Most Popular Books by T. Jefferson Parker

Hitting rock bottom after losing his family and ability to work after an explosion that was intended to kill him, former police officer Matt Stromsoe takes a job as a bodyguard for a television personality whose private life has rendered her a stalker''s target.

Investigating the latest crime scene of a celebrity thief who has been staging lucrative heists and donating the spoils to charity, rookie deputy Charlie Hood is forced to make an ethics-testing decision when the thief is targeted by a professional killer. Reprint.

Living in Orange County, California, in the late 1960s, three brothers pursue leads relevant to their respective careers as a homicide detective, a minister, and a reporter when a woman from a childhood rival family is found murdered.

Patrick Norris returns to rural California after serving with the Marine Corps in Afghanistan. Fire has ravaged his home farm and it has all become too much for his parents and brother to manage. The country has changed though, notably after the mass killings of children in schools across the United States, invariably by lone gunmen, and a great tension exists in the people. Is there really a case for an even wider ownership of guns? Patrick''s brother, Ted, hasn''t had it easy in life. Health conditions have slowed him down and set him apart. Ted worships Patrick, and Patrick knows he has to be an example, but settling down to the country life cannot be easy after Iraq. When a child is mown down by an unknown driver suspicion takes over Fallbrook. There will be deaths before it is all resolved, perhaps many and perhaps the death of innocents

An unprecedented collective features pairings by 23 best-selling and critically acclaimed suspense writers, who in short high-action stories pit their most popular characters against one another.

For fans of Michael Connelly and CJ Box, the second thrilling novel in the Charlie Hood series from New York Times bestseller and Edgar-award winner T. Jefferson Parker, now featuring an excerpt from his upcoming novel The Room of White Fire. Deputy Sheriff Charlie Hood cruises the dusty backroads of the new American West. But when his partner is shot dead and Hood is drafted to find the killer, the investigation takes him to places he never wanted to go-where there''s no clear line between good and evil.

A serial killer is preying on the residents of Orange County, massacring entire families. The police are unaccountably keeping the killings under wraps, and Russ Monroe, ex-cop-turned-crime writer needs to know why. From the bestselling author of Laguna Heat. Martin''s.

In this electrifying new thriller from three-time Edgar Award winner and New York Times bestseller T. Jefferson Parker, Private Investigator Roland Ford hunts for a missing teenager and uncovers a dark conspiracy in his most personal case yet. When hired by a beautiful and enigmatic woman to find her missing younger sister, private investigator Roland Ford immediately senses that the case is not what it seems. He is soon swept up in a web of lies and secrets as he searches for the teenager, and even his new client cannot be trusted. His investigation leads him to a secretive charter school, skinhead thugs, a cadre of American Nazis hidden in a desert compound, an arch-conservative celebrity evangelist--and, finally, to the girl herself. The Last Good Guy is Ford''s most challenging case to date, one that will leave him questioning everything he thought he knew about decency, honesty, and the battle between good and evil...if it doesn''t kill him first.

Scarred for life by a brutal father, Joe Trona found a safe haven and a loving childhood in the home of the couple who adopted him. Now he spends his days as a deputy for the Orange County sheriff''s department and his nights as a driver and aide to Will Trona, the influential politician who rescued him from the Hillside Children''s Home. An expert in firearms and the martial arts, Joe has been backing Will up for a long time. Still, his skill isn''t enough to keep Will alive, and when his father is killed right in front of Joe''s eyes, the young deputy vows to avenge him. But first he must find out how the kidnapping of a tycoon''s daughter, a scam to line the pockets of Will Trona''s political enemies, the murder of two Guatemalan immigrants, the unholy activities of a charismatic minister who''s a close friend of the Trona family, and the strange alliance of two rival L.A. gangs are connected to Will''s death. Every secret Joe uncovers leads deeper into his beloved father''s murky past and ultimately his own. But the reader stays right with this extraordinary man as he battles his demons and ultimately vanquishes them. Author T. Jefferson Parker (The Blue Hour, Red Light, Laguna Heat) is one of the best thriller writers working today. Fans of Michael Connelly and DennisLehane--and Raymond Chandler, for that matter--will appreciate Parker''s abilityto create a complex, fascinating, and fully realized hero whose inner reality is brilliantly revealed by his actions. Will Trona is an equally intriguing invention; while ultimately he is an enigma, we remain convinced that he is worthy of his son''s devotion. Silent Joe is a mindful, intelligent novel you can''t put down. It should break Parker out withthe really big boys of mystery fiction, the million-sellers with the marquee names. In fact, he''s a much better writer than most of them, and unlike many, he never tells the same story twice. --Jane Adams

