Allison Brennan
Personal Information
Description
Allison Brennan was born on 29th September 1969 in Elk Grove, California, USA. In 1987, she graduated at Menlo School in Atherton, California. She attended the college at UC Santa Cruz from 1987 to 1989. An only child, she entertained herself on rainy days by both reading and making up her own stories. Thinking she had to have a "real" job after dropping out of college, Allison worked in the California State Legislature as a consultant, married Dan Brennan in 1993, and they subsequently had five children and made their home outside Sacramento. But Allison never stopped writing. In fact, she began over 100 books that she never finished. After turning 30, then giving birth to her third child, Allison decided to actively pursue a career in writing. Committing herself to write a book from beginning to end, she wrote five complete novels before selling The Prey in 2004. Two years later it was released and nudged the New York Times list at #33. The first four manuscripts have been destroyed and will never see the light of day. With her first book Allison's publisher asked if she could write two books connected in some way to The Prey. Since that book was already written and in production, plot options were limited. During the copyediting stage, she tweaked the backstory of her heroine so that she had two friends from the FBI Academy, and they became the heroines of The Hunt and The Kill. Her "Predator Trilogy" was the first of four loosely connected romantic thriller trilogies. Each story is a complete work with a separate hero, heroine, and villain with some recurring characters that can be read individually or in order. Crime fiction, mysteries, and romantic suspense have always been Allison's favorites, so it's no surprise that her romantic thrillers have a dark suspense edge. Reviewers have called her books "terrifying," "mesmerizing," "fast-paced," "pulse-pounding," "wonderfully complex," "layered," and "a master of suspense - tops in the genre." Allison's research shelf is filled with numerous true crime and research books, such as 65 Ways to Kill Your Victim in Print, Practical Homicide Investigation, Book of Poisons, and Tales from the Morgue. Her favorite research trips included a tour of the Sacramento County Morgue - complete with autopsy - and her eight week FBI Citizens Academy course, where she competed at the gun range and won a much coveted award by the SWAT commander: the "My Characters Shoot Better!" award. All of this has been supplemented by trips to the Quantico, interviews with law enforcement officials nationwide, and conversations with experts of all kinds in fields of forensics and technology. Crime fiction is not Allison's only interest. Growing up, she immersed herself into the more supernatural worlds of Stephen King, Dean Koontz and John Saul, reading horrific suspense, unable to put the page-turning - and rather terrifying--books aside. Before she even sold her first book, she came up with a series based on the Seven Deadly Sins - as demons released from Hell by an evil occult seeking the key to eternal mortality. After the initial success with her Predator Trilogy, Allison put the Seven Deadly Sins idea aside to pursue the crime and suspense genre exclusively. Nearly seven years after the original idea for a supernatural saga however, she finally launched her Seven Deadly Sins series in early 2010 with Original Sin. Now, her crime research books share wall space with quite different research material, from The Black Arts to An Exorcist Tells His Story; Lilith's Cave to The Encyclopedia of Hell. The first three supernatural thrillers - Original Sin, Carnal Sin, and Mortal Sin - will be released in 2010. They are contemporary and grounded in the world as it is today, with the exception that the Seven Deadly Sins are incarnate demons who, when they touch someone, that individual loses his conscience and acts on his personal worst sin - to deadly results. Forensics and police investigations also plays an important part in the series so while the series is definitely paranormal, it's grounded in criminal procedure. Allison continues to write her trademark romantic thrillers. In early 2011, she'll launch a series starring Lucy Kincaid, a favorite character from her No Evil trilogy. The stories will tackle complex and current issues in law enforcement through the eyes of Lucy, an FBI recruit; her brother Patrick, a computer genius who's recovering from a two year coma; and Sean Rogan, a private security expert. Writing three books a year is more than a full-time job, and so is raising five kids, but Allison believes life is too short to be bored. When she's not writing, she's reading, playing video games, watching old movies or new television shows, driving to or attending volleyball / basketball / football / soccer games, and on occasion even makes it to the gym where she enjoys people-watching more than the exercise.
Books
Sudden death
> Anne Day is the new housekeeper at Frayle, the home of Mr Grinsmead and his invalid wife. To Anne’s horror, her intuition that something is very wrong in the house is proven right by an unexpected death. With the police jumping to devastating conclusions, Inspector French arrives to investigate. With the narrative switching between Anne’s and French’s perspectives, giving alternately the outside and inside track of an ingenious and elaborate investigation, will tragedy strike a second time before the mystery is solved?
