia, poi la stessa sorte è toccata a chiunque abbia cercato di aiutarla. Morte dopo morte, finché lei è rimasta sola. Sarah ha solo una speranza per uscire da questo incubo: Smoky. Perché Smoky sa guardare nel buio. E dare un volto alla morte.

A lie, a long-ago affair, a dark desire—everyone has secrets they take to the grave. No one knows that better than FBI special agent Smoky Barrett. But what secret was a very private young woman keeping that led to her very public murder? That’s the question Smoky and her handpicked team of experienced manhunters are summoned to answer by the FBI director himself. As a mother, Smoky knows the pain of losing a child. As a cop with her own twisted past, she takes every murder personally. Brilliant, merciless, righteous, the killer Smoky is hunting this time is on his own personal mission. For in his eyes no one is innocent; everyone harbors a secret sin. Soon Smoky will have to face the secret she’s carefully hidden even from her own team—and confront a relentless killer who knows her flaws with murderous intimacy.

A young woman loses her family, her friends, almost anyone who has ever even done her a kindness to a maniacal serial killer. It's as if every trace of human contact is being wiped out of her life. Her terrifying case is handed to a woman who has had so much of her own happiness snatched away from her: Smoky Barrett, the extraordinary heroine of Mcfadyen's stunning debut SHADOW MAN. Now caring for her murdered friend's mute daughter, Smoky must decide whether or not she can rise to one more fiendish challenge...

"The girl is sixteen, at the scene of a grisly triple homicide, and has a gun to her head. She claims "The Stranger" killed her adoptive family, that he's been following her all her life, killing everyone she ever loved, and that no one believes her. No one has. Until now." "Special Agent Smoky Barrett is head of the violent crimes unit in Los Angeles, the part of the FBI reserved for tracking down the worst of the worst. Her team has been handpicked from among the nation's elite law enforcement specialists and they are as obsessed and relentless as the psychos they hunt; they'll have to be to deal with this case." "For another vicious double homicide reveals a killer embarked on a dark crusade of trauma and death: an "artist" who's molding sixteen-year-old Sarah into the perfect victim - and the ultimate weapon. But Smoky Barrett has another, more personal reason for catching The Stranger - an adopted daughter and a new life that are worth protecting at any cost." "This time Smoky is going to have to put it all on the line. Because The Stranger is all too real, all too close, and all too relentless. And when he finally shows his face, if she's not ready to confront her worst fear, Smoky won't have time to do anything but die."--Provided by publisher