Child Crimes

In our dangerous world, offenders cannot always be brought down by the justice system. When a different kind of justice is needed—swift, effective, and personal—a new type of avenger must take action. In Vengeance, best-selling author Lee Child, “a superb craftsman of suspense” ( Entertainment Weekly), presents 21 riveting stories from some of today’s top crime writers.

On Christmas Night 1996, six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was murdered in her family's home in Boulder, Colorado. A ransom note was found, but it was hours before her father, John, found her body in the basement. She had been strangled with a garrote and her skull was fractured. The media sensationalized the tragic death of the "child beauty queen" and public speculation and rumors ran rampant. What followed was one of the most notorious unsolved murder investigations in American history.

Reacher never backs down from a problem. And he's about to find a big one, on a deserted road in Arizona, where a car has crashed into the only tree for miles around. Minutes later, Reacher is heading into town. To introduce himself to the shadowy crew who made it happen. Their boss has a terrifying reputation, and the stakes are high. Just to get in and meet him, Reacher is going to have to achieve the impossible. To get answers will be even harder. There are people in this hostile, empty place who would rather die than reveal their secrets.

In 1962, Jerry Sherwood gave up her newborn son, Dennis, for adoption. Twenty years later, she set out to find him - only to discover he had died before his fourth birthday. Harold and Lois Jurgens, a middle-class, churchgoing couple in picturesque White Bear Lake, Minnesota, had adopted Dennis and five other foster children. To all appearances, they were a normal Midwestern family, but Jerry suspected that something sinister had happened in the Jurgens household. She demanded to know the truth about her son's death.

“Hello, mom?” “Piper?” “I have been arrested. Will you please come get me?” “AGAIN, Piper?!” I sigh. “I can explain…” “I will be right there. My mom comforts me, “ I know you are tired; just go get her, and we can talk when you get back.” Stressed and upset, I drive to the police station to pick up my wayward daughter. I am at my wit's end with this girl! I know that rebelling as a teenager is normal; even though I had rebellious moments, Piper takes it to a new level. I stopped short when my eyes lock on her new probation officer. “Come on, Piper,” I insist....

But when victims of a brutal new serial killer start turning up, the Naturals are pulled into an active case that strikes too close to home: the killer is a perfect copycat of one of their incarcerated fathers - a man he'd do anything to forget. Forced deeper into a murderer's psyche than ever before, will the Naturals be able to outsmart his brutal mind games before he twists them into his web for good?

Moscow, 1953. Under Stalin’s terrifying regime, families live in fear. When the all-powerful State claims there is no such thing as crime, who dares disagree? An ambitious secret police officer, Leo Demidov believes he’s helping to build the perfect society. But when he uncovers evidence of a killer at large—a threat the state won’t admit exists—Demidov must risk everything, including the lives of those he loves, in order to expose the truth. But what if the danger isn’t from the killer he is trying to catch, but from the country he is fighting to protect?

Alex Reeve was Operative 66. A former special-ops soldier and one of the UK's deadliest weapons, he was a member of the secretive SC9 - an elite security service with a remit to neutralise the country's most dangerous enemies. Falsely accused of treason, Reeve was forced to hide in the shadows as the brutal assassins he once trained alongside sought to eliminate the 'rogue asset' at any cost. But tricked into revealing himself, Reeve is suddenly dragged into a lethal conspiracy involving the British state, shadowy Russian agents...and his own father.

At three years old, Jodie watched her father murder a woman in a seedy hotel room. He, a true-born sociopath, strolled undetected, using religion as his disguise. A life suffocating the truth wouldn't work for Jodie. The murdered woman's spirit seemed to ignite a search for answers in Jodie's adulthood. A budding darkness around the reality of her past was coming sharply into focus.

Jessie and Evan Treski have waged a lemonade war, sought justice in a class trial, unmasked a bell thief, and stood at opposite ends over the right to keep secrets. Now they are creating a magic show—a professional magic show, in their own backyard! They practice, they study, and they practice some more. And who shows up? Their father, who has done such a good job of disappearing over the past few years.

