{"product_id":"dead-aim-isbn-9780553584387","title":"Dead Aim","description":"The #1 \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author Iris Johansen returns with an electrifying  and all-too-plausible thriller that pushes the level of suspense to the maximum and  never lets up. From the tense opening scene to the final explosive page, Johansen  delivers a knockout novel, as an unlikely pair of allies must expose a team of killers  hiding behind an unspeakable act of terror—and risk ending up their next target.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e She witnesses death through the eye of her camera. Now a relentless killer is focused  on her. A celebrated photojournalist, Alex Graham has seen it all—but her latest  assignment has forced her across a dangerous line. What happens when a reporter does  more than just report? She has recorded some of the most tragic and heartbreaking  of catastrophes, everything from natural disasters to infamous acts of terror. Her  experiences have left her forever marked with the human side of tragedy. So when  a dam breaks in Arapahoe Junction, Colorado, Alex is once more at the site doing  more than just snapping pictures—she is in the mud with a shovel digging for survivors.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e What happens when the reporter becomes the story? Alex finds more than she bargained  for. In one terrible instant, she is witness to a conspiracy that will stun a nation.  The official story is just a cover-up for a truth so frightening, so unthinkable,  anyone who threatens to reveal it must be silenced. Forever. And now that someone  is Alex Graham.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The first attempt on her life is swift and brutal. Only barely escaping,  she finds an ally in an improbable source. Billionaire financier John Logan has his  own reasons for protecting Alex, and these reasons alone are likely to get her killed.  Using his vast connections and influences, Logan assigns a bodyguard to protect her.  Judd Morgan is the best covert commando in the business, and if anyone can keep Alex  safe, it’s this quietly dangerous man. The problem is, Alex doesn’t want to be kept  safe by Judd, whose checkered past has made him the target of an unseen assassin  who dogs his every step.“Smoothly written, tightly plotted, turbocharged thriller … Johansen doesn’t miss.”—\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eIris Johansen\u003c\/b\u003e is the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of many novels, including \u003ci\u003eKiller Dreams, On the Run, Countdown, Firestorm, Fatal Tide, Dead Aim, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eNo One to Trust. \u003c\/i\u003eShe lives near Atlanta, Georgia.\u003cb\u003eArapahoe Junction, Colorado\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e October 15\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\"I know I'm late, dammit.\" Alex Graham's   hand clenched on her cell phone. \"I'll get those pictures to you as soon as I can.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"You'd get them to me sooner if you'd stop working in the rubble and start taking   pictures of those rescue workers whose job it is to do it,\" Jim Karak said sarcastically.   \"Old news is no news, Alex. That dam broke almost a week ago and the magazine goes   to press in two days.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"They're still digging survivors from the landslide caused   by the dam break.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Then you should be taking warm, heroic pictures instead of manning   a shovel. You're breaking one of the cardinal rules. You're becoming part of the   story.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"There may be people alive beneath that--\" It was no use. Karak had one   priority and that was the story. \"You'll get the pictures.\" She hung up and leaned   back against the wall and rubbed her temple. God, she was tired. She'd be lucky if   Karak didn't call her back and tell her to find another magazine to publish her work.   She wasn't being fair and certainly not professional. If she hadn't had a decent   track record before this, Karak would have dumped her days ago.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Problems?\" Sarah   Logan and her dog, Monty, were standing in the doorway of the trailer.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"A few.\"   Alex grimaced as she rose to her feet. \"It seems I'm not doing my job. I'm not focusing   on what's important.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"You could have fooled me.\" Sarah filled Monty's bowl with   water and sat down on the floor beside him while he drank. \"We found a baby alive   in that hellhole this morning. I'd say that was pretty important.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Me too.\" Alex   smiled. \"Screw Karak.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Sarah didn't return her smile. \"I don't want you to lose   your job, Alex. I know how much your work means to you. There are other volunteers   out there helping to dig.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Alex lifted her brows. \"Oh, then you have too much help?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"You know there's no such thing in a disaster like this. We have to work fast or--   Okay, we need you. I just don't want you to be hurt. God knows there's enough pain   in this world.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e And Sarah Logan witnessed a good deal of it, Alex thought. She and   her golden retriever, Monty, were in a canine search-and-rescue team, and Alex had   run across her on half a dozen disaster sites during the last five years. In the   horror of natural and man-made tragedies, a strong bond of friendship had been forged.   \"I'll be okay.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Your editor is right. This isn't your job.\" She shook her head.   \"Look at you. You're covered in dirt from head to toe. Your hands are bleeding from   that shovel and you haven't slept in twenty-four hours.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Have you?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Sarah ignored   the question. \"And it's more than your hands that are bleeding. Take a step back,   Alex. It will break you if you get too close to it. Believe me, I know.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"It's not   as though I haven't been to other disaster sites.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"But then you weren't as involved.   You were taking photographs and helping in the first-aid tent. You weren't uncovering   the bodies of people you hoped would be alive.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e She didn't want to think of those   bodies. There had been too many in the last few days. \"Yet you do it all the time.   You could stay home and live soft and yet, every time there's a call, you and Monty   are off and running. I'm surprised your husband doesn't raise hell.