Product DescriptionFor fans of Robert Parker's smart but tough-as-nails heroes, screenwriter Stephen Carpenter introduces a new character to the mystery genre, Jack Rhodes. Jack is an author and former boxer who was on his way to literary success when his life was blown apart by the horrific suicide of his fiancee. Devastated, Jack went on a fifteen-month alcoholic spiral into near-oblivion before eventually working past his demons to become a best-selling crime novelist. But just as Jack is finishing his fourth book about a vicious serial killer, the LAPD interrupts his quiet routine with news of what appears to be a copycat murder from his first book. There's just one problem--the murder took place before Jack's book was published. Jack begins to investigate, using techniques he learned through his meticulous research with police and FBI investigators. To his horror, Jack discovers that each of the murders he has imagined are all real...down to the most harrowing details. And Jack is Suspect Number One.Jack winds up on the run, a fugitive haunted by his past and hunted by the very cops and FBI agents he has learned from and befriended. Jack must use every resource he has to prevent the murder of a woman he knows will be next in his series of novels. He must piece together shattered memories from the fragments he recalls during his drunken fifteen-month blackout.Fast-paced and utterly unpredictable, KILLER reads like a rapid-fire crime thriller, with hairpin twists and turns and edge-of-your seat psychological horror. KILLER eludes easy answers to the impossible puzzle Jack must solve, and takes the reader on a journey unlike any other.

In the sequel to the bestselling novel, KILLER, Stephen Carpenter has entangled his character, mystery writer Jack Rhodes, in a web of sex, murder, and money--this time in Hollywood, where Jack spent his early years as a screenwriter. Jack's past comes back to haunt him when a B-movie actress-turned-hooker, Penelope Fox, is found murdered in a suite at the Chateau Marmont. Jack's friend, FBI Agent Melvin Beauchamp, discovers shocking news: Penelope was Jack's wife. Jack cooperates with the investigation and uncovers memories of his brief, drunken fling with Penelope. He also learns he may have a daughter--15 year-old Karen, who becomes Suspect Number One in the murder of her mother. On the run with Karen, Jack revisits unsavory characters from his past to solve to puzzle of Penelope's murder--and find out if Karen really is his daughter. Gripping and rich with detail from current Hollywood culture, KILLER IN THE HILLS is a ripped-from-the-headlines story that will keep you guessing right until the shattering conclusion.