A gripping high-stakes thriller by three-time Edgar Award winner and New York Times bestselling author T. Jefferson Parker ("A marvel...hits the high-water mark for crime fiction every time out." —Gregg Hurwitz) The hunt for the truth is the deadliest game. Former Marine sniper Lew Gale, now a detective with the Orange County California Sheriff’s Department, is assigned to track and shoot a mountain lion that has killed a man in the rugged country east of Laguna Beach, California. The victim is Bennet Tarlow, a rich developer and man-about-town in upscale coastal Orange County. The investigation takes a chilling turn when Lew and his new partner, Daniela Mendez, discover that Bennet was dead long before the lion got to him. And while he might have been the first to die, he certainly will not be the last.

“Mesmerizing and haunting.”—Lisa Gardner “T. Jefferson Parker is the poet of American crime fiction, and The Room of White Fire absolutely proves why.”—C.J. Box In this stirring thriller from New York Times bestseller and award winner T. Jefferson Parker, P.I. Roland Ford must hunt down a soldier who is damaged by war, dangerous, and on the run. Roland Ford—once a cop, then a marine, now a private investigator—is good at finding people. But when he’s asked to locate an Air Force veteran who’s escaped from a mental institution, he realizes he’s been drawn into something deep and dark. What he doesn’t know is why a shroud of secrecy hangs over the disappearance of Clay Hickman—and why he’s getting a different story from everyone involved. In a flash, what began as just a job becomes a life-or-death obsession for Ford, pitting him against immensely powerful and treacherous people and forcing him to contend with chilling questions about truth, justice, and the American way. “A fast-paced, beautifully written thriller."—The Washington Post

For fans of Michael Connelly and CJ Box, the third thrilling novel in the Charlie Hood series from New York Times bestseller and Edgar-award winner T. Jefferson Parker, now including an excerpt from his upcoming novel The Room of White Fire. Along the U.S./Mexico border, a man named Finnegan wakes up in the border-town of Buenavista after a hit and run-eerily aware of events he should know nothing about, $90,000 richer, and with Charlie Hood''s name and address in his wallet. Meanwhile when tracking the flow of illegal guns into Mexico, Hood''s team accidentally kills the son of Benjamin Armenta, head of the Gulf Cartel and one of the most violent men in the world. Now, Hood must work to grasp the enigmatic forces fighting for control of Buenavista- forces that circle back to Finnegan, and to Armenta''s unstoppable plan for brutal vengeance.

"A brave and daring writer." —Lisa See, New York Times bestselling author of Shanghai Girls The Carson dynasty rules the ski resort town of Mammoth Lakes in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California. Founded by patriarch Adam, the town is the site of the Mammoth Cup ski race-a qualifier for the Olympics. But when Wylie Welborn, Adam''s illegitimate grandson, returns after a stint in Afghanistan, it reopens a dark moment in Carson family history: the murder of Wylie''s father by his jealous and very pregnant wife, Cynthia. Her son Sky, born while his mother was in prison, and Wylie are half-brothers. They inherit not only superb athletic skills but an enmity that threatens to play out in a lethal drama on one of the fastest and most perilous ski slopes in the world. Three powerful and unusual women have central roles in this volatile family feud: Cynthia, bent on destroying Wylie; his mother Kathleen, determined to protect him; and April Holly, a beautiful celebrity snowboarder, on track to win Olympic Gold. But, as Wylie falls in love with April and they begin to imagine a life away from the violence that has shattered his family, history threatens to repeat itself and destroy them both. Combining exquisite writing with breathtaking scenes of high stakes skiing, T. Jefferson Parker''s Crazy Blood is an unforgettable story of two brothers on a ruthless quest for supremacy.

