She had to tell a lieBut that still hadn't stopped Detective St. James from coming around and asking Laura questions about the murder of her ex-husband. He seemed to see right through her when she said she didn't know anything about the notorious madam, Anna Kolnikov, either. What good would it do to admit the dead woman had helped Laura turn her life around? It wouldn't help protect her daughter from the mob. In fact, ...

Family means everythingTo Leslie Meadows, the warm, close-knit D'Angelo family is everything a family should be. Everything her own family wasn't.But the D'Angelos are facing difficult times, and when Dr. Matt D'Angelo comes home for Christmas, Leslie hardly recognizes the troubled man who'd been her best friend since he'd defended her in the sixth grade. Suddenly Leslie feels like an outsider.Then Matt uncovers a secret about her that his father has kept for decades. Once ...

WANTEDHe hadn't needed some dossier to remember FBI agent J. J. Barnes. Killer looks. Killer body. Killer instincts. She could take care of herself.Officially, U.S. Marshal Cody Landry led a detail to ensure J.J. lived to deliver testimony against the Russian mob that had tried to assassinate her once already. Unofficially, he was to lure the assassins into the open...using J.J. as bait. Cody hated the idea. Because more primal than his urge to protect ...

Sometimes you have to tell a lie to find the truthHer sister had lived such a secret life, Whitney Sheffield didn't even know that Morgan had a three-year-old daughter. In a desperate phone call just before her death, Morga had begged Whitney to find the little girl, to rescue SaraJane from her dangerous father-a man called Rhys Gannon.When Whitney tracks Gannon down to a small place in Arizona, she lies about why she's there...and what ...

CAN YOU TAKE THE HEAT?From street-smart kid to respected cop, Killian "Chili Pepper" Cray had left her old life behind eight years ago and never looked back. But after an attempted murder left her foster father in a coma, Killian was forced to wade through the bitter memories back home in Syracuse and dig up evidence that would bring down the killer. Facing her past had never been easy, but it was reuniting with the ...

Ria Channing fled from her family six years ago, running away after committing a sin no parent could forgive-driving drunk in the crash that killed her younger brother.The golden child, gone. The demon child, walking away unharmed.Now Ria is back, hungry and exhausted, fighting for survival...with a son of her own. The loving home she left, though, no longer exists. Her parents, once so adoring, have divorced. And Ria regrets returning to the family she ...

In recent years there has been much talk and concern about invasive species--and countertalk about whether "invasive" species are necessarily bad. Susan Forest leads off our April issue with a thought-provoking novelette about "The Most Invasive Species" and the elusive relationship between quality of intentions and quality of results. Craig DeLancey also has a novelette, "Ecce Signum," which is the latest (and last?) in his series about "Marrion's Children," bred and raised for a unique ...

The action never lets up in our March lead story by newish author Derek Kanksen. Life may have formed very differently in "The Way of the Needle" than it has on Earth, but the nature of conflict remains the same. It won't be easy to put this fast-paced thriller down. Once you do, though, you can turn to another adventure tale on a distant planet. "Golva's Ascent," a new novelette by Tom Purdom, features intriguing ...

Helen has enjoyed her tenure as an Alliance pilot, but working with unpredictable crews is wearing on her nerves. When an incident of defense of the innocent via mutiny ends her career, controlling warships is over. Joining the Sector Guard felt right, but if she had known what was ahead of her, she may have held back when the handsome Azon doctor offered her a job. Hyder has always known the matches that he sees ...

Ilona Carrus and Damon Adlus are the final competitors in the Championship Dive, a contest to get as close to the event horizon of a black hole as possible. But when Ilona comes up with a way to get closer than anyone ever has before, Damon chooses to take the most dangerous risk of them all...

February being the traditional month of romance, we start the issue off with a novellette by Rudy Rucker and Eileen Gunn that treats us to the zany courtship of a lovely Southern California woman and her plugged-in and technologically turned-on "Hive Mind Man." In "Murder Born," Robert Reed's latest novella, an utterly engrossing mystery tale is blended with a remarkable idea. It's a future where murder victims may be returned to their families, but the ...

Some wallflowers bloom at night... A Spindle Cove Novella Violet Winterbottom is a quiet girl. She speaks six languages, but seldom raises her voice. She endured bitter heartbreak in perfect silence. The gentlemen aren't beating down her door. Until the night of the Spindle Cove Christmas ball, when a mysterious stranger crashes into the ballroom and collapses at Violet's feet. His coarse attire and near-criminal good looks would put any sensible young lady on her ...