Winner of the Mariposa Award for Best First Novel

Years of painstaking investigation are about to pay off. Detective Veranda Cruz is ready to put handcuffs on Bartolo Villalobos, heir apparent to a powerful criminal dynasty, when the operation goes horribly wrong. Veranda’s informant is murdered. Her task force is dissolved, sending her career into free fall.

Reassigned to the Homicide Unit, Veranda is desperate for justice—and vindication. She finds an ally in her new partner, senior detective Sam Stark. As they build a case against Bartolo, they discover the extent of his ruthlessness. And his unsettling fixation with Veranda.

No one suspects the truth behind Veranda’s vendetta against the Villalobos family empire, but she’s not the only one keeping secrets. Her investigation takes one shocking turn after another, sending her reeling. With adversaries on both sides of the law, she must follow the trail of blood wherever it leads.

One of Book Riot's Best 25 Suspense Books of 2018

Detective Veranda Cruz is still reeling from her last battle with the Villalobos crime family when one of their enforcers carries out a brazen attack in the heart of Phoenix. The terrified public demands action, and Veranda is named lead detective of a new task force. Their mission: stop the violence before it engulfs the city.

Adolfo Villalobos is next in line to rule the criminal dynasty. Cunning, ambitious, and tech-savvy, he devises a brilliant strategy to sabotage the task force and humiliate Veranda before killing her. He begins by manipulating a police operation to eliminate his competition, then leaks devastating information that costs Veranda her gun and badge.

Framed as a traitor and left to her own devices, Veranda has only one chance at redemption: stay out of Adolfo’s crosshairs long enough to stop him before he also takes away her family, her freedom—and her life.

An explosion at a storage unit in Phoenix nearly kills Detective Veranda Cruz and her team. Evidence at the scene points to the Villalobos crime family’s most feared enforcer, Salazar. But he’s not the only one who wants Veranda dead.

Daria Villalobos is determined to inherit her father’s criminal empire. She’ll crush anyone who gets in her way, including members of her own family. To prove she’s ready to take the reins, Daria intends to scorch the earth under Veranda’s feet. Nothing is off limits as Daria sets out to destroy everything and everyone Veranda holds dear.

With two killers after her, Veranda will have to be every bit as cunning and ruthless as they are. Is the enemy of her enemy her friend or have Salazar and Daria combined forces to lure her into a deadly trap?

COMING JUNE 23

Detective Veranda Cruz’s single-minded mission to destroy the Villalobos crime family has cost her more than she ever would have imagined, both professionally and personally. And put her squarely in their sights.

A brutal enforcer has agreed to turn state’s evidence, offering vital information that will end the Villalobos dynasty’s thirty-year reign of terror. But when an extradition operation crashes and burns, a new series of murders terrorizes the city. As Veranda navigates increasingly deadly threats, she realizes the mastermind pulling the strings is the organization’s notorious patriarch: Hector Villalobos.

After she deals his empire a stunning blow, Hector declares all-out war, arriving in Phoenix for a final showdown with Veranda. She has no choice but to confront him and the twisted ties that bind them. It’s a battle only one of them can survive.