Unhinged

Book 3: A Cora Shields Suspense Thriller

by Blake Pierce

Genres: Suspense; Female Sleuths

Synopsis

In this action-packed mystery thriller by #1 bestselling author Blake Pierce, Cora Shields, 30, former Navy Seal turned FBI Special Agent, will stop at nothing to catch a killer—but she is stunned, after bending one rule too many, to find herself fired. At the pleading of a military friend, Cora scrutinizes a case long closed by local cops—and realizes that this case is far wider-reaching, and more dangerous, than she ever expected.

“A masterpiece of thriller and mystery.”
—Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re Once Gone)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

UNHINGED (A Cora Shields Suspense Thriller—Book 3) is the third novel in a new series by #1 bestselling mystery and suspense author Blake Pierce.

On the outside, Cora Shields is a total badass. A Navy SEAL veteran and a top agent in the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, Cora has a reputation for doing whatever it takes to catch a killer. What no one knows, though, is that she’s a wreck on the inside, addicted to painkillers and deeply depressed.

Cora, working as a vigilante, is the only one who would dare take on this case.

She knows that if she succeeds, she can save a woman’s life in time.

And if she fails, she may just find herself behind bars for good.

A page-turning and harrowing crime thriller featuring a brilliant and tortured vigilante, the CORA SHIELDS series is a riveting mystery, packed with non-stop action, suspense, twists and turns, revelations, and driven by a breakneck pace that will keep you flipping pages late into the night.

Future books in the series will soon be available.

“An edge of your seat thriller in a new series that keeps you turning pages! ...So many twists, turns and red herrings… I can't wait to see what happens next.”
—Reader review (Her Last Wish)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“A strong, complex story about two FBI agents trying to stop a serial killer. If you want an author to capture your attention and have you guessing, yet trying to put the pieces together, Pierce is your author!”
—Reader review (Her Last Wish)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“A typical Blake Pierce twisting, turning, roller coaster ride suspense thriller. Will have you turning the pages to the last sentence of the last chapter!!!”
—Reader review (City of Prey)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Right from the start we have an unusual protagonist that I haven't seen done in this genre before. The action is nonstop… A very atmospheric novel that will keep you turning pages well into the wee hours.”
—Reader review (City of Prey)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Everything that I look for in a book… a great plot, interesting characters, and grabs your interest right away. The book moves along at a breakneck pace and stays that way until the end. Now on go I to book two!”
—Reader review (Girl, Alone)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Exciting, heart pounding, edge of your seat book… a must read for mystery and suspense readers!”
—Reader review (Girl, Alone)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release date: December 20, 2022

Print pages: 208

Sample

PROLOGUE

Ignoring the sobbing from the other room, Mindy stood outside the shower and turned the knob. She pulled her hand back sharply to avoid the initial burst of frigid spray. Then, still wearing her bathrobe, she turned to face the mirror, poking and prodding at what looked suspiciously like bags under her eyes.

The sounds from the room beyond only increased in volume. She sighed, listening for a few more moments. Then, the door clicked, and the sobbing faded. Finally.

The guy had been sitting on the bed for nearly half an hour, inconsolable.

Some of the clients got like that after a session, but they all paid the same, and that was what mattered. Mindy adjusted her two clip-on earrings, then removed them slowly, putting the fake emerald things in a small tray above the sink.

She ran a hand along her ear, wincing. An aversion to needles some called it. Common sense, in her opinion. She’d never had a piercing. No tattoos either.

That was one of the selling points, it turned out, for some of her clients.

She peeked back through the small, motel bedroom, eyeing the door. Gone. The client was gone, gone, mercifully gone.

She finally allowed a sigh of relief and a smile. She darted out of the bathroom, hurried to the door, locked it, then returned. She paused for a second, frowning and ducking to check under the bed.

One could never be too careful in her line of work. Sometimes, johns could be resourceful in their desire to get a few extra seconds with a preferred escort.

Escort. Lady of the night.

She snorted.

Damn ol’ whore.

That’s how she saw it, and she didn’t think anything less of the job because of it. She wasn’t in this for being down on her luck, or out of any sense of daddy issues.

Mindy was here because the money was good, and it sure as hell beat to death with a wooden spoon the last job she’d had, where she risked fry grease in the eye and handsy drunk customers late at night.

At least this way, they paid for the privilege.

She returned to the bathroom, shutting the door. By now, the steam had formed and was fogging the mirror. She studied her face—not exactly pretty, but not ugly either. Right down the middle. Good enough.

She smirked, and began to turn towards the shower, one hand adjusting the belt on her bathrobe.

And that’s when she heard the creak.

She frowned, freezing in place and listening like a startled rabbit.

Another creak. This time the sound of the door. She wrinkled her nose, beginning to turn. Had the john returned? Dammit—hadn’t she locked the door?

Footsteps now, rapid. She spun as the door to the bathroom suddenly crashed open.

She stared out in the bedroom, eyes the size of saucers. A sudden scream burst from her throat. A man with a dark hood and a grotesque horror-shop mask, like some gargoyle, was leering in at her. A second man crowded in behind the first, also marching forward.

They didn’t hesitate at her scream. Nor when she desperately searched behind her, groping in the shower for something to use as a weapon.

“Help! HELP!” she screeched. Terror flooded her system.

The two men grabbed at her, hands like vices on her wrists. She tried to stomp on their feet, but they were both wearing big, hefty boots. She tried to scratch at their hands, but their grip was too strong. It was difficult to even think amidst the terror.

 As she continued to scream, they dragged her through the door, as indifferent to her howling as if she wasn’t making a sound.

 

CHAPTER ONE

 

Cora marched up the small trail through the woods, glancing eerily from side to side, searching the trees for any hidden threats.

Normally, she wouldn’t take meetings away from familiar territory. But now that she was back in West Virginia, her old childhood stomping grounds, she felt familiar enough with most terrain. Plus, Gabriel Finch had sounded urgent on the phone.

She grumbled a bit, kicking a pinecone off the path and wondering why the hell her parents had given her number to her sister’s old ex in the first place.

The motion caused her to stop, wincing. She reached up, massaged her bandaged shoulder, then glanced down at the white gauze wrapped around her arm. The doctor said that it was healing nicely enough.

She had been forced to cycle through two general practitioners until she found someone who didn’t keep prying about the source of the gunshot wounds.

Suffice it to say, her last month—a series of bad choices that led her to be fired from the FBI—had left Cora with new career prospects that perhaps she hadn’t anticipated.

But one thing was certain. She was damn good at this new job. If it could be called a job.

She liked to think of herself more as a fixer. A professional problem solver. Especially in gray areas, where corruption, slow moving bureaucracies, and politics prevented actual execution.

Cora settled, inhaled slowly, and glanced through the trees in the direction of the small wooden shed she had spotted earlier.

This was where Gabe wanted to meet.

A good enough location—surrounded by tall oak trees and a couple of pines thrown in, as if the forest itself couldn’t quite settle.

She glanced at her phone. ...