Books with author Chuck Logan

It's hot.The snow is gone, the ice is gone -- winter is long forgotten. When the phone wakes Phil Broker at five a.m. on the morning of his forty-eighth birthday -- six months removed from his surviving a January cold snap that (in Absolute Zero) nearly claimed his life -- it's already ninety-two degrees. It's July, and Stillwater, Minnesota, finds itself in the middle of the worst heat wave in local memory. The news on the phone has nothing to do with birthday wishes, however. A year earlier, an angry citizen served as jury and executioner by pumping twelve bullets into a known pedophile -- and in the process became a folk hero, dubbed "the Saint" by locals. Despite protests to the contrary, everybody in the community (including the police department) felt justice had been served, and the investigation quickly went cold. Ever since, strong rumors have circulated that the real reason the Saint hasn't been apprehended is that he -- or she -- is a cop.Now a priest has been murdered, and a clue left at the scene suggests it to be the work of a vigilante. Was the priest a sexual predator? Could the Saint be back? For the members of the Stillwater law-enforcement community, it means that a killer could be in their midst. The caller begs for Broker's help: as an outsider, Broker can be counted on to follow the investigation wherever it leads. But as the temperature mounts and new victims begin surfacing, Broker wonders if he's been set up to catch a bullet for a scandal that threatens to bring down the Stillwater Police Department.

It's hot.The snow is gone, the ice is gone -- winter is long forgotten. When the phone wakes Phil Broker at five a.m. on the morning of his forty-eighth birthday -- six months removed from his surviving a January cold snap that (in Absolute Zero) nearly claimed his life -- it's already ninety-two degrees. It's July, and Stillwater, Minnesota, finds itself in the middle of the worst heat wave in local memory. The news on the phone has nothing to do with birthday wishes, however. A year earlier, an angry citizen served as jury and executioner by pumping twelve bullets into a known pedophile -- and in the process became a folk hero, dubbed "the Saint" by locals. Despite protests to the contrary, everybody in the community (including the police department) felt justice had been served, and the investigation quickly went cold. Ever since, strong rumors have circulated that the real reason the Saint hasn't been apprehended is that he -- or she -- is a cop.Now a priest has been murdered, and a clue left at the scene suggests it to be the work of a vigilante. Was the priest a sexual predator? Could the Saint be back? For the members of the Stillwater law-enforcement community, it means that a killer could be in their midst. The caller begs for Broker's help: as an outsider, Broker can be counted on to follow the investigation wherever it leads. But as the temperature mounts and new victims begin surfacing, Broker wonders if he's been set up to catch a bullet for a scandal that threatens to bring down the Stillwater Police Department.

How far would you go to protect your family?Phil Broker and Nina Pryce moved to Glacier Falls, Minnesota, seeking some peace and rest. No one in the wintry backlands knows about them or how, just a few months back, they were major players in averting a serious act of terrorism—one that has left them both physically and psychologically shaken.But when a schoolyard bully provokes their daughter, Kit, and she gives him a bloody nose, the Broker family is set in the crosshairs of a vengeful local clan, notorious for violence and criminal behavior, that includes ex-con Gator Bodine, who knows a thing or two about Broker's past as an undercover cop. And when Gator learns of Broker's role in a drug sting that resulted in the death of a mobster's son, he lets the mob boss know just where to find Broker.As Broker finds himself caught between a band of backwoods meth cookers and a hit man bent on revenge, he has no choice but to take justice into his own hands to keep his family safe.

It never occurred to Phil Broker and Nina Pryce -- still recoveringfrom their life-and-death struggle with a demented terrorist -- that a minor school-yard tussle could lead to this.In the winter backlands of Glacier Falls, Minnesota, nobody knows a thing about the crucial roles Broker and Nina played months earlier in averting an act of terrorism. Nor does anyone know about the damage -- both physical and psychological -- that Nina, especially, suffered as a consequence. This is why they'd moved here in the first place: for anonymity, calm, and therestorative powers of a remote landscape. Also for the chance, maybe, to become a family again. Broker tells himself that if they just keep a low profile, stay out of trouble, and tend to their wounds, everything will work out fine.But it doesn't take much to set off an avalanche, and one is triggered for them when a school-yard bully picks a fight with the wrong third-grade girl: Phil and Nina's daughter, Kit. She humiliates Teddy Klumpe, and so too Klumpe's parents, by giving him a bloody nose -- and thereby puts the Broker household in the crosshairs of a vengeful local clan notorious for violenceand criminal behavior.Suddenly little things start happening -- a flat tire, footprints in the snow, garbage spilled across the driveway. Did Broker leave the door unlocked? Or was somebody in the house when he and Kit were out cross-country skiing?Broker copes as best as he can -- monitoring Nina's mood swings, running interference for Kit at school, and keeping a wary eye out for whoever's engaging in the small-time guerrilla warfare, which grows increasingly malevolent. When his daughter's kitten disappears, though, he begins to fear for his family's safety. But Glacier Falls' tiny police force is already stretched too thin, battling the scourge of methamphetaminethat has extended even to this rural outpost.That's when the ghosts of Broker's past begin reappearing -- question is, to haunt or to help? The good news is that Harry Griffin, whom Broker served with in Vietnam thirty years earlier, advises him on how to deal with the locals -- and so an old friendship is reaffirmed.But the bad news is really, really bad. An ex-con named Gator Bodine (another Klumpe relative) discovers Broker's role, long ago, in an undercover drug sting that resulted in the death of a mobster's son. Seeking advantage in his own criminal endeavors, he gives Broker up to the mobster, who dispatches a hit man to confirm that Gator's info is accurate -- and, if it is, toexact vengeance on Broker and his family.

