Lee Child - First Thrills. Edited by Lee Child

12 LITERARY LEGENDS

13 RISING STARS

1 MUST-HAVE COLLECTION OF FIRST THRILLS

Con men and killers, aliens and zombies, priests and soldiers - just some of the characters that thrill and kill in this compelling collection of gun-toting, double-crossing, back-stabbing, pulse-pounding stories.

Jeffery Deaver investigates the suspicious death of a crime-writer in 'The Plot'; Karin Slaughter's grieving widow takes revenge on her dying ex-husband in 'Cold, Cold Heart'; Stephen Coonts discovers a flying saucer in the depths of the ocean in 'Savage Planet' and John Lescroart's secret field agent finds himself caught up in a complex game of cat-and-mouse in 'The Gato Conundrum'.

Handpicked by world number one Lee Child, celebrity authors and stars of the future are brought together, writing brand-new stories, especially commissioned for this must-have collection. Whether you're reading today's bestseller or tomorrow's phenomenon, grisly horror or paranoia thriller, historical suspense or supernatural crime, one thing's for certain. You'll be thrilled to the core.

ABOUT THE EDITOR

Lee Child is the internationally bestselling author of fourteen Jack Reacher thrillers, including the New York Times bestsellers The Enemy, One Shot , The Hard Way , and the #1 bestselling Bad Luck and Trouble and Nothing to Lose . His debut, Killing Floor , won both the Anthony and the Barry awards for Best First Novel, and The Enemy won both the Barry and the Nero awards. Child, a native of England and a former television director, lives in New York City.

FIRST
THRILLS

High-Octane Stories from
the Hottest Thriller Authors

FIRST
THRILLS

HIGH-OCTANE STORIES FROM THE
HOTTEST THRILLER AUTHORS

EDITED BY AND WITH A BRAND NEW STORY FROM

LEE CHILD

First published in the United States of America in 2010 by St. Martins Press.

This edition first published in Great Britain in 2011 by Corvus, an imprint of Atlantic Books Ltd.

Copyright 2010 by International Thriller Writers, Inc. All rights reserved.

The moral right of Lee Child to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in these stories are either products of the authors imaginations or are used fctitiously.

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 978-1-84887-692-7 (hardback)
ISBN: 978-1-84887-693-4 (trade paperback)
eBook ISBN: 978-0-85789-264-5

Printed in Great Britain.

Corvus
An imprint of Atlantic Books Ltd
Ormond House
26-27 Boswell Street
London WC1N 3JZ

www.corvus-books.co.uk

Copyright Acknowledgments

Introduction copyright 2010 by Lee Child

The Thief copyright 2010 by Gregg Hurwitz

Scutwork copyright 2010 by CJ Lyons

The Bodyguard copyright 2010 by Lee Child

Last Supper copyright 2010 by Rip Gerber

After Dark copyright 2010 by Alex Kava and Deb Carlin

Wednesdays Child copyright 2010 by Ken Bruen

Eddy May copyright 2010 by Theo Gangi

The Plot copyright 2010 by Jeffery Deaver

Eye of the Storm copyright 2010 by John Lutz and Lise S. Baker

The Dead Club copyright 2010 by Michael Palmer and Daniel James Palmer

Underbelly copyright 2010 by Grant McKenzie

The Gato Conundrum copyright 2010 by John Lescroart

The Princess of Felony Flats copyright 2010 by Bill Cameron

Savage Planet copyright 2010 by Stephen Coonts

Suspended copyright 2010 by Ryan Brown

Invisible copyright 2010 by Sean Michael Bailey

When Johnny Comes Marching Home copyright 2010 by Heather Graham

On the Train copyright 2010 by Rebecca Cantrell

Childrens Day copyright 2010 by Kelli Stanley

My Fathers Eyes copyright 2010 by Wendy Corsi Staub

Program with a Happy Ending copyright 2010 by Cynthia Robinson

Killing Carol Ann copyright 2010 by J. T. Ellison

Chloe copyright 2010 by Marc Paoletti

Cold, Cold Heart copyright 2010 by Karin Slaughter

Calling the Shots copyright 2010 by Karen Dionne

Afterword copyright 2010 by Steve Berry

We dedicate this collection to

our friends and families for their unending support

and to our readers: you are the reason we do what we do.

Because of all of you, we can write what we love.

Thanks for reading!

Contents

Acknowledgments

A lot of people work very hard behind the scenes to bring a book to life. A collection like this involves even more work because of the number of authors involved. We would like to thank these unsung heroes:

Scott Miller and everyone at Trident Media Group, for their unending enthusiasm and hard work in bringing this project to life.

Our editor, Eric Raab, his assistant, Whitney Ross, and everyone at Tor/Forge, for taking our words and giving them a home.

International Thriller Writers board of directors, for their inspiration and guidance. The ITW staff who work tirelessly to keep everything in working order. ITWs Debut Author Program, which provides new authors with support, encouragement, and camaraderie.

And, finally, our guardian angels: Lee Child, Steve Berry, Liz Berry, Jon Land, Kim Howe, and Eileen Hutton.

Thanks, guys! We couldnt have done any of this without you!

LEE CHILD

As of this writing, the International Thriller Writers, Inc. organizationITWis a little more than five years old. It grew quickly and strongly and in short order became very good at what such organizations are supposed to be good at, but what was fascinating was the way it ebbed and flowed and tested uncharted areas and developed skills and interests that were new. Its annual conventionsThrillerFestswere immediately distinctive. Its internal disciplines were immediately professional. But I believe its support of new members will be most remembered.

New authors face a tough challenge. Publishing was never an easy field to break into, and it gets harder all the time. Sometimes lightning strikes, but for most of us, a career is built slowly and painstakingly, year on year. The first couple of years are crucial. Early buzz means survival. Established ITW members know thatindeed, how could they not? By definition, they all survived that test, and they all remember it well. So, early and organically, the organization felt its way into a situation where sending the elevator back down became a major priority.

Not that it wasnt a two-way street. Our first debut generation organized itself into Killer Year 2007, and ITW recognized a great idea and ran with it. Some members of that class are now three or four books into stellar careers and are well on their way to becoming household names. The obvious quality of their emerging talent reinforced ITWs commitment, and the organization stepped up its efforts and developed a solid program of support. Inside the organization, debut authors get access to advice and mentoring, and they mix with the biggest names on an equal footing.

And outside the organization, they get exposure, in the kind of volume youre holding right now. This is a short-story anthology, and its intended to function as a sampler, as a shop window. Read these stories, and youll sense the talent the same way we did, and youll be excited to pick up the participants full-length novels, and buzz will build, and the participants will survive the crucial first year or two, and careers will be started, and the next generation of household names will be forged.