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October Reads Worth Falling For

Danger, desire, second chances, and unexpected romanceβ€”discover this month’s Fresh Fiction Featured Books.

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A poisoned cousin, a five-year-old's life, and a family with too many secrets.


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Supernatural sparks fly
between a bookseller
& her hard-boiled ghost.


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If Her Highness thinks I’ll let another man claim her and my child, she’s lost her royal mind. Sophaya’s mine.


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She found a body. Then she started asking the wrong questions.


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He ghosted her ten years ago. Now she’s stuck with him for Christmas.


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She’s the lady everyone overlooks. He’s the prince who can’t look away.

THE DECEIVED

The Deceived, July 2008
Jonathan Quinn #2
by Brett Battles

Delacorte Press
Featuring: Jonathan Quinn
368 pages
ISBN: 0385341571
EAN: 9780385341578
Hardcover
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"Extraordinary and thrilling follow-up to THE CLEANER."

Fresh Fiction Review

THE DECEIVED
Brett Battles

Reviewed by Terri Adams
Posted June 16, 2008

Suspense | Thriller Crime

Jonathan Quinn is a "cleaner," a "ghost" who works as a high-priced janitor of sorts. Being a cleaner means disposing of any and all evidence after an event, often unsavory in nature, to ensure that the incident "never happened." Being a cleaner also means not getting involved and not getting emotional, because doing either is what gets a cleaner killed. Unfortunately, Quinn's latest job has hit just a little too close to home and now he's risking his life to find a killer and save a woman before she ends up as a job for another anonymous cleaner...

When Quinn is called in to dispose of a body found at the Los Angeles shipping yard, he almost doesn't take it since his contact is less than forthcoming about the details of the body's discovery. However, once Quinn learns that the body belongs to Steven Markoff, a man who once saved Quinn's life, simply performing his job as a cleaner is not enough. Quinn never imagines that his own life will soon be turned upside down or that he'll begin to break his own cardinal rules for survival. The only thing that matters is finding out what happened to Markoff and personally breaking the news to Jenny, Markoff's naive and now completely vulnerable girlfriend. But when Quinn tries to locate Jenny, she too seems to be missing. Quinn begins to wonder if she could be next on the killer's list -- or could she already be dead? Fortunately, Markoff left Quinn a clue and this clue could be the key to solving the mystery of Markoff's death and saving an innocent life. If only Quinn can figure out what it means!

With help from his apprentice, Nate, and his forbidden love, Orlando, Quinn undertakes the task of finding Markoff's killer and tracking down Jenny. But this isn't a job Quinn will get paid for. Instead, he will be exacting justice for a friend and the price might just be his very own life.

I enjoyed reading THE DECEIVED because of the many twists and turns in the plot. Often, I thought I knew what was going on, I thought I had figured out "whodunit," but by the end of the next page, I doubted myself again and felt as clueless as I did when Markoff's body was first discovered. I felt suspicious of every character and trusted no one!

Learn more about THE DECEIVED

SUMMARY

The Cleaner, which introduced hero Jonathan Quinn. A freelance operative and professional "cleaner," Quinn knows better than to get emotionally involved in any of his jobs. But in this superb powerhouse of suspense, Quinn’s latest job is different. A friend and old colleague has been murdered. A woman has gone missing. And for Jonathan Quinn, this time it’s personal.

Anonymity. Trust. Professionalism. In his world, Jonathan Quinn has a few rules. He’ll get rid of bodies that have to disappear; nothing ever gets traced back to him. But when Quinn is called to a busy Los Angeles port where a shipping container has just come in from the sea, it’s clear his rules have been violated. Inside the crate is a dead manβ€”a man who once saved Quinn’s life. And while no one knows how CIA agent Steven Markoff died, Quinn has to do more than clean. He has to find Markoff’s girlfriend, Jenny. To tell her that Markoff is dead. To find out whyβ€”and why someone sent Markoff’s body to him.

Until a week ago, Jenny Fuentes was an assistant to an ambitious congressman. Now Jenny is missing, too, and a lot of man power is making sure she isn’t found. But Quinn has his own man power. He has tools that can pry into secrets held anywhere in the world. He has the skill to trade blows with killers and spies. And he has covert weapons: his eager and smart apprentice, Nate, and brilliant Orlando, his closest friend, who’s saved his life more than once.

Racing from the corridors of power in Washington to the bustling streets of Singapore, Quinn won’t stop until he uncovers the truth behind his friend’s violent death, the astounding reason Jenny has vanishedβ€”and what she knows about the most explosive deception of all.

EXCERPT

No excerpt available.

BOOK SERIES

Jonathan Quinn

The Cleaner
THE CLEANER
#1.0 β€’ July 2008
The Cleaner
THE CLEANER
#1.0 β€’ July 2007
The Deceived
THE DECEIVED
#2.0 β€’ June 2009
The Deceived
THE DECEIVED
#2.0 β€’ July 2008
Shadow Of Betrayal
SHADOW OF BETRAYAL
#3.0 β€’ July 2009
The Silenced
THE SILENCED
#4.0 β€’ April 2011
The Destroyed
THE DESTROYED
#5.0 β€’ June 2012
The Collected
THE COLLECTED
#6.0 β€’ October 2012
The Enraged
THE ENRAGED
#7.0 β€’ July 2013
The Discarded
THE DISCARDED
#8.0 β€’ April 2014
The Buried
THE BURIED
#9.0 β€’ April 2015
The Unleashed
THE UNLEASHED
#10.0 β€’ March 2016
The Aggrieved
THE AGGRIEVED
#11.0 β€’ June 2017
The Fractured
THE FRACTURED
#12.0 β€’ June 2018
The Vanished
THE VANISHED
#15.0 β€’ December 2020
The Taken
THE TAKEN
#16.0 β€’ November 2023