Bøker av L T Vargus

Her body seems to hover above the forest floor. Arms and legs torn away from the trunk. A bloody stump mounted upright on a skewer.Not just a corpse. A warning.The most recent body was discovered in the woods just beyond a logging cabin. Dismembered. Put on display. Ghostly pale skin stark against the forest's green.Before that, two campers were found a few miles off. Cut apart. Impaled. Left in public places where they'd surely be found.The grisly crimes summon FBI profiler Violet Darger to a tiny island off the Alaskan coast -- 2,500 square miles of forested land populated by just 6,000 souls.Here, in the primordial wilderness, she'll face off with a shadowy killer unlike anything she's seen. Raging. Brutal. Elusive.He waits. Seethes. In the woods. In the dark. Always watching. He waits.Darger digs into the history of torso killers to try to understand the psychology behind the crimes. Finds a legacy of savagery dating back over a hundred years.Aggression beyond comprehension. A recurring phenomenon of human behavior that chills her.Human anatomy used to mark out territory. Corpses made totems to warn off others. It happens over and over again.Who could carry out such brutality? And why?Understanding the interior world, the motivations, of this type of killer will be the key to solving the case.The dark woods hold his secrets tightly. The terrain itself shielding him, giving him an edge over those in law enforcement seeking him.When a storm moves in, Darger finds herself in peril deep in his territory. Vulnerable. Exposed. Walking right into his trap.He waits.

By the time you read this, I'll be dead, but what I've set into motion will only be beginning.The first blast takes out an actor from a string of famous coffee commercials. A plain cardboard box in the mail blows when he opens it. Pumps hot nails through his face.So begins the series of mail bombs that beckons FBI profiler Violet Darger to New York.The bomber's plan is meticulous -- an ever growing spectacle of gruesome violence meant to spread his cryptic message piece by piece. And the clock is ticking.Starting at midnight tonight, a bomb will go off roughly every eight hours, and a target will be neutralized.The bomber has left chunks of his journal throughout the city. These not only articulate his twisted message, they contain clues about the bombs.Clues for names. Clues for places.Everything law enforcement needs to locate and disarm one of the bombs is there... if they can find it in time.It's a race against the clock.Understanding the bomber's psychology could be the key to deciphering the codes and riddles, the key to saving lives.Darger faces a threat on a scale unlike anything she's encountered so far. If she doesn't solve the clues in time, thousands will die.Let the countdown begin.

Fire crawls up the sides of the church. The orange glow thrashes. Blackens the siding. Climbs up onto the steeple. The flames close in on the wedding party trapped inside.When a serial arsonist terrorizes Los Angeles County, FBI profiler Violet Darger heads to California to investigate. The fires keep coming faster. The body count rises, and the threat hangs over the city as thick as the smog.The case file is brutal -- stuffed with photographs of charred bodies, human faces melted beyond recognition. And when Darger gets up close to the crimes, the real thing, that sense of savagery only intensifies.What kind of a person could carry out such cruelties? Understanding the warped psychology will be the key to solving the case.The suspect seems hellbent on creating a spectacle. Bigger targets. More deaths. He treats setting fires like a Hollywood special effects sequence, like he's building up to the shocking finale.Watch the city burn. It's entertainment.And there's one more factor complicating the investigation: Autumn is settling in over Southern California. The leaves are changing color, and the Santa Ana winds have begun to change directions. The Hollywood Hills are ripe for a forest fire. The arsonist means to make it the biggest one yet.A page-turner packed with heart-stopping suspense. Fans of John Sandford, Michael Connelly, Lisa Regan, and Lisa Gardner should check out the Violet Darger series.

Her numb fingers scrabble over upholstery, over metal, over glass, searching for a way out. Water stings her eyes as she's dragged downward, clinging to her last breath as she's absorbed into the cold dark below When Gloria Carmichael's body is found broken and bleeding on the sidewalk just days after knocking on Detective Charlie Winters' door begging for help to locate her father's will, Charlie's instinct is confirmed: her latest case is about more than just a simple family feud. The Carmichaels are famous in Salem Island for their large family and charitable work, but, moments before she died, beautiful, trustworthy eldest daughter Gloria called Charlie to say she had uncovered a terrible secret that would break the mystery of her father's death wide open. With the voice of her murdered sister ringing in her earspushing her to risk everything to bring justice to the innocentCharlie takes matters into her own hands. She won't let another family break apart like her own, and she knows the answers she needs are hidden somewhere inside the Carmichael home. But as Charlie races to confront her main suspecta file containing evidence that will devastate the Carmichael family on the car seat beside hershe's rammed off the road and over the edge of a nearby cliff. Fighting for breath in a sinking car, Charlie has to survive or other innocent lives will be taken. Everyone involved is keeping secrets, but only one twisted soul is prepared to kill to keep theirs An addictive crime thriller with twists at every turn, you won't know what hit you after you've finished Girl Under Water. A perfect read-in-one-sitting rollercoaster ride for anyone who adores Angela Marsons, Robert Dugoni and Mary Burton. Readers love Girl Under Water: ';WOW!!! I absolutely loved this book So many twists, turns and shocking revelations revealed!... Mind blown and totally shocked with the ending that I would have not guessed in a million years!! Loved the twist!' Heidi Lynn's Book Reviews ';A thrill-a-minute ride which left me guessing right to the conclusion I totally loved and can highly recommend.' Goodreads reviewer ';Full of suspenseful twists and turns that kept me glued to my kindle' @lianareadsblog ';Completely addicted I literally haven't been able to put it down devoured this entire book in just one sitting had me on the edge of my seat and I literally feel as though I have been on a rollercoaster made me hold my breath and feel completely on edge

