Cirrus@Austlit

'What does Lauren Donnelly owe the daughter of the man who died to save her? The cost of his funeral? A job at her ailing Cape Cod nursery? The lives of her loved ones? Or will only her own death settle the score?

'On a wintry New England morning an innocent short-cut turns to disaster when the snow-covered field Lauren Donnelly crosses turns out to be a not-so-solidly-frozen stream. A passing stranger comes to her aid. Only to fall through the ice himself and succumb to the frigid waters. Struggling to come to terms with the tragedy, Lauren reaches out to the man’s only daughter and long-time care-giver, a woman now suffering financial hardship. But Ada Phelps is not the devoted, grief-stricken offspring she pretends. And making people pay for their crimes is the one thing she has always done best.' (Publication summary)

'Raina Wilkins has little to live for. Until she's forced on the run with a wanted killer and a homeless teen with a deadly secret... Driving alone on a dark autumn night, Raina hits a man who darts from the Maine woods in front of her. The injured stranger climbs in her car, forces her to drive on at gunpoint, but gets out soon after and disappears back into the forest. Raina thinks never to see him again. But Alec DeMarco has left something behind in her car, something others will kill to possess. When he and others return to claim it, Raina is swept into a world of conspiracy, abduction and murder. A world where even the police want her dead.' (Synopsis)