1992. Eight respectable, upstanding people have been found dead across the US. These deaths look like accidents and don't appear to be connected.
Until one body, the victim of a fatal fall from a hospital window, generates some unexpected attention. That attention comes from the Secretary of Defense, who promptly calls for an interagency task force to investigate. Jack Reacher is assigned as the Army's representative.
Reacher may be an exceptional soldier, but sweeping other people's secrets under the carpet isn't part of his skill set. As he races to discover the link between these victims, and who killed them, he must navigate around the ulterior motives of his new 'partners'.
And all while moving into the sight line of some of the most dangerous people he has ever encountered. His mission is to uncover the truth.
The question is: will Reacher bring the bad guys to justice the official way ... or his way? Find out in The Secret a Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child and Andrew Child.
Driven by a compulsion that challenges his self-control, the man calling himself Charles Milton prowls the rodeo circuit, hunting young women. He chooses those he believes are the most vulnerable, wandering alone and distracted, before he strikes.
Foryears,hehasbeenmeticulous in his methods, abducting, murdering, and disposing of his victims while leaving no evidence of his crimes or their identities behind.
Indigenous women have become his target of choice, knowing law enforcement's history of ignoring their disappearances. A cold case has just been assigned to Dan Pardee, a field officer with the newly formed Missing and Murdered Indigenous People's Task Force.
Rosa Rios, a young woman of Apache descent and one-time rodeo star, vanished three years ago.Humanremains,ahomicide victim burned beyond recognition, were discovered in Cochise County around the time she went missing.
They have finally been confirmed to be Rosa. With Sheriff Joanna Brady's help, Dan is determined to reopen the case and bring long-awaited justice to Rosa's family.
As the orphaned son of a murdered indigenous woman, he feels an even greater, personal obligation to capture this killer. Joanna's daughter Jennifer is also taking a personal interest in this case, having known Rosa from her own amateur rodeo days.
Now a criminal justice major, she's unofficially joining the investigation. And as it becomes clear that Rosa was just one victim of a serial killer, both Jennifer and Dan know they're running out of time to catch an elusive predator who's proven capable of getting away with murder.
Federal investigator Dan Pardee, Brandon Walker's sonin- law, crosses paths with Sheriff JoannaBradyashetracesthe bloody path of a merciless serial killer across the Southwest in Blessing of the Lost Girl s by J. A. Jance.
Joan Sample is not living the life she expected. Now a widow and an empty-nester, she has become by her own admission something of a recluse. But after another birthday spent alone, she is finally inclined to listen to her sister, who has been begging Joan to reengage with the world.
With her support, Joan gathers the courage to take some long-awaited steps: hiring someone to tame her overgrown garden, joining a grief support group, and even renting out a room to a local college student. Before long Joan is starting to feel a little like herself again.
Across town, Maggie Herbert works mornings as a barista, tending to impatient customers before rushing to afternoon nursing classes. She's been living with her alcoholic father, ducking his temperamental outbursts and struggling to pay the household bills.
Buthercircumstancesbrighten when she finds a room for rent in Joan's home. In the unexpected warmth of her new situation, Maggie finds a glimmer of hope for a better life.
But will Maggie's budding attraction to one of her favorite customers ruin the harmony she's only recently found with Joan? Meanwhile, what is Joan to make of the mysterious landscaper who's been revitalizing her garden-a man who seems to harbor a past loss of his own?
As Maggie and Joan confront unfamiliar life choices, they find themselves leaning on each other in surprising ways, discovering in the process that 'family' is often just another word for love in all its forms'.
Two women at different stages of life find themselves on a journey of renewal after undergoing hardships in Must Love Flowers by author Debbie Macomber.