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Authors: Shiloh Walker

Broken

BOOK: Broken
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Table of Contents
 
PRAISE FOR THE NOVELS OF SHILOH WALKER
FRAGILE
“An exciting character-driven romantic suspense thriller.”
—Midwest Book Review
 
 

Fragile
is about the delicate balance of vulnerability and strength that can be brought on by trauma. It’s about love in the face of insurmountable odds. And it’s about suspense, mystery, and terror . . . All in all, this is an excellently crafted mystery and romance!”
—Errant Dreams Reviews
 
 
“The suspense sneaks up on you like a good thriller should . . . One of the best contemporary romances I have read in an age.”
—A Romance Review
 
 
“A complex and intense story that addresses some very dark and disturbing issues . . . One of the most satisfying reads I’ve had in a while.”
—CK2S Kwips and Kritiques
 
“A fast-paced book that sizzles with suspense and sexual tension equally.”
—Night Owl Romance
 
“Walker is a master storyteller, and this book has everything you could possibly want in a suspenseful romance. I hope she writes more like this!”
—Manic Readers
 
“This book offers suspense, romance, and an ending that I can’t say anything about—because that would be a spoiler, yes? I recommend reading this one.”
—The Best Reviews
 
THE MISSING
 
“A page-turner from the very start. Intense and fast-paced, the action is gritty, the emotion heart-wrenching, and the characters lively. Sexy and romantic, this tale has plenty of action—of the erotic kind—and is loaded with suspense. No wonder Ms. Walker is loved by fans everywhere. This is a winner.”
—Fresh Fiction
 
“[A] romantic spine tingler . . . A sweet love story alternates with an exciting manhunt.”
—Publishers Weekly
 
“This is a great romantic suspense that grips the audience . . . Action packed.”
—Midwest Book Review
 
“Walker certainly has a future in paranormal and/or romantic suspense.”
—The Romance Reader
 
THROUGH THE VEIL
 
“[A] hold-on-to-your-seat tale of demons, hunky warriors, and witches served with a mix of love and betrayal. Fun! If you enjoy otherworldly, action-packed adventures with a hot and steamy romance, this is for you.”
—Fresh Fiction
 
“A good read . . . Walker obviously has an unmatched imagination.”
—Romance Reader at Heart
 
 
“Action, adventure, and romance abound . . . An engaging tale.”
—Romance Reviews Today
 
 
“A fabulous, action-packed romantic fantasy . . . Fans will believe that the world on the other side of the veil exists, which is key to this fine tale.”
—Midwest Book Review
 
HUNTER’S SALVATION
 
“One of the best tales in a series that always achieves high marks . . . An excellent thriller.”
—Midwest Book Review
 
HUNTERS: HEART AND SOUL
 
“Some of the best erotic romantic fantasies on the market. Walker’s world is vibrantly alive with this pair.”
—The Best Reviews
 
HUNTING THE HUNTER
 
“Action, sex, savvy writing, and characters with larger-than-life personalities that you will not soon forget are where Ms. Walker’s talents lie, and she delivered all that and more . . . This is a flawless five-rose paranormal novel, and one that every lover of things that go bump in the night will be howling about after they read it . . . Do not walk! Run to get your copy today!”
—A Romance Review
 
“An exhilarating romantic fantasy filled with suspense and . . . star-crossed love . . . Action packed.”
—Midwest Book Review
 
“Fast paced and very readable . . . Titillating.”
—The Romance Reader
 
 
“Action-packed, with intriguing characters and a very erotic punch,
Hunting the Hunter
had me from page one. Thoroughly enjoyable with a great hero and a story line you can sink your teeth into, this book is a winner. A very good read!”
—Fresh Fiction
Titles by Shiloh Walker
 
HUNTING THE HUNTER
HUNTERS: HEART AND SOUL
HUNTER’S SALVATION
THROUGH THE VEIL
HUNTER’S NEED
 
THE MISSING
FRAGILE
BROKEN
 
 
 
Anthologies
 
HOT SPELL
(with Emma Holly, Lora Leigh, and Meljean Brook)
 
 
PRIVATE PLACES
(with Robin Schone, Claudia Dain, and Allyson James)
THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia
(a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.)
Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi—110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand
(a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)
Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa
 
Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
 
This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.
 
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
 
Copyright © 2010 by Shiloh Walker, Inc.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions. BERKLEY
®
SENSATION and the “B” design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
 
PRINTING HISTORY
Berkley Sensation trade paperback edition / March 2010
 
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
 
Walker, Shiloh.
Broken/Shiloh Walker.
p. cm.
eISBN : 978-1-101-18573-5
1. Bounty hunters—Fiction. 2. Neighbors—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3623.A35958B76 2010
813’.6—dc22
2009044142
 
 

http://us.penguingroup.com

For Lora Leigh, who told me to get
Quinn’s story done before I even knew
he had one. You were right—the book
had been out no more than a week
when I started getting e-mails asking for
Quinn’s story.
 
For Renee, answering the million and
one questions about St. Louis.
 
For Traici Sexton, answering the million
and one questions about bailbond
enforcements and bounty hunting.
 
For Lauren Dane, for the chat sessions
when I was trying to plot this story out.
 
For my friend Susan . . . may brighter
days await you.
 
And for my kids and my husband. I love
you all so much. I thank God for you,
every day of my life.
ONE
M
AD.
Quinn could hear it in her voice: the old lady was mad.
Hell, screw mad. She was fucking pissed. Quinn swallowed the bitter taste bubbling up in his throat. It wasn’t a new thing, her being mad. She spent most of her life that way, or at least it sure seemed like that to him. At eleven years old, he couldn’t really think of a time when she
hadn’t
been mad over something.
Mad because she didn’t have the money to score some drugs.
Mad because she didn’t have the money to buy more booze.
Mad because the landlord wouldn’t take a blowjob in exchange for rent.
Mad because of Quinn—just because he existed.
Always mad about something.
Still, going by that shrill tone in her voice, he had a feeling it was worse than usual this time. He glanced around the dirty little apartment where they lived, calculating the distance to the door, wondering if he could get a window open without her hearing him.
Looking for escape, even though there wasn’t one.
It had all of three rooms, a main room where his mother slept on the couch, a kitchen that hadn’t ever been used, and a bathroom with a toilet that was permanently stained with urine and shit. He didn’t eat in that kitchen, and the only time he used the bathroom was when he had to piss or take a shower under the stingy showerhead.
When he could, he avoided even that. He’d rather sneak into a youth center and get a shower there. Sometimes he even pretended that he might stay, pretended that he could trust the adults there enough to think about staying.
He had found another nice youth center—he’d been going there for a while. It was clean, warm . . . safe. Not the nicest, but still. It was warm there. Warm, cleaner than anyplace he’d ever lived, the people who ran the joint didn’t yell at him . . . and they had books.
Quinn didn’t own a single book, but he loved to read.
He’d given up trying to keep any books for himself after what had happened the last time his mother had found his stash. She’d beaten him, but that hadn’t been the worst. She’d burned every book, right in front of him, tossing them into the sink and using her lighter to set the pages on fire.
All but one.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
. That book, she hadn’t burned. It had been a gift from a lady that worked at the Calumet Youth Center, a teen shelter run out of a church back in Indianapolis. It still had a card in it—Quinn had been using the card as a bookmark, unwilling to bend the pages of the book given to him by one of the ladies at the shelter.
BOOK: Broken
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