One of our most engaging crime journalists. –Katherine RamslandIn the summer of 2003, the Houston suburb of Clear Lake, Texas, was devastated when four young residents were viciously slain. The two female victims were just eighteen-years-old, popular and beloved--but when a killer came knocking, it turned out to be someone they knew all too well. . ..Seventeen-year-old Christine Paolilla was an awkward outsider--until the girls befriended her. In this gripping true story, M. William Phelps delves into the heart of a baffling mystery to get to the truth of an act so brutal it could not be understood--until now. "Phelps is the Harlan Coben of real-life thrillers." –Allison Brennan"The best true-crime writer to come along in years." –Gregg OlsenPraise for M. William Phelps "Phelps ratchets up the dramatic tension." –Stephen Singular "One of America's finest true-crime writers." –Vincent Bugliosi"Phelps creates a vivid portrait." –Publishers WeeklyIncludes 16 Pages Of Dramatic Photos

Jeff Zack didn't hide his rough lifestyle. And when he died, it was in plain sight: executed in the parking lot of a BJ's Wholesale Club in Akron, Ohio, by a motorcycle-riding assassin dressed in black.Jeff Zack's murder stunned investigators - but then, so did his life. A long list of people might have had reasons to want Zack dead, including the loyal wife he had humiliated and the wealthy nightclub owner whose wife - a blond, hard-bodied beauty queen - he openly dated. But the truth would get even stranger...'Phelps is a first-rate investigator' - Dr. Michael M. Baden. In this shocking true story of adultery, mind games, lies, wealth and sexual liaisons in upscale Middle America, true-crime master M. William Phelps tells the astounding story of a man who loved the wrong woman - and was brutally murdered by a killer with the deadliest possible motive of all...**

He couldn't kill her will to survive . . . By the time Anne Bridges saw the gun in Jimmy Williams's hand, it was already too late. The bad things she had heard about him—how he had drugged a woman and held her hostage—Anne now realized were true. Only now it was her turn. What began as a well-intentioned attempt to reconnect with an old friend became, for Anne, a struggle to survive. In her own words Anne shares a chilling minute-by-minute account of her ordeal—the shotgun blast that nearly ended her life, her desperate struggle to escape, and the courage that sustained her on her long road to recovery—as part of a compelling narrative by award-winning, New York Times bestselling author M. William Phelps. She is telling her story in hopes that other women will not have to go through what she endured at the hands of a violent attacker. Praise for M. William Phelps and His True-Crime...

"Phelps dares to tread where few others will: into the mind of a killer." --TV Rage"Phelps is a true-crime veteran."--New York PostThe missing-persons case of Heather Strong, a young, beautiful suburban mother, baffled Florida detectives. When the file was handed to a veteran investigator, he knew Heather was dead. The challenge was to find her body--and whoever killed her. Soon, a sordid triangle of sex, jealousy, and rage came to light. The killers were cunning, manipulative, depraved--and they were as close to Heather as a man and a woman could possibly be. Vividly recreated by master investigative journalist M. William Phelps, this riveting account of seething small-town passions is a classic tale of crime and justice. Includes 16 Pages Of Dramatic Photos

Fighting for her life . . .A few days before her 26th birthday, Melissa Schickel returned to her Indianapolis home and went to bed. An hour later, she was yanked from her dreams into terror. An intruder held her down, brutally beating and stabbing her.Melissa fought fiercely.  The assailant fled, leaving her to face a long road to recovery from deep-seated fear and post-traumatic stress. She tells her exclusive true story as part of a compelling narrative by bestselling crime expert M. William Phelps. Her strength and courage will inspire all women with similar experiences to think of themselves proudly as survivors—not victims."Phelps clearly shows how the ugliest crimes can take place in the quietest of suburbs." —Library Journal on Never See Them Again  "Phelps is a true-crime veteran."—New York Post"Anything by Phelps is always an eye-opening experience." —Suspense Magazine

An Unimaginable Crime. An Unlikely Place. An Unrelenting Killer. On December 16, 2004, a Nodaway County, Missouri 911 operator received a frantic call from the mother of 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett. Bobbie Jo, an eight-months-pregnant mom-to-be, had been found lying on her family room floor bleeding profusely and barely breathing. Her unborn baby was gone. Only 150 miles away, in Melvern, Kansas, Lisa Montgomery dressed the baby she'd brutally kidnapped in a Winnie the Pooh outfit and called her husband to say that she'd given birth to a baby girl she named Abigail. While televisions blared the nation's first Amber Alert for an unborn child, Lisa proudly showed off "her" new baby at church and a local diner, duping many while arousing the suspicions of others. And that was only the beginning of one of the most unthinkable events in American history, one that shocked the nation and left two Midwestern communities reeling in the crime's aftermath. Investigative journalist and acclaimed author M. William Phelps delivers a definitive literary investigation of this compelling story, one that is as suspenseful as it is heartbreaking. With the exclusive cooperation of Lisa Montgomery's ex-husband, Carl Boman, Lisa's children and mother, law enforcement officials, friends, relatives, and neighbors, Phelps reveals what really happened that fateful day in December and traces the tortured history of sexual abuse, abandonment, and desperation that planted the seeds of a potential sociopath destined for "moral insanity." Here is the true story of the frantic search for a baby born under the most horrifying conditions imaginable, of the lucky break that led to the killer, of Lisa's family's fears about her mental health, and of the shock waves that linger in two American towns that will never be the same again. Like Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood, Murder in the Heartland" takes an unflinching look at an American tragedy, exploring its terrible trajectory with courage, insight, and compassion.

