===From: "Annie C" In this co-written sequel to their bestselling novels 'Bad Men' and 'Shutter Island', John Connolly and Dennis Lehane join forces to bring us the thrilling blockbuster BAD MEN MEET THE BADWOMEN OF SHUTTER ISLAND!! .. Will be coming soon to a theater near YOU! Now, a brief excerpt from this bizarre nightmarish and harrowing tale of loss, torture, and heart-scorching fear......... Ali dreams. In the darkness of a prison cell, he stirs like an old demon goaded by the memories of its lost humanity. “Teddy? Is that you?” he mumbles as the dream presses upon him once more. ..my daughter, my sister, my daughter, my sister…” His snoring echoes eerily through the chill air of the dark, dank, claustrophobic enclosure. “No, dammit, Ali. Wake up! It’s me, Jon Jordan. Don’t you remember last night? The helicopter ride over Vegas?” Ali stirs, “Huh? Jon, where are we, man? Last thing I remember was drinking from that quart of chocolate milk and munching a few of Mitchy’s pilfered Hob Nobs. Then, next thing I know we’re flying in the helicopter with Fran and, I think it was, Ruth. I think I blacked out. Blimey! Tasted a bit off, that milky stuff did.” Jon wanders aimlessly across the shadowy cell. Ali wonders if Jordan ever takes that hat off. Jordan wonders how Ali can talk so much this early in the morning. “Yeah", Jon chortles, " we must’a got on the wrong helicopter last night. I told you that we were booked on the silver one, but I think we boarded the wrong one -- yikes, the black instead of the silver” Ali rises slowly, stretches to his full height, flexes his bi-ceps and scratches his head. “ Hey, I think you’re right! But that baldheaded bloke with the eye patch, like somethin' out of a Bond flick, who was drinking jello-shooters with Sir Ian and Billingham told me that ALL had been arranged, and I just thought you knew….” “Knew what, Ali?" he screeched in an uncharacteristically high pitched yelp, "All WHAT had been arranged? Ack, I can’t think straight without a pot or two o'coffee!”, Jon spat out the words, wondering for a fleeting moment, what had become of Fran and Ruth. After skipping all the Bouchercon panels, selling their free bouchercon books out on the street, and hitting the high stakes gaming tables with Vicki and Sandi, Fran and Ruthie didn't have two nickels between them to jingle together. "Whoa, Vicki and Sandi really were hot at the roulette table last night", Jon reflected to himself, "but poor Fran, gambling away her return ticket to Tasmania like that.. sheesh, now she may have to move in with Ruth and me in Milwaukee. Darn, I hope she' s not allergic to cats", he mused. "Nah, she'll have to live with Jen or Annie for a while 'til she gets it together. But we gotta find a way to keep her away from the casinos and we'll just deal with her addiction later, I guess. Who knew?" “But uh, um, Jon, don't you know that all those hundreds of authors we’ve interviewed kicked in to pay for that helicopter ride for us? They said it was THEIR treat and that we really and truly deserved it after all we’d done for their reputations and all” , Ali stammered. John gulped loudly. “Did you say BLACK helicopters? Oh mi-gawd, don’tcha know, Ali, that all black helicopters here belong to the covert military ops, the mind-bender squads, and haven’t you heard the rumors that they only are used for the most stop-secret missions? "Why, no!", gasped Ali "Where are weeeeeeeeee??????" they cried together. Outside the tiny cell window, the wind had picked up to a hurricane pitch. A mighty roar, the sound of huge waves crashing and tumultuously sluicing over a nearby dam screams in their ears. Ali shutters. “I think, I think, Jon….. that we may be on an --an -- island! Oh nooooo! ” Hammering his ink-stained fists on the bars of the cell and then against Ali's chest, Jon plaintively wails “Help! Someone, anyone!! We need coffeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!” EARLY PRAISE FOR LEHANE & CONNOLLY “This voice is such an original. You read this stuff and you think of the great ones – Parker, Macdonald, Cornwell, Seuss, Shel Silverstein, Charlie Cale —looking over their shoulders as they write every page. (Man, that’s gotta be creepy.) Brilliant collaboration!!” --Sarah Weinman, Los Angeles County Medical Examiner and author of the soon-to-be released 'tell-all' memoir: Ottawa to The Big Apple to England: My Early Life As A Literary Muse and RAMchick. “An exceptional joint effort by by these crime maestros. Only thing missing was the Peak District and some virgins thrown into the mix. Boy, do these dudes know how to write! Think I'll start dressing all in black too.” -- Sir Stephen Booth, reclusive author of fourteen bestsellers in the amazing series featuring the fun-loving Cooper and Fry who have still not had sex. “A terrifically stylish and darned scary novel by these semi-masters of the genre. Not quite as good as mine, but a literary mystery of the highest order. Buy two. They’re small.” -- Sir Mark Billingham, co-author with Karin Slaughter, of the psychological thriller Chicken Dances in Grant County: Lazy Head Revisited. Heh. Annie ===From: "Fran Read" Wow! What a fertile mind you have, Annie! Although I can easily picture me being stuck in a foreign country without a cent to my name and at the complete "mercy" of my friends and RAMily. I especially loved the bit about Cooper and Fry and even Beth must have been impressed with the sluice! Fran ===From: "Beth Tindall" <nospam@myob.net> and you know we'd take right good care of you. I have a spare bedroom and a finished basement with a sleeper sofa for you and your friend, if you make a stop Cincinnati way. You can do your laundry, play with enough animals that you'll feel like you're at home (ok, no wallaby or kangaroo), and eat home cooked food. Cincinnati's a nice mid-way point between Las Vegas and New York! Beth