Memphis private eye Race Warren goes to Alaska to find Ron Billings, a client's estranged husband. Surviving a deadly encounter with an assassin, Warren realizes someone doesn't want Billings found. Since the fugitive is key to the mystery, the private eye tracks Billings to a remote arctic village where Warren meets Dr. Mark Dunbar, head of a science team studying ancient beliefs that may have led to the bizarre killing of a native woman. Hoping to get information, Warren befriends the scientists as they uncover a cult involved in animal shapeshifting, findings that fit with rumors the girl was killed by a mythic wolf. Warren finds Billings, an ex-policeman searching for his daughter, Carrie, taken by Russian Andrey Volkov, head of a human trafficking ring. The private eye and ex-cop join forces, flying to a North Slope oil town where the daughter is believed held in the sex trade. Failing to find Carrie, the two break out another captive, Myra, who reports the daughter is held at the Russian's Anchorage estate. Warren and Billings flee south with the girl, battling Volkov henchmen along the way. At the village, the scientists learn a tribal shaman attempted a child sacrifice, but the boy miraculously survives and is rescued from the wilds and placed in a covert foster home. Believing the child is still in danger, Dunbar seeks Warren's help as the team concludes their study and prepares to present their findings in Anchorage where they arrive just as Myra's rescuers deliver the girl safely to the authorities. In an assault on Volkov's mountain fortress, Billings frees his daughter then returns with her to Memphis while Warren stays behind for a final task. After he locates the boy and his caretaker in an old apartment building, Warren faces an unspeakable evil that has killed twice and is bent on destroying the child

An astonishing true story of bizarre love and lethal obsession in America's last frontier. Mechele Hughes came to Wasilla, Alaska (pop. 4200), looking for a new life and easy money. As an exotic dancer at the Great Alaskan Bush Company in nearby Anchorage, she was soon earning thousands a night—and getting expensive gifts from admiring male clients. Three in particular fell under her spell. Each claimed to be engaged to her . . . and they all lived with her together in the same house. But in May 1996, the bullet-ridden body of Kent "T.T." Leppink, a local fisherman and one of her fiancés, was discovered in a wooded area ninety miles away—possibly slain by suitor number two, John Carlin III, at the stripper's urging. Ten years would elapse before the arrests and trials of Mechele Hughes Linehan and John Carlin III. Was the real Mechele a murderess, a ruthless sexual manipulator as the prosecution claimed, killing for insurance money—or the loving wife and mother she had since become, dedicated to children, animals, and charitable causes?

Denise Birdie Beardtom of the Alaska State Troopers has barely recovered from a case that almost cost her life. A woman used to saving victims almost became one herself, which is why shes still jumpy when another woman ends up dead under her jurisdiction. The woman was raped and murdered, and there are no clues to lead them to a possible suspect. Birdie enlists the help of her usual team: Trooper Miles, Trooper Masonic, and Lieutenant Steven Lambert, known as The Loo. Together, they scour rivers and forests for any evidence of a killer who seems to have no conscience. The body count quickly rises, so the FBI sends an agent to help in the search. Despite all the expertise, Birdie finds herself no closer to finding their killer. The Loo does his duty and heads as far away as New York City, where he uncovers startling information about the serial monster that eludes them. Again, Birdie somehow feels personally connected. She cant shake the feeling that the killer is coming for her. She and her team have to stop him before her life becomes the next he takes.

Alaska—the final frontier? When Clara Avery, an entertainer working on the Fate, an Alaskan cruise ship, goes to nearby Bear Island, she comes across a scene of bloody mayhem. She also comes across Thor Erikson, who will soon be a member of the FBI's elite paranormal unit, the Krewe of Hunters. Thor's been sent from the Alaska field office to investigate several grotesque killings, with the dead posed to resemble the victims of notorious murderers. The prime suspect is a serial killer Thor once put behind bars. The man escaped from a prison in the Midwest, and all the evidence says he was headed to Alaska… Thor and Clara share an unusual skill: the ability to communicate with the dead. Their growing love—and their contact with the ghosts of the victims—brings them together to solve the case…and prevent a deadly fate of their own!

This fascinating account of the development of aviation in Alaska examines the daring missions of pilots who initially opened up the territory for military positioning and later for trade and tourism. Early Alaskan military and bush pilots navigated some of the highest and most rugged terrain on earth, taking off and landing on glaciers, mudflats, and active volcanoes. Although they were consistently portrayed by industry leaders and lawmakers alike as cowboys—and their planes compared to settlers’ covered wagons—the reality was that aviation catapulted Alaska onto a modern, global stage; the federal government subsidized aviation’s growth in the territory as part of the Cold War defense against the Soviet Union. Through personal stories, industry publications, and news accounts, historian Katherine Johnson Ringsmuth uncovers the ways that Alaska’s aviation growth was downplayed in order to perpetuate the myth of the cowboy spirit and the desire to tame what many considered to be the last frontier.

It's a chilling reality that homicide investigators know all too well: the last face most murder victims see is not that of a stranger, but of someone familiar. These doomed relationships are the focus of Ann Rule's sixteenth all-new Crime Files collection.

Priests are being crucified on inverted crosses in Alaskan churches. On the surface, it appears priests are killing priests. As Sergeant Robert Sable starts his investigation, he finds a similar trend across the lower forty-eight states heading straight for Alaska. It seems that Alaska now has another serial killer. Sable must sort out the suspects and clues to find the killer.

Step by step, journalist Brennan walks readers through 13 notorious cases, drawing details from the confidential files of Alaska police detectives who investigate murder, mayhem, crimes of passion and greed, and an amazing amount of criminal stupidity.