The Kill Room (40 page)

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Authors: Jeffery Deaver

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BOOK: The Kill Room
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Readers wishing to experience Jacob Swann’s skills firsthand—culinary, not homicidal—can find a link to recipes for the dishes mentioned in this book, many of them my own variations on classics, at my website: www.jefferydeaver.com.

—J.D.

With thanks to Mitch Hoffman, Jamie Raab, Lindsey Rose, David Young and all my friends at Grand Central Publishing—and my cast of regulars: Madelyn Warcholik, Deborah Schneider, Cathy
Gleason
, Julie Deaver, Jane Davis, Will and Tina Anderson. I couldn’t do it without you!

A former journalist, folksinger and attorney, Jeffery Deaver is an international number-one bestselling author. His novels have appeared on bestseller lists around the world, including the
New York Times
, the
Times
of London, Italy’s
Corriere della Sera
, the
Sydney Morning Herald
and the
Los Angeles Times
. His books are sold in 150 countries and translated into twenty-five languages.

The author of thirty novels, two collections of short stories and a nonfiction law book, he’s received or been shortlisted for a number of awards around the world. His
The Bodies Left Behind
was named Novel of the Year by the International Thriller Writers Association, and his Lincoln Rhyme thriller
The Broken Window
and a stand-alone,
Edge
, were also nominated for that prize. He has been awarded the Steel Dagger and the Short Story Dagger from the British Crime Writers’ Association and the Nero Wolfe Award, and he is a three-time recipient of the Ellery Queen Readers Award for Best Short Story of the Year and a winner of the British Thumping Good Read Award.
The Cold Moon
was recently named the Book of the Year by the Mystery Writers Association of Japan, as well as by
Kono Mystery Wa Sugoi
magazine. In addition, the Japanese Adventure Fiction Association awarded
The Cold Moon
and
Carte Blanche
their annual Grand Prix award.

His most recent novels are
XO
, a Kathryn Dance thriller, for which he wrote an album of country-western songs, available on iTunes and as a CD; and before that,
Carte Blanche
, the latest James Bond continuation novel, a number-one international bestseller.

Deaver has been nominated for seven Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America, an Anthony Award and a Gumshoe Award. He was recently shortlisted for the ITV3 Crime Thriller Award for Best International Author.

His book
A Maiden’s Grave
was made into an HBO movie starring James Garner and Marlee Matlin, and his novel
The Bone Collector
was a feature release from Universal Pictures, starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. And, yes, the rumors are true; he did appear as a corrupt reporter on his favorite soap opera,
As the World Turns.

He was born outside Chicago and has a bachelor of journalism degree from the University of Missouri and a law degree from Fordham University.

Readers can visit his website at
www.jefferydeaver.com
.

Ice Cold
(Short stories, co-
editor
and contributor)

Triple Threat
(Short stories)

XO
*/**

XO: The Album
(Music CD of original songs)

Carte Blanche
, a James Bond Novel

Edge

The Burning Wire
*

Best American Mystery Stories 2009
(Editor)

The Watch List
(
The Copper Bracelet
and
The Chopin Manuscript
) (Contributor)

Roadside Crosses
**

The Bodies Left Behind

The Broken Window
*

The Sleeping Doll
**

More Twisted: Collected Stories, Volume Two

The Cold Moon
*/**

The Twelfth Card
*

Garden of Beasts

Twisted: Collected Stories

The Vanished Man
*

The Stone Monkey
*

The Blue Nowhere

The Empty Chair
*

Speaking in Tongues

The Devil’s Teardrop

The Coffin Dancer
*

The Bone Collector
*

A Maiden’s Grave

Praying for Sleep

The Lesson of Her Death

Mistress of Justice

Hard News

Death of a Blue Movie Star

Manhattan Is My Beat

Hell’s Kitchen

Bloody River Blues

Shallow Graves

A Century of Great Suspense Stories
(Editor)

A Hot and Sultry Night for Crime
(Editor)

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
(Introduction)

*Featuring Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs

**Featuring Kathryn Dance

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For more about this book and author, visit Bookish.com.

Contents

Title Page
Welcome
Dedication
Epigraph
I: The Poisonwood Tree
Chapter 1
II: The Queue
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
III: Chameleons
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
IV: Slice
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
V: The Million-Dollar Bullet
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
VI: Smoke
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
VII: Messages
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Chapter 98
VIII: When You Move…
Chapter 99
The Recipes of Jacob Swann
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by Jeffery Deaver
Newsletters
Copyright

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Copyright © 2013 by Gunner Publications LLC
Cover copyright © 2013 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

Grand Central Publishing
Hachette Book Group
237 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017

HachetteBookGroup.com
twitter.com/grandcentralpub

First ebook edition: June 2013

Grand Central Publishing is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The Grand Central Publishing name and logo is a trademark of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

The Hachette Speakers Bureau provides a wide range of authors for speaking events. To find out more, go to www.hachettespeakersbureau.com or call (866) 376-6591.

ISBN 978-1-4555-1707-7

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