David Rotenberg

The Modern Actor's Handbook

David Rotenberg’s Decker Roberts is back, and he always knows when who’s telling the truth. Decker Roberts is back, and he always knows when you’re telling the truth. David Rotenberg first introduced Decker Roberts and his unique gifts in the critically acclaimed thriller The Placebo Effect. Since Decker’s last run-in with the NSA, he’s been trying to remain off the radar, searching for his estranged son, Seth. Decker’s synaesthetic abilities, once a lucrative gift, are increasingly becoming a liability. When a vicious attack wipes out the best and brightest of America’s young minds, devastating the country’s future, Decker is forced to step out of the shadows and help track down the killer. And as the hunt brings him in contact with other people of “his kind,” Decker begins to realize that there may be depths to his gifts that he had never even imagined. Meanwhile, several parties are secretly tracking the progress of Decker’s son, trying to determine if Seth has the same powerful gift as his father. Decker is determined to go to any lengths to find his son, but along the way he will have to face down enemies, both old and new, as well as struggle with whether Seth even wants to be found. David Rotenberg’s thrilling sequel to The Placebo Effect is full of suspense and will challenge what you think you know about people who have special “gifts.” From rural Africa to downtown Toronto, the paths of Rotenberg’s colourful characters intertwine as they move toward a conclusion that none of them can see coming.

Second Book of the Junction Chronicles

A Murder of Crows

The first in the series of mysteries featuring Shanghai Detective Inspector Zhong Fong, Fong must solve the bizarre and puzzling murders of a New Orleans police officer and an African diplomat in modern-day Shanghai.

The Shanghai Murders

The first book in a new series starring an acting teacher with a surprising talent. Decker Roberts has the dangerous gift of detecting the truth. For years this talent proved to be a lucrative side line to his acting teaching. Only his closest friends know, and he keeps his identity secret from the companies that pay him to tell them if the people they are planning to hire are truthful. But Decker’s carefully compartmentalized life starts to fall apart. He realized that he must have heard something in one of his “truth telling” sessions that someone didn’t want him to know. Decker has to go on the run and figure out why he’s been targeted. There’s also a government agent hunting him who seems to know absolutely everything about Decker Roberts’ identities—real and false—and other people of “his kind.”

The Placebo Effect

Brad Smith

Kathy Reichs

Nick Cutter

Andrew Pyper

Jennifer Hillier

Robert Pobi

Robert Rotenberg

Don Gutteridge

Deryn Collier

Sean Slater

Welcome to The Dark Side, a collection of excerpts from some of Simon & Schuster Canada’s most terrifying, mysterious, and suspenseful novels. From Nick Cutter’s old-school thriller, The Troop, to Kathy Reichs’ internationally bestselling Bones series, these stories will leave you trembling. The Dark Side ebook includes excerpts from: Bones of the Lost by Kathy Reichs The Demonologist by Andrew Pyper Shoot the Dog by Brad Smith Eye of the Storm by Rob Pobi The Troop by Nick Cutter Open Secret by Deryn Collier A Murder of Crows by David Rotenberg The Guilty by Sean Slater Death of a Patriot by Don Gutteridge Stranglehold by Robert Rotenberg Freak by Jennifer Hillier

A Collection of Mysteries & Thrillers

The Dark Side

Since Decker Roberts' last run in with the NSA, he's been trying to remain off the radar, searching for his estranged son. His synaesthetic abilities, once a lucrative gift, are increasingly becoming a liability. When a vicious attack wipes out the best and brightest of America's young minds, devastating the country's future, Decker is forced to step out of the shadows and help track down the killer. And as the hunt brings him in contact with other people of "his kind, " Decker begins to realize that there may be depths to his gifts that he had never even imagined. Meanwhile, several parties are secretly tracking the progress of Decker's son, Seth, trying to determine if he has the same unique gift as his father. Decker is determined to go to any lengths to find his son, but along the way he will have to face down enemies, both old and new, as well as struggle with whether his son even wants to be found.

In this first action-packed novel in The Junction Chronicles, professor and acting coach Decker Roberts has the dangerous gift of detecting the truth—that turns into deadly curse. For years Decker’s rare sensory ability to discern the truth proved to be a lucrative sideline to his acting teaching. Only his closest friends know, and he keeps his "synesthete" identity secret from the companies that pay him to tell them if the people they are planning to hire are truthful. But Decker’s carefully compartmentalized life starts to fall apart. His house burns down, his credit cards are cancelled, his bank loan is called and his studio is condemned. He realizes that he must have heard something in one of his truth-telling sessions that someone didn’t want him to know. Decker has to go on the run and figure out why he’s been targeted. There’s also a government agent hunting him who seems to know absolutely everything about Decker Roberts’ identities, real and false—and other people of “his kind.” How will Decker find out which truth was endangering his life? Who betrayed him and revealed all his secrets? Decker needs to find answers quickly, before knowing the truth turns from a gift into a deadly curse.

What if you always knew when someone was telling the truth, in any situation. What would you do? What questions would you ask? Who could you trust? Decker Roberts knows, without a shadow of doubt, if someone is telling the truth. So far, he's kept his gift pretty quiet. Only his closest friends know, and he keeps his identity secret from the companies that hire him to find out the truth. But Decker's carefully compartmentalized life starts to fall apart. His house burns down, he's accused of arson, framed for insurance fraud, and his credit cards are cancelled. Decker has to go on the run and figure out why he's been targeted. There's also a government agent hunting him who seems to know absolutely everything about Decker Roberts' identities, real and false. How will Decker find out which truth was so dangerous it put his life in danger? Who betrayed him and revealed all his secrets? David needs to find answers quickly, before knowing the truth turns from a gift into a deadly curse.

Detective Zhong Fong, former head of special investigations with the Shanghai police, has been branded a traitor and exiled to a sleepy village in northwestern China. But his isolation comes to an abrupt end when two Party officials whisk him away in the middle of the night. They need him, they say, to investigate the murders of seventeen foreign businessmen aboard a ship on Lake Ching. Fong hopes this is his chance to clear his name. He soon finds, however, that the case may be more complicated, and more perilous, than it first appeared. 'This awesome first novel slides readers into the crowded, booming, dangerous morass of modern Shanghai ... an excellent police procedural.' Library Journal

A Mystery of Fire and Ice

The Lake Ching Murders

Exiled to Northern China for the past two years, Detective Zhong Fong, former head of special investigations in Shanghai, is forced to investigate the gruesome murders of seventeen men on board a ship on Lake Ching, plunging him into a deadly game of survival.

With his last breath, China’s First Emperor, Q’in She Huang, entrusts his followers with a sacred task. Scenes intricately carved into a narwhal tusk show the future of a city “at the Bend in the River,” and The Emperor’s chosen three—his favourite concubine, head Confucian, and personal bodyguard —must bring these prophecies to life by passing their traditions on for generations. Centuries later, the descendents of the Emperor’s chosen confidantes observe as Shanghai is invaded by opium traders and missionaries from Europe, America, and the Middle East. Of them all, two families—locked in a rivalry that will last for generations—will be central to the evolution of the city. As history marches on, locals and foreign interlopers clash and intertwine; their combined fates shaping what will become the centrepiece of the new China—Shanghai.

David Rotenberg

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