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18 Seconds

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18 Seconds
A Novel  
By George D. Shuman
Read by: Lindsay Crouse
This edition: Abridged Audio Download
Availability: Available on or around April 4, 2006
List Price: $17.95
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Description

After spending nearly 30 years behind bars for causing a deadly school bus accident, Earl Sykes returns to his hometown determined to enact revenge for his incarceration. He sets his sights on Lieutenant Kelly O'Shaunisy, the daughter of his captor. But Earl Sykes has an even more sinister secret: as he plots his revenge, his penchant for the rape, torture and murder of young girls - the kinds of crimes he used to commit but for which he was never caught - needs to be fed.

As Sykes gives in to his dark urges and the bodies of young women begin to appear in desolate areas of the New Jersey boardwalk, newly minted Lieutenant O'Shaunisy takes on the investigation. These crimes horrify her, not only because they suggest a gruesome cruelty, but because they are strangely reminiscent of crimes that went unsolved 30 years ago. As O'Shaunisy follows a series of frustrating dead-end leads, young women continue to go missing and bodies pile up.

But then a breakthrough changes the game entirely. Her desperation leads her to an unlikely source: Sherry Moore, a beautiful, blind psychic, who possesses the extraordinary ability to access the last 18 seconds of a person's life by touching that person's corpse. Sherry and O'Shaunisy together set out to stem the bloodshed...but not before becoming entangled in a dangerous web that could cost them their lives.

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    1. George Shuman: 18 Seconds
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"In twenty-eight years of law enforcement I never believed in psychics, but then I read George Shuman's 18 Seconds. This convincing, perfectly paced novel gathers its seemingly unrelated characters and lets them march inexorably toward a final intersection. Although you'll want to, you won't be able to look away."

-- Paul Lindsay, author of The Big Scam and The Führer's Reserve

"Intricate, compelling, and real, 18 Seconds is suspense at its up-all-night best....Welcome a new and substantial talent to your bookshelf!"

-- John J. Nance, author of Pandora's Box and Orbit

"With a brilliant concept, truly human characters, and a 'Sixth Sense' sensibility, 18 Seconds is terrifyingly authentic. Sherry Moore is a memorable heroine who promises to have many more adventures ahead of her."

-- Brad Meltzer, author of The Zero Game and The Tenth Justice

"In this dramatic, highly imaginative first novel, George D. Shuman delivers an explosive thriller -- brutally authentic in detail and absorbing from beginning to end."

-- Robert K. Tanenbaum, author of Absolute Rage and Fury

"18 Seconds moves like a bat out of hell. Even better, Sherry Moore is remarkably original -- complex and real despite her strange gift. George D. Shuman has delivered the goods -- fascinating characters, nonstop storytelling, and an explosive ending. Bravo!"

-- Robert Crais, author of The Forgotten Man and The Two Minute Rule

"This book's crackling sense of menace pulls you in from the first page and delivers grandly as the characters come together in an explosive finale. Fast-paced, compulsively readable, possessed of an intriguing premise, 18 Seconds is a slick debut by an ex-cop who knows his way around police procedure and writes strong female characters."

-- Denise Hamilton, author of Savage Garden and Last Lullaby

"One of the best premises to sail down the thriller pipeline in years. At turns lyrical, horrifying, and -- dare I say -- poignant, 18 Seconds takes an ingenious notion and spins it into a killer yarn. In Sherry Moore, Shuman has created a unique, compelling heroine. An impressive debut!"

-- Gregg Hurwitz, author of The Program and Troubleshooter
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