The Prey
First, she imagined it. Then a killer made it real.Rowan Smith is living in a borrowed Malibu beach house while her bestselling novel is made into a Hollywood movie. A former FBI agent with a haunted past, Rowan thinks she has outrun her demons. But fiction and reality collide when a dismembered body is found in Colorado: the real-life victim had the same name, occupation, and looks as a character in Rowan's novel. By the time the FBI, the LAPD, and her own private bodyguard gather around her, another person is killed--again, the murder ripped from the pages of Rowan's book.In the company of a former Delta Force officer with secrets of his own, Rowan faces an excruciating dilemma: the only way to chase down the tormenting killer is by revisiting the darkness of her past--and by praying for some way out again.After the prey is chosen, the hunt is on and the kill is certain.From the Paperback edition.
Playing Dead
DEAD MAN RUNNINGSentenced to death for crimes he didn't commit, ex-cop Tom O'Brien is now a hunted fugitive. After fifteen years in prison, he's determined to prove his innocence--but first he must convince his daughter, whose testimony helped put him behind bars, that he has damning evidence of a plot to frame him.Claire is no longer the naive teenager who arrived home to find her mother and her mother's lover shot dead and her father holding the murder weapon. She's a successful fraud investigator who assumes everyone lies. Though Claire is convinced of her father's guilt, curiosity propels her to look into the disappearance of a law student who claimed to have proof of Tom's innocence. But seeking answers only leads to more questions, reinforcing Claire's belief that there's no one left to trust.Obsessed with the O'Brien case, FBI agent Mitch Bianchi befriends Claire under false pretenses, certain that Tom is not only innocent but in grave danger--and not just from the cops. As the three race toward the truth, a murderous conspiracy tightens its noose--and Claire becomes the target of an ice-cold psychopath who will kill to protect his secrets.From the Paperback edition.
Cutting edge
"When security specialist Duke Rogan's state-of-the-art computer system fails at a controversial bio-tech firm, a raging inferno is ignited and a grotesquely charred body is discovered in the aftermath. With an extremist anti-technology group claiming responsibility, the case grows even more complex when the victim's autopsy unexpectedly reveals that he bled to death. Heading the FBI's domestic terrorism unit, Agent Nora English is fiercely determine to track and stop a sadistic assassin. To ferret out the truth, Duke joins forces with the Feds, despite Nora's objections. But neither can deny how well they work together as a team--or that the static between them has turned to sparks. As pressure builds, the case abruptly turns personal as a cunning killer targets Nora. She will have to trust her deepest instincts--and take the ultimate risk--for the people she loves and the justice she believes in."--p. of cover.
See no evil
Fatal secrets
"For my baby's safety, I must give her up…" An old letter is all Kristin Perry has of her birth mother. When the Witness Protection Program couldn't keep mother or daughter safe, the woman fled "underground." With the help of private investigator Zane Black, Kristin tries to track her down. Instead, though, she finds herself the target of a series of deadly "accidents." Zane's still searching for her missing mother—but now Kristin's starting to wonder if her family reunion will be the death of them all….
Original Sin
The Hunt
Detective Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus return to Los Angeles when a kidnapping hits close to home—in this breathtaking new thriller from New York Times bestselling author Faye Kellerman. Peter and his partner, Detective Tyler McAdams, are thrown into an unsolved case and propelled into action when a body is found in the very woods where a man previously went missing in upstate New York. But that’s not the only crisis that Peter has to deal with. Teresa McLaughlin, the biological mother of Peter and his wife Rina’s foster son, Gabe, has fled to Los Angeles with her two children in tow, hoping to avoid a court injunction amid a messy divorce. But LA is no escape from her problems—she is found by ruthless men and beaten mercilessly. When she wakes, barely conscious, Teresa discovers that both of her children are gone and frantically calls Gabe for help. With his mother on the verge of death, Gabe contacts Peter and Rina, as well as his biological father, the notorious Christopher Donatti, a former hit man from a known criminal family who’s now a millionaire in Nevada. By bringing Donatti into the fray, Gabe, Peter, and Rina know they have made a deal with the devil—but they may not be able to recover the kids without him. As these unlikely allies rally to find the kidnappers before things end tragically, they race headlong toward an explosive confrontation from which no one will emerge unscathed...
