Jon Talton
When his friend Peralta, newly sworn in as sheriff, is shot by a sniper, David Mapstone, former historian and new deputy sheriff, can't keep a cool, academic distance—and he'd better not. While Peralta lies comatose in the hospital, the powers that be install Mapstone as acting sheriff in his friend's place. Mapstone feels unqualified, but he's the only person whose temporary appointment won't infuriate all the other candidates, who want
...The past never rests easy in Arizona.
Forty years ago, a Phoenix reporter was killed by a car bomb in one of America's most notorious crimes. Three men went to prison—but was there more to the story of Charles Page's assassination? More than three low-level players? Did a kingpin order the hit and get away with it? And what was the real motive? Despite the work of teams of journalists and law and legal professionals, no one yet knows
...4) Deadline man
He's a man whose life is so intertwined with his job that we know him only as "the columnist." He writes for a newspaper in Seattle, isn't afraid to stir up trouble, and keeps his life—including his multiple lovers and his past—in safe compartments. It's all about to be violently upended when he goes out on what seems like the most mundane of assignments, looking into a staid company that "never makes news."
But from the moment
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