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"He doesn't   like it, but he understands.\" Sarah frowned. \"But we're not talking about me. I've   watched you work and there's no one more dedicated. You love what you do and you've   told me a dozen times that your job is to tell the story. Don't get sidetracked.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"I'm not sidetracked. I'll get it done.\" She bent down and stroked Monty's soft   fur. \"I just can't-- I'll get it done.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Sarah stared at her, troubled. \"I don't   think you should accept assignments like this anymore. I've seen it coming since   Ground Zero, but it's getting worse. You've . . . changed.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Steel and concrete and   that stinging smoke that seemed to cover the world like a shroud.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Ground Zero changed   all of us.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Sarah and Monty crawling among the ruins while Alex watched helplessly.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Sarah and Alex holding desperately to each other while the tears poured down both   their faces.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Sarah nodded. \"But I had someone to go home to while I healed. I should   have made you come with me.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Life had to go on. I had to go on.\" She shrugged.   \"And if I took some baggage with me, then that's the way it had to be. I'm usually   okay. This one is rough. It's brought back too many memories.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"But it's not the   same,\" Sarah said gently. \"We've found survivors here, Alex. Seventy-two so far.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"That's not enough,\" she whispered. \"It's never enough. I can't stand by and let--\"   She cleared her throat and changed the subject. \"Is it your rest time?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Sarah shook   her head. \"I just had to get Monty some water. My canteen was empty. We still have   a few hours to work until dark. It's less dangerous for Monty if he can see clearly   what's out there.\" She paused. \"But we've just had two bits of good news. The President   is coming here next week.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"It's about time. Vice President Shepard was here the   day after the dam break.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Yeah, I was impressed. But it's when the President shows   up that FEMA and all the aid organizations get a boost.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"That's good.\" She made   a face. \"Maybe I can convince Karak I was only waiting for Andreas to show up so   that I could give him a really big story.\" She shook her head. \"Nah, I'm no good   at lying. Besides, security is so tight around the President right now that I wouldn't   get within a mile of him.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"I'm surprised he's coming at all. There was a bombing   at the embassy in Mexico City last night.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"The same terrorist group?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Sarah nodded.   \"Matanza claimed it. And an effigy of Andreas was left burning on the lawn.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Bastards.\"   It was the third embassy attack by the Guatemalan terrorist group in the last six   months. If it wasn't the Middle East, it was Guatemala or Venezuela. Juan Cordoba   and his Matanza group had always been rabid revolutionaries in their own country,   but now--fueled by drug money and Al Qaeda support--they had grown powerful enough   to take aim at Andreas and the administration that was trying to stabilize the party   in power. It seemed impossible to Alex that there had ever been a time when her country   hadn't been surrounded by terror and ugliness and threats. Yet she could remember   a childhood filled with trust and innocence and the belief that nothing really bad   could come knocking on her door. The memory filled her with frustration and anger   and immense sadness. \"I hope your second bit of good news is better than your first.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Hey, you have to take the bitter with the sweet. At least Andreas isn't letting   anyone scare him into ignoring people who need him. He should be safe enough visiting   this site. All the evidence points to a natural disaster here.\" She smiled. \"And   the preliminary report on the ground on the other side of the dam says it appears   to be fairly stable. They're sending some teams up there tomorrow morning to do a   final check. When the landslide buried this area, they were afraid the ground on   the other side might be compromised.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Jesus. That's all these poor people need.   Another landslide.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"They tried to evacuate everyone from that area just for safety's   sake. But it looks like they can go back home.\" Sarah stroked Monty's head. \"Time   to go back to work, boy.\" She stood up and headed for the door. \"And it's a good   time for you to take some photographs.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"How bossy can you get?\" Alex followed her   and stood in the doorway, gazing out at the disaster site. Every time she looked   at the devastation it made her sick. The Arapahoe Dam had broken five days ago and   the water had rushed down into the valley below, killing over a hundred twenty people.   But the series of landslides caused by the explosive force of the water on either   side of the valley was the horror they were dealing with now. The rock slides had   covered the homes and businesses of Arapahoe Junction under tons of rock, and the   area was still so unstable the rescue had to be done painstakingly by hand, not machine.   Her glance shifted across the jagged wreck of the dam to the hills on the other side.   The rocky terrain looked blessedly sturdy in a shaky world.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Christ, she was glad   there wasn't going to be another horror piled on top of this one.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Stop looking   at it,\" Sarah called back to her. \"Take those photos.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Sure, take the pictures.   Ignore the fact that there might be more people alive under those rocks.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Promise   me,\" Sarah said.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"I promise. I'll take the damn photos. I'll get them and send them   out today.\" She grabbed her shovel, which was leaning against the trailer. As Sarah   had said, there was still light and the job on this side of the gorge was monumental.   \"But not now. I can't do it now. . . .\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e It was late afternoon when Alex stopped   working and went back to the trailer to get her camera.