Books in series
#1
Hot Blooded
2001
A cunning serial killer torments a New Orleans radio host in this thriller series debut by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Afraid to Die.
A prostitute lies strangled in a seedy French Quarter hotel room. Miles away, in a rambling plantation house on Lake Ponchartrain, late-night radio host Dr. Samantha Leeds receives a threatening crank call. But who would think to link the two?
As more dead bodies turn up, Samantha's ominous caller persists, along with someone claiming to be a woman from her past—who's been dead for years. With Detective Rick Bentz convinced that the serial killer prowling the streets is somebody close to Samantha, she doesn't dare trust anyone. Especially not Ty Wheeler, her seductive new neighbor who seems to know more about her than a stranger should.
Somebody has discovered Samantha's darkest secret. Somebody is convinced that lives must be sacrificed to pay for her sins. So far, the victims have been strangers. But as a cold-blooded killer grows bolder, Samantha wonders if she will be the next to die.
#2
Cold Blooded
2002
His Vengeance Will Be Repeated. . .
A woman's slashed, incinerated corpse is found in a seedy New Orleans apartment. Her killer is certain there were no witnesses, unaware that his every move was seen by a beautiful stranger—from her bed in a bayou cottage on the outskirts of town. . .
And Repeated. . .
Weeks later, another violent vision shatters Olivia Bechet's sleep. Convinced a serial killer is stalking the city, Olivia turns to the authorities. But jaded detective Rick Bentz doesn't believe her—even when a second body turns up, slain in exactly the same bizarre, ritualistic manner Olivia described. . .
And Repeated. . .
As New Orleans panics in the icy grip of a merciless killer, Olivia is frustrated by Bentz's skepticism—and captivated by her attraction to him. But soon her dreams are invaded by images of another murder. One that has yet to be committed. This time, Olivia recognizes not only the victim's face—but the murderer's. And both are closer than she ever imagined. . .
#3
Shiver
2006
The Crimes Are Unthinkable
A serial killer is turning the Big Easy into his personal playground. The victims are killed in pairs—no connection, no apparent motive, no real clues. It's a very sick game, and it's only just begun.
The Fear Is Real
Abby Chastain left New Orleans long ago and for good reason. Now she's back where she feels watched, as if the devil himself is scraping a fingernail along her spine. It doesn't help that Detective Reuben Montoya is convinced she's somehow the key to unlocking these horrible crimes—a mystery that has something to do with Our Lady of Virtues Mental Hospital, a decaying old asylum where unspeakable crimes were once committed, and a human predator may still wait.
The Truth Is Deadly
As more bodies are found in gruesome, staged scenarios, Montoya and Abby are in a desperate race to stop a killer whose terrifying crimes are bringing them ever nearer to a shocking revelation. For the past is never completely gone. Its sins must be avenged. And a twisted psychopath is getting close enough to make them. . .
Shiver
#4
Absolute Fear
2007
Every Serial Killer... A serial killer is stalking the streets of New Orleans. The victims are killed in a ritual fashion, a series of numbers tattooed into their bodies. There are no clues, no connections except one: a crumbling old asylum that was once the scene of unspeakable madness—and is now the calling card of a new kind of fear.
Is Searching For...
Eve Renner knows Our Lady of Virtues Hospital well. As the daughter of one of its doctors, she spent her childhood exploring its secrets chambers, hidden rooms, and forbidden passageways. Now, somewhere in the decaying asylum lies the key to a betrayal from the past whose echoes are being felt with a vengeance—a crime beyond imagining that seems to lead to Eve herself.
The Perfect Victim...
As each new body is found and forgotten, memories surface, and Eve must race to put together a deadly puzzle, one terrifying piece at a time. A killer is watching, planning, luring her back to the ruins of Our Lady and the shocking truths hidden there. For the sins of the past must be revealed, and the price paid—in blood...
#5
Lost Souls
2008
An Alternate Book Club Edition for this ISBN can be found here
Kristi Bentz wants to write true crime. All she needs is that one case that will take her to the top. She finds it when she enrolls at All Saints College after learning that four girls have disappeared in less than two years.
All four girls were "lost souls"—troubled, vulnerable girls with no one to care about them, no one to come looking for them if they disappeared. The only person that believes Kristi is her ex-lover, Jay McKnight, a professor on campus. The police think they're runaways, but Kristi senses there's something that links them—something terrifying. . .
As Kristi gets deeper into her investigation, she gets the feeling she's being watched and followed—studied, even. Then the bodies start turning up, and Kristi realizes she is playing a game with a killer who has selected her for membership in a special club from which there will be no escaping death. . .
