Bøker av J. Stephen Beam

Jesse Thomas, a humble, unassuming war hero from a tiny northeast Mississippi town, has dealt with a lot in his short life, including the tragic loss of his parents in a car crash. But what troubles him most is the disappearance of his wife, Mary, over a year ago. Cleared as a suspect by investigators, Jesse is perplexed that no one talks about her anymore. It’s as if she never existed.Only one clue was left behind: the remains of Mary’s dog. Although dismissed by law enforcement, Jesse thinks it’s significant to the case. Other than sympathy, it’s difficult to get much else from enigmatic sheriff Frankie Weatherford, Jesse’s legal guardian and the father of Brax, Jesse’s best friend growing up. Mr. Frankie, who’s like a second father, wouldn’t have anything to hide … would he?The more Jesse pokes around, the more hostility he encounters, especially from a pair of seedy childhood acquaintances who radiate envy and hatred toward him. Do they know what happened to Mary? Does Brax, a once-promising athlete whose life is in ruins, know more than he’s telling? Can Johnny Coats, a hard-to-read friend of the sheriff, be trusted? And how far will Jesse go to protect Ellie, his soulmate since middle school?

Time is ticking ... Can a lonely sixteen-year-old girl escape the clutches of human traffickers before she’s sold off to the highest bidder?When Lindy Montgomery’s mother dies, she’s left without friends or companionship until she meets a mysterious young woman in a sandwich shop who teaches her how to make herself more alluring to the opposite sex.Lindy’s so-called boyfriend takes her on a weekend trip under the guise of celebrating his birthday. The real reason for the trip turns out to be much more sinister. He drops her off at a hunting preserve, where she and other young girls are to be sold into sex slavery.Nearby, the citizens of a small Mississippi town are oblivious to the evil in their midst. A favorite son has returned to town after becoming wealthy as a tech owner and investor. Concerned about the property on which the hunting preserve sits, and full of questions about the suspicious deaths of his wife and child in a car crash and his mother in a house fire on the same day, he employs a local lawyer to help him figure out what’s going on.Can they solve the mystery before Lindy is lost forever?