Side by Side
Authors: John Ramsey Miller
Tags: #Kidnapping, #Fiction, #Massey, #Suspense, #Thrillers, #Winter (Fictitious Character), #United States marshals, #Suspense Fiction
For Susan
Praise for the novels of John Ramsey Miller
Inside Out
“John Ramsey Miller’s
Inside Out
needs to come with a warning label. To start the story is to put the rest of your life on hold as you obsessively turn one page after the other. With a story this taut, and characters this vivid, there’s no putting the book down before you’ve consumed the final word. A thrilling read.”
—John Gilstrap
“
Inside Out
is a great read! . . . As many twists and turns as running serpentine through a field of fire and keeps us turning pages as fast as a Blackhawk helicopter’s rotors! Set aside an uninterrupted day for this one; you won’t want to put it down.”
—Jeffery Deaver
“[Full of] complications and surprises . . . Miller gifts [his characters] with an illuminating idiosyncrasy. This gives us great hope for future books as well as delight in this one.”
—
Drood Review of Mystery
“Twists and turns on every page keep you in phenomenal suspense until the last page. Superb novel.”
—
Rendezvous
The Last Family
“Keeping a jaded reviewer up all night turning pages is no easy trick. But first-novelist Miller has done it with vivid characterizations and clever twists in this relentless thriller. . . . One word of advice: read
The Last Family
only when you can sleep in the next morning.”
—
People
“From page 1 you’ll be caught in this gripping, taut thriller about a former Drug Enforcement Agency operative who is as strong a villain as we’ve read since Hannibal Lecter. There isn’t a boring page. . . . Five stars.”
—
USA Today
“An attention-grabbing thriller that likely will find a home in Hollywood. The briskly paced page-turner pits former DEA superagents against each other in a taut dance of death and revenge.”
—
Chicago Tribune
“This is a right fine debut thriller based on a great idea.”
—
New York Daily News
“Fast-paced, original, and utterly terrifying . . . I lost sleep reading the novel, and then lost even more sleep thinking about it. Martin Fletcher is the most vividly drawn, most resourceful, most horrifying killer I have encountered. Hannibal Lecter, eat your heart out.”
—Michael Palmer
“The best suspense novel I’ve read in years!”
—Jack Olsen
“Martin Fletcher is one of the most unspeakably evil characters in recent fiction. . . . A compelling read.”
—
Booklist
“The author writes with a tough authority and knows how to generate suspense.”
—
Kirkus Reviews
“Suspenseful . . . Keeps the reader guessing with unexpected twists.”
—
Publishers Weekly
“Miller has written a splendid thriller and keeps the reader enthralled.”
—
Southland Times
(New Zealand)
“
The Last Family
is a good non-stop thriller that is easily consumed in a single, satisfying gulp.”
—
Canberra Times
(Australia)
“A spring beach read if ever there was one.”
—
Courier Mail
(Queensland, Australia)
“In an amazing and rewarding first novel, John Ramsey Miller has crafted a terrifying tale of double crosses, coldly calculated gambles with the lives of innocents and their carefully planned executions.”
—
Roanoke Times & World News
“Miller’s first novel is an ambitious tale . . . the constant action and twists and turns of the deceptive plot make this a violently entertaining read.”
—
Toronto Star
“In a book where so many characters are prepared to die to achieve their ends, readers will be kept on the edge of their seats wondering which ones will.”
—
Ottawa Citizen
“Miller’s fast-paced writing and his behind-the-scene look at one of the nation’s toughest federal law enforcement agencies deliver suspense fiction in overdrive.”
—
Memphis Commercial Appeal
“Miller provides enough action for any Steven Seagal movie. . . . You savvy thriller readers who make a practice of second-guessing the author will have your work cut out for you. Some of Miller’s plot twists look like a long, easy pop fly coming at you in center field, only to dart around and pop you in the back of the head.”
—
Charlotte Observer
Acknowledgments
This book is also dedicated to all of the brave men and women of the United States Armed Forces who, working as a unit, make freedom for us all a reality.
Thanks to the usual suspects; my friends and family inclusive.
My editor, Kate Miciak; my agent, Anne Hawkins; and my readers and friends (some of whom are in picture form on my website).
Just before I started this book, my wife Susan was diagnosed with breast cancer. A year after the initial diagnosis, she had undergone two surgeries, twenty-four weeks of chemotherapy and intensive radiation therapy, as well as reconstruction surgery. She never doubted she would get to the other side of it, thanks to the professionals we drew. I wasn’t much help, though I offered what moral support I could. On chemo days I would set up my laptop on a rolling tray and hack at the weeds while Susie absorbed whatever cocktail they had prepared. Thanks to the efforts of a lot of people, Susan is now cancer-free.
So I want to express my heartfelt thanks to all of the doctors and the staff at Northeast Medical Center’s George A. Batte Cancer Center in Concord, N.C., who saved my dear Susan. Thank you, surgeon Richard Ozment, oncologist Thomas A. Steffens, reconstructive surgeon David Klein, and the ever-smiling oncology study nurse Rebecca Lyon Witkowski, who acted as our interpreter throughout. Also thanks to the dear Dr. Wanda Crowley, our glorious cheerleader GP.
Also to Jill and all of the wonderful friends Susan works with at Wachovia, who made sure she didn’t stay at work when she felt bad, and to our friends and neighbors who sewed by hand (and secret) a friendship quilt for Susan.