Dead West

by Linda L. Richards

Overview

Rule #1 of being a hired killer: never get to know your target . . . and definitely don’t fall in love with them

Taking lives has taken its toll. Her moral justifications have faltered. Do any of the people she has killed—some of them heinous, but all of them human—deserve to die?

Her next target is Cameron Walker, a rancher in Arizona. When she arrives at his remote desert estate to carry out her orders, she discovers that he is a kind and beautiful man. After a lengthy tour of the ranch, not only has she not killed him—she’s wondering who might want him dead.

She procrastinates, instead growing closer to Cameron. She learns that he’s passionate about wild horses and has been fighting a losing political battle to save mustangs that live on protected land near his ranch—he’s even received death threats from his opponents.

Suddenly, she’s faced with protecting the man she was sent to kill, encountering kidnappers, murderers, horse thieves, and even human traffickers along the way. Can she figure out who has hired her before they take matters into their own hands?

Perfect for fans of Dean Koontz and Tana French

While the novels in the Endings Series stand on their own and can be read in any order, the publication sequence is as follows:

Endings
Exit Strategy
Dead West
Insensible Loss

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781608096268
Publisher:	Oceanview Publishing
Publication date:	09/10/2024
Series:	The Endings Series , #3
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Linda L. Richards is a journalist, photographer, and the award-winning author of eighteen books, including the nonfiction book Wild Horses of the American West. She is best known for her strong female protagonists in the thriller genre. Her short story “Terminal City” won the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Short Story in 2019. She is the founding editor of January Magazine and one of the founders of the blog The Rap Sheet. Richards is from Vancouver, CA, and currently makes her home in Phoenix, AZ. Dead West follows Endings and Exit Strategy in this series.

Editorial Reviews

"When a contract killer’s wounded conscience begins to awaken, it only heightens the dangers of her profession. In Dead West, the incomparable Linda L. Richards poses the possibility of redemption and recovery for her tragic heroine, all while sending her—and us—on a deadly thrill ride through the stunning Arizona wilderness.” —Clea Simon, Boston Globe best-selling author

“Linda L. Richards delivers yet another riveting entry in her hired killer series. Set mostly in Arizona desert country, Dead West is a dust devil of a story, twisting in wildly unpredictable ways and with a powerful emotional center. But this book isn’t just a marvelously compelling thriller; it also cries out passionately for protection of the endangered wild horses of the West. Kudos to Richards for seamlessly weaving an important message into the fabric of a terrific tale.” —William Kent Krueger, New York Times best-selling author

Praise for The Endings Series

* “[In Endings], Richards combines a damaged protagonist readers will root for with a twisted, whiplash-fast plot filled with layers of moral ambiguity. This harrowing tale of love, loss, and the value of life is not to be missed.” —Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

“Brilliant. Terrifying. Compulsively readable.” —Hallie Ephron, New York Times best-selling author

“[Exit Strategy is] a daring book to write and a daring book to read, about a person with nothing to lose daring to live and let live.” —New York Journal of Books

“[In Exit Strategy,] two individuals seem to battle within one well-dressed but confused person. Like the unnamed narrator, the story has no end. Planting the seed of an Academy Award-winning film?” —Bookreporter

“A skillfully written and carefully crafted novel showcasing serial killer psychology that which makes for an inherently absorbing read from cover to cover, Endings is the kind of fully engaging thriller that makes for memorable movies.” —Midwest Book Review

From the Publisher