[Stan Turner mysteries] ;

"Aubrey Evans has always had a plan and her admittance to her dream school, Reed College, is the next step in her carefully constructed world. But when her father is indicted for embezzling and her mother is selling everything she can and hiding the profits, any money for her tuition is gone. Sent to live with her grandmother in rural Williamsville, Tennessee, Aubrey is just trying to get by and save enough money to get her back to Reed. But her plan never included Zion, a member of the local motorcycle club, the Southern Wolves or his flirty cousin Noah, who always manages to make her smile. A knight in black leather, Zion is always there when Aubrey's in trouble. He looks like every bad idea she's been told to avoid, but she can't seem to resist him. As vandalism and destruction plague the town, they work together to repair the damage and Aubrey begins to see beyond his rough and tough exterior. But she has no plans to stay in Williamsville and finding herself falling for Zion, Aubrey runs into Noah's arms, desperate to forget what she feels for the biker. Noah is only offering fun and friendship, exactly what she thinks she wants, but she can't manage to get Zion out of her mind. When Aubrey is personally attacked and discovers the identity of the criminal behind it all, she has to choose between the plan she thought she always wanted and the man she can't seem to give up"--

Step into the shoes of Dallas attorney, Stan Turner, in the late 1970's as he begins the practice of law. Then hang on for the ride of your life as Stan immediately steps into a rattlesnake's nest and has to do some fancy two-steppin' to avoid a lethal strike from his own clients. When Stan's wife, Rebekah, is arrested for murder and a client turns out to be a ghost, Stan turns in his legal pad for a detective's notebook and goes to work to solve these most perplexing mysteries. Teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, Stan pushes on relentlessly to extricate himself and his family from certain doom. Sex, greed and a lust for power drive this most extraordinary novel to a stunning conclusion.

In this 8th episode of the series Dallas attorney Stan Turner struggles to keep his practice going in the wake of the tragic loss of his son and his rapidly disintegrating marriage. Stan, who has been recruited by the CIA for its ultra top secret Tarizon Repopulation project, gets his first assignment to defend a woman accused of murdering her children and alien husband. The alien husband, however, is not from Mexico but Tarizon, a planet in another solar system. Stan must not only prove his client innocent but also make sure nobody finds out that the government is allowing aliens to live and propagate on Earth. While Stan is busy with his CIA project, Paula is asked to defend the accused in the arson-murder of a prominent scientist and his family. While a bitter feud between neighbors over a barking dog and a chain link fence appears to be the motive for the crime, Paula discovers several others who have benefited from Chester Brown's death. In the midst of the two murder cases Stan is lured into a dangerous relationship with an alien woman assigned to him as a legal assistant. He soon learns that the women of Tarizon are even more mysterious and dangerous than those on Earth.

It's 1981 in Dallas and Stan decides to throw a Christmas party at his home as a way of saying thanks to the clients who have sustained him during his first tumultuous year in the practice of law. As Stan's luck would have it, a client is killed and Stan is blamed for his death. While trying to shield himself from the wrath of the grieving widow, he's asked to defend a young college student charged with murdering her newborn child. Knowing he lacks the experience for such an undertaking, he enlists his former criminal law professor to be "Second Chair." What he doesn't know is the professor, who everyone calls "Snake" is a drunk and a womanizer. When Snake fails to show up for the last few days of trial Stan is devastated.