Endings

by Linda L. Richards

Overview

How far can a profound personal loss drive someone toward darkness?

What would it take for you to kill someone for money? And if you did, who—or what—would you have become? These are the question one woman faces when she loses everyone she loves and everything she has. When the opportunity arrives to reinvent herself as a killer for hire, she takes it. She’s good at it—and if she doesn’t do it, someone else will.

Then everything changes when she learns about a serial killer so horrible she vows to find him and kill him until—overcome by self-doubt—she seeks redemption rather than vengeance.

Fans of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Dexter will love Endings

The publication sequence for the book in this series is:

Endings
Exit Strategy
Dead West (coming 2023)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781608094202
Publisher:	Oceanview Publishing
Publication date:	04/06/2021
Series:	The Endings Series , #1
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	1,110,713
Product dimensions:	6.25(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Linda L. Richards is a journalist, photographer, and award-winning author. She is known for her strong female protagonists in the thriller genre. Her short story Terminal City won the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Short Story in 2019. She is the founding editor of January Magazine and one of the founders of the blog The Rap Sheet. She divides her time between Vancouver, BC, Phoenix, AZ, and Paso Robles, CA.

Editorial Reviews

★ 02/01/2021

The nameless narrator of this stunning standalone from Richards (The Indigo Factor) was once a happy mother with a nine-year-son, until her son died in a house fire caused by an iron she accidentally left on. Five years later, she travels the country carrying out her duties as a hit woman. One day, while shopping in the unnamed town where she lives, she sees a TV news report about serial killer William Atwater, who has terrorized California’s San Pasado County. Believed to have kidnapped and murdered 15 children, Atwater, whose whereabouts are unknown, is the prime suspect in a six-year-old girl’s disappearance. The narrator’s reaction is immediate and visceral: she must find and kill him. She flies to the city of San Pasado, where she soon gets far more than she bargained for in her warped pursuit of justice. Richards combines a damaged protagonist readers will root for with a twisted, whiplash-fast plot filled with layers of moral ambiguity. This harrowing tale of love, loss, and the value of life is not to be missed. Agent: Kimberley Cameron, Kimberley Cameron & Assoc. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

* “[In Endings], Richards combines a damaged protagonist readers will root for with a twisted, whiplash-fast plot filled with layers of moral ambiguity. This harrowing tale of love, loss, and the value of life is not to be missed.” —Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)


“Brilliant. Terrifying. Compulsively readable.” —Hallie Ephron, New York Times best-selling author


“Provocative and powerful . . . Page after page, Richards ratchets up the tension, weaving tradecraft, disguises, and psychology into a riveting tale that peels back the layers of the soul. The prose is often lyrical, the descriptions of the human heart achingly accurate. It will surely stand with the year’s best suspense thrillers.” —Gayle Lynds, New York Times best-selling author


“Linda L. Richards' Endings grabs you by the throat on page one and doesn't let go until The End. The writing is crisp, and the story has plenty of whiplashing twists and turns. Endings is the confident return of a writer at the height of her powers.” —Matt Coyle, Anthony, Shamus, and Lefty Award-winning author


“An unusually haunting thriller with a complex, seriously badass heroine. Endings brings you into a strange and dark world from page one, and then shows you the light. I highly recommend this book.” —Sheena Kamal, Macavity Award-winning author


“[Endings is a] tightly woven, fast-paced, tension-filled thrill ride full of surprises . . . an outstanding, brilliantly conceived crime novel.” —New York Journal of Books


Praise for Linda L. Richards

“Death Was the Other Woman propelled me straight into depression-era Los Angeles—a really stellar crime caper, a delight.” —Louise Penny, New York Times best-selling author


“Mad Money does what many have tried and few have managed—to turn stock swindles and corporate crime into a fun, roller-coaster read.” —Alafair Burke, New York Times best-selling author


“Linda L. Richards' The Next Ex is as smart and sophisticated as its heroine, Madeline Carter. A bracingly intelligent whodunit.” —Laura Lippman, New York Times best-selling author


“A skillfully written and carefully crafted novel showcasing serial killer psychology that which makes for an inherently absorbing read from cover to cover, Endings is the kind of fully engaging thriller that makes for memorable movies.” —Midwest Book Review

From the Publisher