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e She'd cut it close and she'd   have to work fast to get the photos before dark. Well, if she didn't get all she   needed she'd improvise.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e A helicopter was descending at the first-aid tent a few   hundred yards away from the trailer and she waved at Ken Nader, the pilot, as he   got out of the aircraft.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e He waved back and called, \"I brought you that special lens   to replace the one you said you damaged.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Thanks. I don't need it right now. I'll   be over later to get it.\" She turned and started up the hill.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The hillside was still   crawling with men and women carefully picking away at the rocks. She'd gotten to   know a few of them this week as they'd worked side by side. Janet Delsey was a resident   of the town that had been buried beneath the landslide. She'd been in Denver when   the tragedy happened. She worked in the local library, and her parents had not been   found yet.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Alex focused and took the picture.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Bill Adams was a truck driver who   had been passing through when he'd heard about the dam. He'd parked his rig and volunteered   to help.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e She snapped the picture.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Carey Melway was a college student, full of idealism   and hope, who had come down from Salt Lake City. Alex had watched him change from   a kid to an adult in these last few days.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e She took the picture.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e She took four rolls   of film in the next hour. The volunteers, the canine rescue teams, the flooded gorge.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"You left it a little late.\" Sarah was carefully making her way down the side of   the mountain, followed by Monty. \"Are you going to have enough material?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Too much.\"   She looked at Janet Delsey again. \"Do you think she has any chance of finding her   parents alive?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"A chance, if we can get to them in time. At least this isn't a   mud slide. There are pockets of air beneath those rocks.\" She motioned for Monty.   \"I have to get down and feed him his dinner and vitamins. Are you almost finished?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Alex shook her head. \"I've got most of the human-interest shots, but I need a photograph   that tells the big story, the scope of the rescue operation.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e She waved her hand.   \"Good luck. You'll need it.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Sarah was right. It was difficult to encompass the   full depth of a tragedy when you were on top of it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e On top of it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Her gaze flew   across the gorge. The terrain was higher there and it probably afforded a view of   both the flooded valley and the workers laboring on the landslide. Sarah had said   they were ninety percent sure the ground over there was safe.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e If she could get across   the gorge.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e She couldn't walk across it or swim across it. Which left only one other   means of transportation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e She turned and hurried down the slope toward the first-aid   tent.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The helicopter circled and then dipped closer to the trees. \"If that ground   looks even a little wobbly, I'm not leaving you here,\" Ken Nader told Alex grimly.   \"You got the aerial shots. That should be enough for you. I don't know why I let   you talk me into this.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Because you're a good guy and you knew I had to have these   pictures. And you can see it's safe here. The worst that can happen to me is if I   fall down that slope into the floodwaters.\" She grinned as she stowed her camera   in her backpack. \"And if I'm that clumsy, then I deserve to drown. Just go back to   the first-aid tent in case they have an emergency and pick me up in an hour.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"You'd   better be here.\" He set down in a glade in the trees. \"I don't like this, Alex.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"It will be fine. I'm not stupid. I don't take chances.\" She jumped out of the helicopter.   \"Thanks, Ken.\" She adjusted her backpack with her equipment, waved, and turned away.   \"One hour . . .\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e It took her fifteen minutes before she could get out of the forest   and start climbing the hill toward the huge red rock on the pinnacle she'd seen from   the other side of the gorge.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The sun was going down and twilight was hovering.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Hurry. Get up there before it's fully dark.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e She was quickly loading and adjusting   her camera in the last few minutes before she reached the pinnacle.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Now, if she   had enough light . . .\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Oh, my God.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The entire valley was spread before her. The   tops of houses drowned in the floodwaters below. Moving lanterns and floodlights   dotted the site of the landslide. Men and women looking small and helpless as ants   trying to stop the death and destruction.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e She drew a deep, shaky breath, raised   the camera, and took the picture.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Then she took another and another.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e She didn't   stop until it was fully dark and she could see only the lanterns and floodlights.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e How long had she been here? She wondered as she repacked her equipment and started   down the hill. Probably too long, but she hadn't heard Ken's helicopter, so she still   had time to get to the glade. He'd wait anyway. In spite of his threat, he wouldn't   leave her here.","brand":"Bantam","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46302017913061,"sku":"NP9780553584387","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780553584387.jpg?v=1767724813","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/dead-aim-isbn-9780553584387","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}