Nestled in the autumn leaves, her hair tangled in thick brambles, the girl looks like she could be sleeping amongst the wild roses. But the trail of red across her delicate throat means this is a slumber she will never wake from...When a search party trawling Salem Island find a girl's body curled on the damp earth, the hunt for missing waitress Emma Jacobis grinds to a devastating halt. The day before, Emma had come to Detective Charlie Winters convinced someone was watching her. In her trembling hand she held a sketch of herself sleeping peacefully with the stuffed rabbit she'd had since she was a child. On the back, scrawled in black ink: You will be mine...A box containing handwritten letters found under Emma's bed is Charlie's first lead. But the handwriting isn't a match to the note left for Emma. With the help of her new assistant, a troubled girl eager to learn the ropes, Charlie's only hope is to canvas the bar where Emma worked. There, she finds a woman with fear in her eyes and a terrifying story to tell about an encounter with a dangerous stranger. Is someone in this small town targeting vulnerable girls as prey?Certain she's found a twisted killer's hunting ground, and with time running out before he strikes again, Charlie has no choice but to use her new assistant as bait to lure him out into the open. But when a scream pierces through the night, will Charlie survive the consequences? She has to, or there's no knowing how many more innocent girls will die...An absolutely nail-biting and completely jaw-dropping crime thriller. Fans of Kendra Elliot, Robert Dugoni and Lisa Regan will be left reeling after reading in one sitting!Readers love L.T. Vargus and Tim McBain:'Stayed up far too late devouring this absolutely gripping and unputdownable crime thriller. I absolutely cannot wait for the next book. A definite five-star read.' Little Miss Book Lover 87, 5 stars'Leaves you on the edge of your seat until the wee hours of the morning. Kept me enthralled from cover to cover. Heart-stopping suspense.' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars

Two days. Fourteen dead. The next victim could be you.The first bullet punches through the windshield of an SUV. A head shot. The driver''s death is instantaneous. And it''s only the beginning.A sniper along I-20 kills eight and causes a 36 car pileup. Brutal. Efficient.The next morning, the same individual stalks through a grocery store parking lot with a handgun. He takes out six innocent shoppers along with the store''s front window before fleeing without a trace.By the time Special Agent Violet Darger arrives in Atlanta, the city teeters toward panic. The vacant streets and restaurants paint an eerie picture. No one dares to venture out.A killer walks among them. A shadow. And the public cowers just the way he wants them to.Once more Agent Darger must identify with a murderer, must stare into the darkness to anticipate his next move. Putting herself in his head may be the only way to stop him.The longer she takes, the higher the death toll. He will kill again and again.But what hatred drives a man to such desperate, violent acts?And what price must one pay to invite that chaos inside themselves?A page-turner packed with heart-stopping suspense. Fans of John Sandford, Karin Slaughter, Gillian Flynn, and Lisa Gardner should check out the Violet Darger series.The books in the series can be read in any order, so grab Killing Season and get started today.Praise for the Violet Darger series:"The Violet Darger books are honestly the best detective novels I''ve ever read." -- Devin"Wow, just wow! If you like scare-you-half-to-death mystery books this is the one for you. It starts with a bang and just doesn''t stop." -- Ada Lavin"A rush of excitement, twists and turns." -- C. Munger"I found myself completely invested in every character, from the authorities to the killer to the victims themselves." -- eden Hudson, author of Revenge of the Bloodslinger"It''s not a glimpse...it''s a good long look inside the mind of a killer. It''s fast paced, it''s scary, and it''s satisfying." -- Rain"If you are a fan of Silence of the Lambs, this book is a spiritual successor." -- Amazon customer

Down the beach, she can just make out the rusting hulk of the Ferris wheel through the dawn mist. The hairs prickle on her neck as she drags her focus back to the chestnut hair fanned out in the shallow water at her feet, to the grains of sand decorating the beautiful girl's white cheeks like freckles. Private Detective Charlie Winters never thought she'd find herself back on Salem Island, but she's forced home re-open the wound that never healed: her sister was abducted from the small town when they were teenagers. For Charlie, her sister's voice in her headpushing her to risk everything to seek justice for the innocentis a painful and constant reminder of what she lost. And never has that voice been louder than when a family friend comes to Charlie begging for help to find her missing daughter, Kara. Searching Kara's messy, poster-covered bedroom, Charlie finds more questions than answers. Did Kara run away, or was she snatched? She's clearly been keeping secrets from her familybut don't all teenagers? A little black matchbook hidden in a jewellery box is Charlie's only lead, but the seedy nightclub it comes from proves to be nothing but a dangerous dead end. Until Charlie is approached by a second distraught mother whose daughter has also vanished. Forced at every turn to relive the trauma she ran away from, Charlie's blood runs cold when a girl's body is discovered in the exact spot on the water's edge where the last trace of her sister was found. It's clear someone is taunting Charlie, but with other innocent girls' lives at risk, she has no choice but to take the bait An absolutely unputdownable crime thriller that will leave you gasping for breath. Fans of Angela Marsons, Robert Dugoni and Lisa Regan will need to sleep with the lights on! Readers adore First Girl Gone:';Leaves you on the edge of your seat until the wee hours of the morning. Kept me enthralled from cover to cover. Heart-stopping suspense.' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars ';A great start to a new series. It is a true page turner and I was truly blind-sided by the reveal. Lots of potential and promise in this series.' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars ';WowThis is so much better than the majority of crime books out there. Suspenseful, engrossing All of the characters are believable I want to read the next one please pretty please.' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars ';Stylish, taut and addictive One of the masterpieces of 2020 I was drawn in from the very first word kept me hooked until I read its wonderful and satisfying ending. I completed it in one night