The Night Awakens

Book excerpt: The crowned Queen of Suspense, #1 New York Times bestselling author Mary Higgins Clark invites a star-studded cast of authors to share original stories of men and women joined in love...and driven to murder. Sarah Shankman puts a chilling new spin on payback in "All You Need Is Love." In "Widower's Walk," Joseph Hansen slaps a rancher with a cold wake-up call out on the trail. Loren D. Estleman cuts a honeymoon short when a bride learns she's married to the mob in "Something Borrowed, Something Black." Brendan DuBois drives a brother to the road to revenge in his story, "Sibling Rivalry." In Sally Gunning's "The Perils of Pond Scum," jealousy leads to a murderous extreme. In "Afraid of the Dark," Nancy Pickard exposes the truth behind the headlines as a young love leads to old-fashioned homicide. A panoply of other renowned writers spellbind us with the seductive charms of love, lust, and other lethal attractions.