A young woman from the Midwest, recipient of an unexpected college scholarship, is recruited into a lucrative courier job that shuttles her from Manhattan to Washington, D.C. There’s a slight drawback: the previous two “cutouts” died by violence.
Sierra Kane – who has bounced from one foster family to another – faces an uncertain future when she receives an unapplied-for scholarship to Barnard College specifically designed for orphans whose academic records are merely above average. A second unexpected boon comes her way when another recipient of that somewhat mysterious scholarship offers her a part-time courier job.
Soon Sierra is caught up in a whirl of espionage and murder, with a new boy friend who may or may not be part of a plot, a college mentor with a possible agenda of her own, and an FBI agent who rebuffs Sierra’s plea for help.
It’s a classic story of a small-town girl caught up in an overwhelming big-city world; but Sierra Kane is a young woman whose curiosity and determination will lead her to the truth...and into more than one deadly confrontation.
Married writing team Max Allan Collins (Road to Perdition) and Barbara Collins (Bombshell) – whose Antiques mystery series is a long-running mystery fan favorite under the name Barbara Allan – have crafted a novella that is at once as timeless as a fairy tale and as modern as a headline.
MAX ALLAN COLLINS, a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master, writes the Nate Heller historical thrillers. His graphic novel Road to Perdition became an Academy Award-winning film. An indie filmmaker (Mommy), he has developed numerous Mike Hammer novels from Mickey Spillane’s files and co-authors (with wife Barbara Collins) the Antiques mysteries.
BARBARA COLLINS made her entrance into the mystery field as a highly respected short story writer with appearances in over a dozen top anthologies, including Murder Most Delicious, Women on the Edge, Deadly Housewives and the bestselling Cat Crimes series. She was the co-editor of (and a contributor to) the bestselling anthology Lethal Ladies, and her stories were selected for inclusion in the first three volumes of The Year’s 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories.
Three acclaimed collections of her work have been published – Too Many Tomcats and (with her husband) Murder - His and Hers and Suspense – His and Hers. The couple’s first novel together, the Baby Boomer thriller Regeneration, was a paperback bestseller; their second collaborative novel, Bombshell – in which Marilyn Monroe saves the world from World War III – was published in hardcover to excellent reviews.
Barbara also has been the production manager and/or line producer of several independent film projects.
The first of three thrilling mysteries by "Road to Perdition" creator Max Allan Collins, with stunning illustrations by award-winning artist Fay Dalton.