Michael Sears

Hired by the family of a disgraced investment banker who died in prison amid financial scandals, Jason Stafford races against time to find a fortune in missing funds only to see the people he contacts suffer suspicious and deadly accidents. By the Edgar Award-nominated author of Black Fridays.

Mortal Bonds

Looking into rumors of a hostile takeover at his firm, Jason Stafford is embroiled in a grand jury investigation into mob-related activities on Wall Street and is placed in witness protection, only to risk his life to save his abducted son.

Saving Jason

Black Fridays

One of Booklist's "Year's Best Crime Novels" After two years in federal prison, Jason Stafford is no longer welcome on Wall Street. But due to his financial crime expertise, one firm wants him to quietly look for irregularities in the books of one of their junior traders, whose body was just pulled from the Long Island Sound. Raising an autistic five-year-old alone, Stafford can’t refuse the lucrative offer. The job is supposed to last two weeks, tops. But soon he’s facing threats and intimidation, and more people are dying. Stafford must fight for his life—while struggling to save his son from a different kind of danger… Nominated for the Edgar® Award for Best First Novel

A Novel

The latest Jason Stafford novel from Michael Sears, author of the highly acclaimed Long Way Down and Black Fridays. Jason Stafford used to be a hot Wall Street trader, went too far, and paid for it in prison. Now a financial investigator, he’s been asked to look into rumors of a hostile takeover of his firm, but he has no idea it will turn his whole life upside down. Suddenly embroiled in a grand jury investigation of Mob-related activities on Wall Street, and threatened by some very serious men, he is thrust into witness protection with his young autistic son. And then his son disappears. Has he been kidnapped, or worse? With no choice but to act, Stafford has no choice but to come out of hiding and risk everything to save his son, his firm, his pregnant girlfriend—and himself.

Shamus Award-winning author Michael Sears brings Queens, New York, to literary life in this crime series debut featuring a somewhat seedy lawyer with a heart of gold (or at least gold plate). Queens, New York--the most diverse place on earth. Native son Ted Molloy knows these streets like the back of his hand. Ted was once a high-powered Manhattan lawyer, but after a spectacular fall from grace, he has found himself back on his home turf, scraping by as a foreclosure profiteer. It's a grubby business, but a safe one--until Ted's case sourcer, a mostly reformed small-time conman named Richie Rubiano, turns up murdered shortly after tipping Ted off to an improbably lucrative lead. With Richie's widow on his back and shadows of the past popping up at every turn, Ted realizes he's gotten himself embroiled in a murder investigation. His quest for the truth will take him all over Queens, plunging him into the machinations of greedy developers, mobsters, enraged activists, old litigator foes and old-school New York City operators.

Tower of Babel

From the author of the acclaimed, award-winning debut novel Black Fridays, comes a story of murder, greed, and corruption—and the lengths to which one man will go for his family. He approached me in the street—bone-thin, gray-bearded, holding out a small envelope. “The man said you’d give me five bucks for it.” Inside was a one-word message: RUN. Two years in a federal prison has changed Jason Stafford, is still changing him, but one thing it has taught him as a financial investigator is how to detect a lie. He doesn’t think Philip Haley is lying. An engineer on the verge of a biofuel breakthrough, Haley has been indicted for insider trading on his own company, and Stafford believes him when he says he’s been set up. Haley does indeed have enemies. He is not a nice man. Doesn’t make him a criminal. It does make him dangerous to be around, though. The deeper Stafford investigates, the more secrets he starts to uncover, secrets people would kill for. And that’s exactly what happens. Soon, it is Stafford himself who is under attack and, worse, his family—his fiancée, his young son—and he is a fugitive, desperately trying to stay one step ahead of both the killers and the law.

Long Way Down

Jade Kerrion

William Burton McCormick

Robert Rotstein

Daco Auffenorde

Elle Andrews Patt

Bria Burton

Charles A. Cornell

Parker Francis

Ken Pelham

Melanie Terry Griffey

John Hope

M.J. Carlson

The twelve stories comprising In Shadows Written: An Anthology of Modern Horror takes us into the hearts and minds of thirteen award-winning authors. Explore the wide reach of horror fiction of the early 21st century. “Familiar” by Ken Pelham. Is it research or witchcraft? Science or magic? A young Bostonian discovers the connection between her disintegrating marriage and a mysterious accident on the dark wet highway to Salem. “The Legend of Johnny Bell” by Elle Andrews Patt. Ah, Johnny Bell. His heart is in the right place, but he’s not the sharpest machete in the zombie apocalypse. Finally, an author has found a good use for Pomeranians. “The Antiquary’s Wife” by William Burton McCormick. Folk legend, prejudice, and suspicion haunt a young American couple traveling the Ukrainian countryside of the 19th century. This novelette was a Finalist for the prestigious Derringer Award. “Kev” by Michael Sears. Two boys out on a late-night lark, looking for thrills, a little breaking and entering. You take into account the things that could go wrong but forget that the world has real-life flesh and blood monsters among its vast web of living things. “Insecurity Complex” by Jade Kerrion. What’s a self-respecting ghost to do when everyone is so over-entertained with their gadgets and personal electronics? Short, sweet, and funny. Winner of the Royal Palm Literary Award. “A Dream Within A Dream” by Bria Burton. Our memories and realities are shaped by that which we need to be true. A young girl struggles through family tragedy in this haunting story inspired by Edgar Allan Poe. “Texting April” by Parker Francis. Consumer electronics puts a horrifying spin on the traditional ghost story. Text messages will never be the same. Winner of the Royal Palm Literary Award. “Gabriel” by Melanie Terry Griffey. We’ve all brought home a stray at one time or another, and loved that poor beast as if it were family. Not all strays are what they seem. Winner of the 2010 Flights of Fantasy award. “The Alexandrite Necklace” by Daco Auffenorde and Robert Rotstein. Vanity, jealousy, and jewelry to die for steer a Hollywood actress on an upward career arc. But every arc must ultimately reach a zenith. A modern retelling of Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace.” “Beating Cats” by John Hope. Addiction preys upon innocence in this dark, disturbing tour of the human psyche, the monsters within us, and the slide into depravity. “Three Two One, Wake Up” by M.J. Carlson. Science fiction in the tradition of Philip K. Dick meets horror in the tradition of Jack Finney and H.P. Lovecraft. Are your friends and neighbors really who you think? Are you better off not knowing? “Die Fabrik (The Factory)” by Charles A. Cornell. In a dieselpunk vision of Nazi Germany, weapons research and genocide become one in a nightmarish, secret factory in this novella.

An Anthology of Modern Horror

In Shadows Written

Working as a financial investigator after two years in federal prison, Jason Stafford looks into a biofuel engineer's claims about being set up by dangerous adversaries.

Michael Sears

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