John Pirhalla

"When Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore dies, she's not only North Carolina's richest woman, she's also its most notorious. The victim of a famous kidnapping as a child and a widow four times over, Ruby ruled the tiny town of Tavistock from Ashby House, her family's estate high in the Blue Ridge mountains. In the aftermath of her death, that estate--along with a nine-figure fortune and the complicated legacy of being a McTavish--pass...

A Cold War attack by Soviet helicopters on an Afghan village. A knife-edge CIA operation that goes wrong. And a vengeful mujahideen tribesman, armed with Stinger missiles. When CIA officer Joe Johnson is handed the tough task by his boss of capturing a Soviet helicopter and forging better contacts among the mujahideen, he unknowingly finds himself up against a sinister KGB rival who wants him dead. But after coming under fire, Johnson comes to suspect...

Wield the past. Forge the future.Amnesiacs awaken on an uncharted planet at the edge of the universe. After the survivors band together, the brave ones explore the wintry world, desperate to find a way off the planet. The few who manage to come back alive describe creatures in the darkness.When the newest rookie appears, some hope he'll finally be the one to get them home, wherever home might be. Rookie's a natural leader. Once he joins the fight,...

When a soldier has survived so many "impossible" missions, the word almost loses its meaning.Until that soldier gets a mission brief so brutal the description makes them hesitate …Bring it. Nothing is going to stop Joe. He has taken on every mission they've sent his way to date and come out on top.Having reestablished his cred and made a proper name for himself, Joe has earned some trust from the Vale council, which comes with both perks and downsides.When...

An ancient Persian relic. A message etched in stone. A deadly quest across the globe to reveal the forbidden truth. Recovering ancient relics for the Italian mob can be deadly. When Harry Fox narrowly outwits a thieving artifacts dealer to escape with his life, he quickly discovers he came away with more than he bargained for. The stone tablet with a strange tale etched on it tells of lost knowledge from the cradle of civilization - the ancient Persian...

Considering she had just attended her mother's funeral, Gloria Jaymes never expected to see the woman again, but then her dead mom shows up at her house.Gloria's mom is... different. She's younger than when she died, dressed in clothes from the 1980s. And nobody else in Gloria's family seems to recognize her.As Gloria tries to figure out the reason for her mother's reappearance and the odd behaviors the woman begins to exhibit other bizarre events...

Darkness is descending on the small town of Rio Verde, Arizona. An evil older than time is rising from the desert, waiting for night to fall and a reign of terror to begin... Brad Woods has performed a lot of autopsies, but never one like this. The body is purged of all blood. Fear has made Sue Wing run from the darkened school and into night, a fear so powerful she can only name it using the Cantonese myths of her grandmother: Cup-hu-girngsi... the...

Could the first Vale settlers have predicted anything but the perfect civilization they were determined to create? How was it possible that their advanced culture and knowledge could one day prove to be their greatest disadvantage? Had they not learned the bitter lessons of man's weaknesses and overcome them?Centuries after being driven from Earth as part of a massive diaspora triggered by an alien invasion, can the Valers face their worst-and unimaginable-nightmare?...

A battle-scarred Vietnam vet has been living alone deep in the woods, but when a group of weekend campers enter the area his fragile grasp on reality breaks and he believes he's back in the jungle...surrounded by an enemy he needs to kill. This novel contains graphic content and is recommended for regular readers of horror novels.

In Beverly Hills, a wealthy CEO goes on a bloody rampage and videotapes the slaughter. He leaves behind a chilling cryptic message..."This is where it begins." Miles away, an alarmed mother receives an unsettling letter from her estranged husband, stained with bloody fingerprints. And all across California, children are becoming affected by a monstrous change-and their parents, by a mounting fear. Social worker Carrie Daniels and reporter Brian...