The Devils Due and Other Stories: The Devils Due, The Portal, Disfigured, Empathy, and Epitaph (International Thriller Writers

The Devils Due by Steve Berry In his fourth thriller, The Templar Legacy, Berry introduced Cotton Malone, a lawyer/agent who worked with the Justice Department for many years in a special unit known as the Magellan Billet. Deciding the risks were too great, Malone retires out early, moves to Copenhagen and opens an oldbooks shop. Unfortunately, trouble seems to follow Malone, and The Templar Legacy is just the first of several adventures Berry plans for Malone and the cast of supporting characters. The Devils Due is a tale from before Malone retired, when he was still active with the Magellan Billet. Other Stories The Portal by John Lescroart and M. J. Rose John Lescroart is a bestselling writer of legal thrillers. M. J. Rose is a bestselling writer of thrillers about a sex therapist and her patients. Intersecting those two variations seemed like a difficult challenge, but thats exactly what The Portal does. Via email from one coast to another, Lescroart and Rose explored the psyche and actions of Lucy Delrey, a young, disturbed woman who, at different points displayed facets that surprised both authors. Disfigured by Daniel Palmer and Michael Palmer Palmer has never before collaborated with another writer on a project, but Disfigured is coauthored with Daniel James Palmer, the middle of his three sons. Disfigured was actually Daniels brainchild. And although Maura, the protagonist, is not a physician, the theme is medical, and like most of Michael Palmers main characters, shes drawn unwillingly into the story. Empathy by James Siegel James Siegel says the most common question hes asked by readers is, Where do you get your ideas? His standard answer is, I dont knowdo you have any? The real answer, of course, is, Everywhere. Siegel tends to write about ordinary people caught up in extraordinary events. And then there was the day he was lying in a massage room at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. The mas seuse touched his neck and said, Whats bothering you? Siegels response: How do you know somethings bothering me? And she said, Because Im an empath. Siegel was puzzled. An empath? Whats that? Epitaph by Joe Konrath Konrath believes that a lot of the fun in writing a thriller series comes from the supporting characters. People are defined by the company they keep. Jack has a handful of sidekicks who both help and hinder her murder investigations. Phineas Troutt is one of the helpful ones. Introduced in Whiskey Sour, Phin operates outside the law as a problem solversomeone who takes illegal jobs for big paydays. Jack is never quite sure what Phin does to earn a living. Konrath himself didnt know, but thought it would be fun to find out.