FaceOff (46 page)

JAMES ROLLINS
is the
New York Times
best-selling author of international thrillers that are sold in over forty languages. His Sigma Force novels specialize in unveiling unseen worlds, scientific breakthroughs, and historical secrets. But Jim also pays it forward, having founded Authors United for Veterans, a group of best-selling writers dedicated to raising funds and awareness for USA Cares, a nonprofit organization that helps soldiers and their families. When Jim is not writing or touring, he can be found spelunking, scuba diving, or hiking. He shares his family with three golden retrievers, amid chew toys and a collection of paleontological treasures, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. To learn all sorts of things about him, visit
jamesrollins.com
.

M. J. ROSE
is the award-winning, internationally best-selling author of more than a dozen novels and three nonfiction books. The television series
Past Life
was based on her novels in the Reincarnationist series. Her 2013 novel,
Seduction,
was chosen Book of the Year by
Suspense Magazine.
In 1999, Rose broke ground when she used the Internet to self-publish an ebook and became the first author to be discovered online and picked up by a major publisher. She is currently copresident of ITW, and was one of the organization’s founding members. She’s also the founder of the first Internet marketing company for authors,
AuthorBuzz.com
, which remains one of the premier resources for writers. Before turning to fiction, Rose was a creative director at a top ad agency. She lives in Connecticut with a mysterious composer and their spoiled dog, Winka. Learn more about her at
mjrose.com
.

JOHN SANDFORD
is the pseudonym of John Camp. John was a reporter and an editor at the
Miami Herald,
and a reporter and columnist for the
St. Paul Pioneer Press.
He won the 1986 Pulitzer Prize in journalism. John is the author of thirty-one published novels, all of which have appeared on the
New York Times
best sellers lists. He is also the author of two nonfiction books, one on plastic surgery, the other art. His books have been translated into most every language around the world. He is also the principal financial backer of the Beth-Shean Valley Archaeological Project in the Jordan River Valley in Israel. In addition to archaeology, John is deeply interested in art and photography along with hunting, fishing, canoeing, and skiing. He lives in Sante Fe, New Mexico. To get to know him better, visit
johnsandford.org
.

R. L. STINE
is one of the best-selling children’s authors in history. He’s also one of the most widely published writers of all time.
His Goosebumps series for young people has sold over 300 million copies in the United States alone, and has become a publishing phenomenon in thirty-two languages around the world. His other popular children’s book series include Fear Street, Mostly Ghostly, The Nightmare Room, and Rotten School. His anthology television series,
R. L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour,
won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Children’s Series. In 2014, Bob marked the twenty-second anniversary of Goosebumps. Many of his original readers are now in their twenties and thirties and have enjoyed his adult novels, which include
Red Rain
and
Superstitious.
Bob lives in New York City with his wife, Jane, an editor and publisher. You can find out much more at
rlstine.com
.

F. PAUL WILSON
is the award-winning, best-selling author of fifty-plus books and nearly one hundred short stories spanning science fiction, horror, adventure, medical, and virtually everything in between. His novels regularly appear on the
New York Times
best sellers lists.
The Tomb
received the Porgie Award from the
West Coast Review of Books. Wheels Within Wheels
won the Prometheus Award. His novella,
Aftershock,
won a Bram Stoker Award. He was voted Grand Master by the World Horror Convention and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Horror Writers of America. Paul also received the prestigious San Diego Comi-Con Inkpot Award. In 1983, Paramount rendered his novel
The Keep
into a visually striking but (as Paul says) “otherwise incomprehensible movie.” Hollywood continues to toy with the idea of turning Repairman Jack into a franchise character. Over nine million copies of Paul’s books are in print and his work has been translated into twenty-four languages. Paul resides at the Jersey Shore and more information on him can be found at
repairmanjack.com
.

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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2014 by International Thriller Writers, Inc.

“Red Eye” Copyright © 2014 by Dennis Lehane and Michael Connelly

“In the Nick of Time” Copyright © 2014 by John Rebus Ltd. and Peter James/Really Scary Books Ltd.

“Gaslighted” Copyright © 2014 by R. L. Stine and Splendide Mendax, Inc., and Lincoln Child

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“Surfing the Panther” Copyright © 2014 by Paul Madriani, Inc., and Fairstein Enterprises, LLC

“Rhymes with Prey” Copyright © 2014 by Gunner Publications, LLC, and John Sandford

“Infernal Night” Copyright © 2014 by Heather Graham and F. Paul Wilson

“Pit Stop” Copyright © 2014 by Raymond Khoury and Linwood Barclay

“Silent Hunt” Copyright © 2014 by Lescroart Corporation and T. Jefferson Parker

“The Devil’s Bones” Copyright © 2014 by Steve Berry and James Czajkowski

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All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Simon & Schuster Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition June 2014

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Interior design by Ruth Lee-Mui

Jacket design by Jason Heuer

Jacket art by Mark Stutzman

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

FaceOff / edited by David Baldacci. — First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition.

  pages cm

 1. Suspense fiction, American. I. Baldacci, David, editor of compilation.

 PS648.S88F33 2014

 813’.087208—dc23      2013042082

ISBN 978-1-4767-6206-7

ISBN 978-1-4767-6208-1 (ebook)