Mercy
by Julie Garwood

Julie Garwood created an electrifying tour de force in her suspense-charged bestseller Heartbreaker, a "crackling good thriller" (New York Post) that pitted a relentless FBI agent against a madman in a frenzied race for one beautiful woman. Now, in this thrilling new novel, Garwood goes further down the dark road where passion and obsession meet.

Like his FBI-agent brother Nick, Theo Buchanan is devoted to his crime-Þghting career. Only Theo works the other side of the desk as an esteemed Justice Department attorney. At a gala ceremony in New Orleans, he is suddenly struck ill and is rushed to a hospital where a brilliant and beautiful surgeon, Dr. Michelle Renard, saves his life. It is not the only life-and-death crisis that will ensnare Theo -- for he is about to uncover a ring of criminals bent on preserving their secrecy at any cost.

They call themselves the Sowing Club: four white-collar professionals whose sophisticated crimes have amassed millions of dollars in a Cayman Islands bank account. The group is bound by a pact to leave the cash untouched until they accumulate a cool $40 million. But their leader, John, has begun to lose his focus in their "all-for-one" commitment, distracted by and nearly bankrupt from his wife's grave illness. Knowing what must be done, John turns to his three friends. For the sake of the pact, their brand of crime must turn to the mercy killing of John's wife. But the line between mercy and murder quickly vanishes....

Now, in the small bayou town of Bowen, Louisiana, Theo Buchanan comes to the aid of Michelle Renard when her medical clinic is vandalized. What he discovers is chilling and deadly. As the relentless and cold-blooded Sowing Club sets out to silence Michelle, the one person who may have the information that will destroy them, Theo confronts the lies, greed, and evil that bind the lethal foursome -- and risks more than he ever has before. Michelle saved his life...now can he save hers?

With all of the storytelling power and insight into the human heart that have made her one of the bestselling authors of our time, Julie Garwood introduces readers to an unforgettable cast of intriguing characters in this new masterpiece of contemporary suspense.

Other Books by Julie Garwood

Fast Track

Hotshot

Sweet Talk

The Ideal Man

Shadow Music

Shadow Dance

Slow Burn

Murder List

KillJoy

The Bride

Ransom

Come the Spring

For the Roses

Castles

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Julie Garwood's Bio

Photo by Charles Bush

It’s no surprise that Julie Garwood became a writer. Growing up in a large family of Irish heritage, she took to storytelling naturally. “The Irish relish getting all the details of every situation,” she explains. “Add in the fact that I was the sixth of seven children. Early in life I learned that self-expression had to be forceful, imaginative, and quick.”

Creating stories was always a passion for Julie, but she didn’t focus on making it a career until the youngest of her three children entered school. After the publications of two young adult books, she turned her interests to historical fiction. Her first novel, GENTLE WARRIOR, was published in 1985, and there has been a steady parade of bestsellers ever since. Today more than 35 million copies of her books are in print, and they are translated in dozens of languages around the world. One of her most popular novels, FOR THE ROSES, was adapted for a HALLMARK HALL OF FAME production on CBS.

Whether the setting be medieval Scotland, Regency England, frontier Montana, or modern-day Louisiana, her themes are consistent: family, loyalty, and honor. Readers claim that it’s the humor as well as poignancy of her novels that keep them coming back for more. Julie described her goals this way: “I want my readers to laugh and cry and fall in love. Basically, I want them to escape into another world for a little while and afterwards to feel as though they’ve been on a great adventure.”

Julie lives in Leawood, Kansas, and is currently working on her next novel.