Escape Clause

Whenever you hear the sky rumble, that usually means a storm. In Virgil Flowers’ case, make that two. The exceptional new thriller from the writer whose books are “pure reading pleasure” (Booklist). The first storm comes from, of all places, the Minnesota zoo. Two large, and very rare, Amur tigers have vanished from their cage, and authorities are worried sick that they’ve been stolen for their body parts. Traditional Chinese medicine prizes those parts for home remedies, and people will do extreme things to get what they need. Some of them are a great deal more extreme than others—as Virgil is about to find out. Then there’s the homefront. Virgil’s relationship with his girlfriend Frankie has been getting kind of serious, but when Frankie’s sister Sparkle moves in for the summer, the situation gets a lot more complicated. For one thing, her research into migrant workers is about to bring her up against some very violent people who emphatically do not want to be researched. For another…she thinks Virgil’s kind of cute. “You mess around with Sparkle,” Frankie told Virgil, “you could get yourself stabbed.” “She carries a knife?” “No, but I do.” Forget a storm—this one’s a tornado.

The boss of Florida Department of Law Enforcement agent Bill Tasker sends him to investigate an inmate homicide at Manatee Correctional Prison where, it turns out, the psych ward misplaces mental patients, the prison inspector carries a number of secrets--and something very bad is about to happen.

The Council of Legendary Figures has a problem. Jack Frost will not behave! To teach him a lesson, the council orders him to help Santa prepare for Christmas. But things quickly start to go wrong at the North Pole. Will Frost end up ruining Christmas forever?

Jack Frost is one very angry Legendary Figure. He is tired of being the warm-up act for Santa Clause. He wants his own holiday!