"Phelps is a true-crime veteran." —New York PostCherry Walker was a devoted, trusting, uncommonly innocent young woman who loved caring for a neighbor's little boy. But when she was asked to testify in court against his abusive mother, Cherry never got the chance. She couldn't lie if her life depended on it—and it did. Cherry's body was found on the side of a Texas road, after being doused with lighter fluid and set aflame. Attractive, manipulative, and violent, mother of four Kim Cargill had a wealth of dirty secrets she'd do anything to keep hidden. This in-depth account by bestselling investigative journalist M. William Phelps takes you inside Cargill's shocking trial—and into the mind of one of the most conniving female psychopaths in recent history—and on death row."Anything by Phelps is an eye-opening experience." —Suspense Magazine "Phelps dares to tread where few others will: into the...

A Life Taken - Jeanne Dominico's fiance found her body on her kitchen floor. More than forty stab wounds and blows to her head with a blunt instrument had cut her life short. What monster had struck in the heart of a peaceful New England town?A Trust Betrayed - Jeanne was a hard-working single mother. Nicole, her fourteen-year-old daughter was on the honor-roll and head over heels in love-with an eighteen-year-old man she'd known only through the Internet. Once the lovers met in person, Jeanne's motherly instincts sensed trouble. If only she'd known that the life in danger was her own.In The Name Of Love - With a history of psychological trouble and family misfortune, Billy Sullivan's obsessive and controlling power over Nicole contributed to the brutal slaying of her mother. But it was Nicole's stunning confession and guilty plea that led to Billy's sensational trial, where a sordid tale of love, loss, betrayal and murder finally took a cold-blooded killer offline - and on line for justice.**

Retail"Phelps shows how the ugliest crimes can take place in the quietest of suburbs." --"Library Journal"When librarian Martha Gail Fulton was gunned down in a Michigan parking lot on a quiet evening, there were two obvious suspects--Gail's husband George, a former military officer . . . and George's mistress, the flashy businesswoman Donna Kay Trapani. Police were baffled to find that both had ironclad alibis. Yet evidence showed the shooter, a male, had an accomplice--a mystery woman. Now, M. William Phelps recounts the compelling real-life drama of a twisted love triangle that ended in bloody murder, and the riveting investigation that brought to light a master manipulator's trail of deadly deceit. "Phelps is the Harlan Coben of real-life thrillers." -Allison BrennanPraise for M. William Phelps "One of our most engaging crime journalists." -Katherine Ramsland"Phelps ratchets up the dramatic tension." -Stephen Singular "One of America's finest true-crime writers." -Vincent Bugliosi"Phelps creates a vivid portrait." -"Publishers Weekly"Includes 16 Pages Of Dramatic Photos

"Phelps is one of America's finest true-crime writers." —Vincent Bugliosi"Phelps is the Harlan Coben of real-life thrillers." –Allison BrennanIt was Memorial Day weekend, the start of the summer season. Thousands headed to Ocean City, Maryland, to enjoy its scenic beaches, lively boardwalk, and trendy nightclubs. Among the bright-spirited vacationers was a couple with a much darker idea of fun. Erica Sifrit, a former honor student, was packing a gun in her Coach bag. Her husband, B.J., an ex-Navy SEAL, was trained in violence. What started as a chance encounter with another couple ended with two dismembered victims buried in a Delaware landfill. M. William Phelps updates this modern-day "Bonnie and Clyde" saga to create a haunting account of money, madness, sex, and murder. . .Praise for M. William Phelps"Phelps's writing reads like a mystery novel." —Suspense Magazine"One of our most engaging crime journalists." —Katherine...

"Phelps is the Harlan Coben of real-life thrillers." —Allison Brennan Iowa housewife Tracey Pittman Roberts seemed to have it all: natural beauty, three loving children, and a fairy tale second marriage to a wealthy, handsome businessman. But beneath the happy façade was a woman who used lies, manipulation, sex, ugly allegations, blackmail—and even murder—to serve her own selfish ends. On December 12, 2001, police rushed to Tracey's home after a shooting left her vulnerable young neighbor dead. Tracey claimed it was an act of self-defense. Nine gunshot wounds—and a decades-long trail of extortion, fabrication, fraud, and intimidation—said otherwise. Ten years after the crime, Tracey's case finally went to trial in an explosive courtroom showdown. In a searing exploration of the criminal mind, bestselling investigative journalist M. William Phelps traces the saga of a psychopath who hid in plain sight—until her...