This entertaining novel is right at home alongside Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist and Leon Garfield’s Smith. In Victorian London, 12-year-old orphan Mog Winter prints wanted posters about all the dangerous villains. When a brute named Cockburn escapes prison, the ink on the posters is barely dry before Mog gets caught up in the criminal underworld. Soon thieves, crooked schemers - even murderers - are hunting Mog, but he doesn’t know why.

Inspired by Hobbs’ own journey through the Rio Grande’s canyons near the border with Mexico, Take Me to the River is a thrilling tale. Fourteen-year-old Dylan and his cousin are paddling the Rio Grande when they see six Black Hawk helicopters fly into Mexico. The army won’t say what’s happening, but they do tell the boys a hurricane is approaching. Undeterred, the boys continue their journey, unaware of what lies ahead.

Jack Reacher gets off the bus in a sleepy no-name town outside Nashville, Tennessee. He plans to grab a cup of coffee and move right along. Not going to happen. The town has been shut down by a cyber attack. At the centre of it all, whether he likes it or not, is Rusty Rutherford. He's an average IT guy, but he knows more than he thinks.

Charlene Downes was 14 years old when she went missing in the seedy underbelly of Blackpool. Once a happy-go-lucky schoolgirl, she had turned into a truant. Though Charlene was hanging out with a new crowd by takeaway shops and the pier, her mum, Karen, always knew her typical teenage daughter would come home. But one day she didn't.

After a string of brutal murders in Las Vegas, Cassie Hobbes and the Naturals are called in to investigate. But even with the team's unique profiling talents, these murders seem baffling: unlike many serial killers, this one uses different methods every time. All of the victims were killed in public, yet the killer does not show up on any security feed. And each victim has a string of numbers tattooed on their wrist. Hidden in the numbers is a code - and the closer the Naturals come to unraveling the mystery, the more perilous the case becomes.

There is an attack on the Dark Dimension! Lacey and her friends discover giant black “birds” flying over the kingdom. They were the source of radiation that sickened the villagers and killed the Voice. Lacey and Alex cross the dark dimension once more with Matt's help. This time, they must find out who these invaders are and what they want. Will they be able to defeat this new enemy without the Voice's help? Will they make it in time to save the kingdom? This is the second series of the "Voice of the Mountain" Saga. The first series is "The Voice of the Dark World".

Look out, London! Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose are thrilled to see Big Ben, ride the London Eye, and tour Madame Tussauds wax museum. Then big news hits - someone has stolen Queen Elizabeth’s jewels right outside Windsor Castle! The friends head to the castle to check for clues. But can three kids from Green Lawn find evidence that Scotland Yard has missed?

Award-winning investigative journalist and contributing Wired editor Scott Carney leads listeners on a breathtaking journey through the macabre underworld of the global body bazaar, where organs, bones, and even live people are bought and sold on The Red Market. The Red Market sheds a blazing new light on the disturbing, billion-dollar business of trading in human body parts, bodies, and child trafficking, raising issues and exposing corruptions almost too bizarre and shocking to imagine.

What do REAL PIGEONS do? They fight crime, of course! Wait, what? You didn't know your town is protected by a secret squad of crime-fighting feathered friends? Well, you are about to get schooled. REAL PIGEONS solve mysteries! REAL PIGEONS fight bad guys! And REAL PIGEONS won't stop until your neighborhood is safe and the questions are all answered: Like, why have all the breadcrumbs disappeared? And which food truck smells the best?

Based on the extraordinary true story of America's first-ever female detective, this fast-paced adventure recounts feats of daring and danger...including saving the life of Abraham Lincoln! Eleven-year-old Nell Warne arrives on her aunt's doorstep lugging a heavy sack of sorrows. If her Aunt Kate rejects her, it's the miserable Home for the Friendless. Luckily, canny Nell makes herself indispensable to Aunt Kate...and not just by helping out with household chores. For Kate Warne is the first-ever female detective employed by the legendary Pinkerton Detective Agency.