Carnal Sin
Santa Louisa is still reeling from the lethal rampage of the demon Envy, one of the Seven Deadly Sins released from Hell by black magic. The fiendish entity was finally trapped, but when more bodies bearing satanic marks surface in Los Angeles, demon hunter Moira O'Donnell fears the terror has only just begun. Racing to L.A., Moira discovers that the City of Angels is fast becoming the demon Lust's decadent playground. She suspects another coven is at work, aided indirectly by her diabolical mother, the powerful witch Fiona. But when Moira's unwanted psychic powers intensify, she fears her connection to the underworld is putting everyone she cares about in grave danger. As supernatural war erupts, Moira and smoldering, seductive Rafe Cooper are caught in the crossfire. Cornered by mortal and unearthly enemies, they must master all their own powers to survive--and to understand if the intensely passionate feelings that bind them are Lust's demon magic or true desire.
Killing Fear
FEAR NEVER DIESTheodore Glenn loves to inflict pain . . . both on his victims and on those who later find the mutilated corpses. At his trial seven years ago, Glenn vowed vengeance on Detective Will Hooper, the cop who nabbed him, and beautiful Robin McKenna, the stripper whose testimony put him behind bars. When a catastrophic disaster sets Glenn free, he blazes a freshly bloodied path across San Diego County. But the death he craves most is Robin McKenna's. Putting aside their past troubled relationship, Will rushes to protect Robin, now a savvy businesswoman operating an upscale club. As the killings mount and Glenn proves a master manipulator, Robin and Will become snared in a twisted web of horror. But the shocking truth is even worse: The evil they are to face is even deadlier than they fear.From the Paperback edition.
Tempting Evil
In a world of sorcery and seduction, the nights bring out the beautiful, the damned, and the desired. Here, Riley Jenson is on her own--half werewolf, half vampire, working for an organization created to police the supernatural races. Trusting her superiors and lovers barely more than she trusts her worst enemies, Riley plays by her own set of rules. Her latest mission: to enter the heavily guarded pleasure palace of a criminal named Deshon Starr--a madman-scientist who's been messing around in the gene pool for decades. With two sexy men--a cool, seductive vampire and an irresistibly hot wolf--vying for her attention, Riley must keep focused. Because saving the world from Deshon Starr will mean saving herself--from the trap that's closing in around her. . . .From the Paperback edition.
The kill
"Here is a true publishing event - the first modern translation of a lost masterpiece by one of fiction's giants. Censored upon publication in 1871, out of print since the 1950s, and untranslated for a century, Emile Zola's The Kill (La Curee) emerges as a classic of naturalism. Second in the author's twenty-volume Rougon-Macquart saga, it is a story of family transgression, heedless desire, and societal greed." "The incestuous affair of Renee Saccard and her stepson, Maxime, is set against the frenzied speculation of Renee's financier husband, Aristide, in a Paris swiftly becoming a modern metropolis and "the capital of the nineteenth century." In the end, setting and story merge in actions that leave a woman's spirit and a city's soul ravaged beyond repair. As rendered by Arthur Goldhammer, The Kill contains all the qualities of the school of fiction marked, as Henry James wrote, by "infernal intelligence.""--BOOK JACKET.
Kiss me, kill me
The dark side of love is no fairy tale... And while we may like to believe that crimes of the heart only victimize those who aren't careful, this page-turning collection of must-read accounts will convince you otherwise. America's #1 true-crime writer, Ann Rule reveals how lovers become predators, how sex and lust can push ordinary people to desperate acts, and how investigators and forensics experts work to unravel the most entangled crimes of passion. Extracting behind-the-scenes details, Rule makes these volatile relationships utterly real, and masterfully re-creates the ill-fated chains of events in such cases as the ex-Marine and martial arts master who seduced vulnerable women and then destroyed their lives...the killer whose calling card was a single blood-red rose...the faithless wife who manipulated and murdered without conscience...the blind date that set the stage for a killer's brutality...and more. In every case, the victim -- young and innocent or older and experienced -- unknowingly trusted a stranger with the sociopathic skill to hide their dark motives, until it was too late to escape a web of deadly lies, fatal promises, and homicidal possession.