No tears were shed when the hunt went cold for "The Saint" -- an elusive vigilante who earned folk hero status after fatally pumping twelve bullets into a known pedophile. Now, a year later, in the blistering heat of the hottest Minnesota summer in memory, a priest has been executed in a church confessional -- a medal of Nicholas, patron saint of children, stuffed into his mouth. The Saint may be back -- and retired law enforcement officer Phil Broker is being called into service as a favor to a friend. Only an outsider can dig deeply enough into an investigation the police seem to have no enthusiasm for -- but for Broker, it means stirring up dangerous ghosts from his own haunted past. And once he himself becomes the hunted, there will be nowhere to turn for sanctuary. Because this time the killer might be a cop ...

The daughter of ex-cop Phil Broker andex-army major/anti-terrorist operative Nina Pryce, Kit Brokeris no ordinary eight-year-old. She has seen more -- and survived more -- than most grown-ups. And now she has inadvertently invited a nightmare into the lives of those she loves.Phil Broker and his family moved to tiny Glacier Falls, Minnesota, to heal from the psychological wounds they received while helping to avert an inhuman act of terror. But young Kit chose the wrong adversary when she triumphed over local schoolyard bully Teddy Klumpe -- for the boy's disreputable clan does unholy business from the darkest shadows of their small town . . . and they do not forgive. What begins as a minor feud between neighbors quickly escalates into a major offensive of intimidation, destruction, fear . . . and death. And the worst is yet to come -- because terror has come home.

How far would you go to protect your family?Phil Broker and Nina Pryce moved to Glacier Falls, Minnesota, seeking some peace and rest. No one in the wintry backlands knows about them or how, just a few months back, they were major players in averting a serious act of terrorism—one that has left them both physically and psychologically shaken. But when a schoolyard bully provokes their daughter, Kit, and she gives him a bloody nose, the Broker family is set in the crosshairs of a vengeful local clan, notorious for violence and criminal behavior, that includes ex-con Gator Bodine, who knows a thing or two about Broker's past as an undercover cop. And when Gator learns of Broker's role in a drug sting that resulted in the death of a mobster's son, he lets the mob boss know just where to find Broker.As Broker finds himself caught between a band of backwoods meth cookers and a hit man bent on revenge, he has no choice but to take justice into his own hands to keep his family safe.

The daughter of ex-cop Phil Broker andex-army major/anti-terrorist operative Nina Pryce, Kit Brokeris no ordinary eight-year-old. She has seen more -- and survived more -- than most grown-ups. And now she has inadvertently invited a nightmare into the lives of those she loves.Phil Broker and his family moved to tiny Glacier Falls, Minnesota, to heal from the psychological wounds they received while helping to avert an inhuman act of terror. But young Kit chose the wrong adversary when she triumphed over local schoolyard bully Teddy Klumpe -- for the boy's disreputable clan does unholy business from the darkest shadows of their small town . . . and they do not forgive. What begins as a minor feud between neighbors quickly escalates into a major offensive of intimidation, destruction, fear . . . and death. And the worst is yet to come -- because terror has come home.

Reunited with estranged husband and undercover cop Phil Broker, Nina Pryce takes an extended medical leave from the army to recover from the injuries-physical and psychological-she sustained at the hands of a vicious psychopath. The Broker/Pryce household relocates to a remote resort town of Glacier Falls, MN, where daughter Kit is enrolled in second grade at the local elementary school. Everyone assumes that Kit is adjusting well-until she punches Terry Clump, the terror of the second grade, in the face. He gets a bloody nose and she gets suspended. What begins as a seemingly minor spat between innocent kids quickly escalates into a vicious scenario of lawlessness and provocation. Kit's imitation of her parents' violent proclivities has put them all in harm's way: the Clumps are but one-half of a notoriously vengeful "clan" known for criminal behavior and brutal violence.