#6
Malice
2009
The scent is unmistakable gardenias, sweet and delicate, the same perfume that his beautiful first wife, Jennifer, always wore. Opening his eyes in the hospital room where he's recovering from an accident, New Orleans detective Rick Bentz sees her standing in the doorway. Then Jennifer blows him a kiss and disappears. But it couldn't have been Jennifer. She died twelve years ago...
#7
Devious
2011
A serial killer targets New Orleans nuns in this “nail-biting tale of dangerous secrets and deadly passions” by the #1 New York Times bestselling author (Booklist).
When New Orleans detective Reuben Montoya is called to investigate the murder of a nun, he's shocked to recognize the victim. Sister Camille was his high school girlfriend. And she’s just been found on the altar of St. Marguerite's cathedral…viciously garroted.
Before devoting herself to god, Camille had a knack for making bad choices. She joined the convent after falling for her sister Valerie’s soon-to-be ex-husband. But as Val—a former Texas cop—digs into Camille's murder, she realizes how little she really knew about her sister and their shared past.
As more women of the church are found brutally slaughtered, no one is beyond suspicion—not even Friar Francis O’Toole. And no one is safe—least of all Valerie. Because this killer knows all, forgives nothing, and will not rest until Valerie becomes the next to pay for her sins.
#8
Never Die Alone
2015
Never Drop Your Guard
It should be the best day of their lives. Too bad they never get to see it. On the cusp of their twenty-first birthday, he strikes. His victims are always twins, their ritualistic murders planned in exquisite detail, down to the moment when they breathe their last together. . .
Never Close Your Eyes
An innocent man is in prison, and Brianna Hayward needs to convince the New Orleans police. Not just to free her cousin, but to save others who will suffer until the true culprit is found. Reporter Jason Bridges is intrigued. It's a story that could make his career—as long as Brianna never guesses the secret in Jason's past. . .
. . .Or You'll Never See Him Coming
Detective Rick Bentz had doubts about the "21" conviction when he worked the case in L.A. Now the real murderer may be loose in Bentz's backyard. Twin sisters from LSU have vanished, days before their birthday. And as Bentz and his partner, Reuben Montoya, desperately follow the trail, a killer prepares to unite his next victims in death forever. . .
#9
The Last Sinner
2023
Lisa Jackson’s New York Times bestselling series featuring New Orleans homicide detectives Rick Bentz and Reuben Montoya began with a strangled prostitute in a seedy French Quarter hotel room and a demented killer disguised as a priest. Now evil comes full circle, as Father John returns to terrorize The Big Easy in this highly anticipated series finale!
There are killers so savage, so twisted, that they leave a mark not just on their victims, but on everyone who crosses their path. For Detectives Bentz and Montoya, Father John, a fake priest who used the sharpened beads of a rosary to strangle prostitutes, is one such monster.
Bentz thought he’d ended that horror years ago when he killed Father John deep in the swamp. But now there are chilling signs he may have been wrong. A new victim has surfaced, her ruined body staged in deliberate, unmistakable detail. Either it’s a terrifying copycat, or Father John, the detective’s own recurring nightmare, has come back to haunt New Orleans.
Another death, and another. Bentz is growing convinced that Father John isn’t just back. He’s circling closer, targeting those Bentz loves most.
And this time, he won’t be stopped until the last sinner has paid the ultimate price . . .
Author
Lisa Jackson
Author · 141 books
Lisa Jackson is the number-one New York Times bestselling author of over ninety-five novels, including the Rick Bentz and Reuben Montoya Series, the Pescoli and Alvarez Series, the Savannah series, and numerous stand alone novels. She also is the co-author of One Last Breath, Last Girl Standing, and the Colony Series, written with her sister and bestselling author Nancy Bush, as well as the collaborative novels Sinister and Ominous, written with Nancy Bush and Rosalind Noonan. There are over thirty million copies of her novels in print and her writing has been translated into twenty languages. Before she became a nationally bestselling author, she was a mother struggling to keep food on the table by writing novels, hoping against hope that someone would pay her for them. Today, neck deep in murder, her books appear on The New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly national bestseller lists. With dozens of bestsellers to her name, Lisa Jackson is a master of taking readers to the edge of sanity—and back—in novels that buzz with dangerous secrets and deadly passions. She continues to be fascinated by the minds and motives of both her killers and their pursuers—the personal, the professional, and the downright twisted. As she builds the puzzle of relationships, actions, clues, lies, and personal histories that haunt her protagonists, she must also confront the fear and terror faced by her victims and the harsh and enduring truth that, in the real world, terror and madness touch far too many lives and families. Visit http://www.LisaJackson.com where you can find a Media Kit with photos and more information.