A USA Today Best of 2022, and a Los Angeles Times Bestseller! A Thousand Steps is a beguiling thriller, an incisive coming-of-age story, and a vivid portrait of a turbulent time and place by three-time Edgar Award winner and New York Times bestselling author T. Jefferson Parker. Laguna Beach, California, 1968. The Age of Aquarius is in full swing. Timothy Leary is a rock star. LSD is God. Folks from all over are flocking to Laguna, seeking peace, love, and enlightenment. Matt Anthony is just trying get by. Matt is sixteen, broke, and never sure where his next meal is coming from. Mom’s a stoner, his deadbeat dad is a no-show, his brother’s fighting in Nam . . . and his big sister Jazz has just gone missing. The cops figure she’s just another runaway hippie chick, enjoying a summer of love, but Matt doesn’t believe it. Not after another missing girl turns up dead on the beach. All Matt really wants to do is get his driver’s license and ask out the girl he’s been crushing on since fourth grade, yet it’s up to him to find his sister. But in a town where the cops don’t trust the hippies and the hippies don’t trust the cops, uncovering what’s really happened to Jazz is going to force him to grow up fast. If it’s not already too late. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

The Edgar Award–winning author is "at the top of his game" in "this engrossing tale" of a cop who must face his own family''s violent past to solve a murder ( Kirkus , starred review). California Homicide Detective Tom McMichael has every good reason to pass on the investigation of slain city patriarch Pete Braga. After all, it was former mayor and self-made millionaire Braga who killed Tom''s grandfather in a dispute over money—and Tom''s own father who, allegedly, sought revenge by savagely beating Braga''s son. But there are others who hated the old man as well. And McMichael is a good cop determined to perform his duty to the best of his abilities—despite his growing feelings for the beautiful nurse who is the prime suspect in the brutal bludgeoning death...and despite a twisting trail that is leading him into deadly, dark, and very private places where he dearly wishes not to go.

Life in Newport Beach, California is more nightmare than paradise when ex-cop Jim Weir''s pregnant sister is brutally murdered. Life becomes unbearable when Weir is asked to investigate his former department. Political corruption and small town connections make this task even more onerous.

The New York Times bestseller from the three-time Edgar Award winner: Sometimes what it takes to catch a killer is a cop who thinks differently . . . A good cop, Robbie Brownlaw was thrown from a sixth-floor window of a downtown hotel and miraculously survived. The traumatic incident left Robbie with a fast-track career in the San Diego P.D.''s Homicide division . . . and a rare neurological condition called synesthesia that jumbles his senses. It enables him to see people''s emotional words as colored shapes—green trapezoids of envy, red squares of deception—something like a primitive lie detector. Another good man lies dead in a blood-spattered Ford Explorer—an ex-cop-turned-ethics investigator whose private life was torn open by unthinkable tragedy. Whether Garrett Asplundh''s death was suicide or murder isn''t immediately apparent—but it''s soon clear to Robbie and his smart, tough partner that Garrett had hard evidence of sex, scandal, and corruption spreading deep into local government. But pursuing the truth could prove more emotionally devastating than Robbie ever imagined. "The suspense is palpable as Brownlaw and his partner, McKenzie Cortez, work to identify Asplundh''s killer, but the novel probes deeper mysteries, such as the victim''s tragic life and Brownlaw''s disintegrating marriage. With his trademark psychological acuity and empathy, Parker creates a world of fully realized characters coping with obsession and loss." — Publishers Weekly (starred review) "His dialogue crackles and pops . . . an intricate and well-paced tale set in a city where shadowy characters lurk beneath sunny skies." — Booklist (starred review) "Parker belongs in the first rank of American crime novelists." — The Washington Post

The "ace suspense writer" ("Chicago Tribune") returns with an explosive new thriller that pits an unlikely team of detectives--who become an even more unlikely pair of lovers--against a ruthless serial killer.