Category: Meme

Mailbox Monday is on tour, with August’s location being at Life in the Thumb.

Okay, so honestly. This is starting to be the weekly post where I hang my head in shame and admit my addiction. HOWEVER! I do have an excuse for the large amount of books that came into my house this past week! I received 12 books in all this week, 10 of which were part of a big book box trade that I had going with a friend in the Yahoo group MysteryBookSwap. So without further ado, here’s my goodies:

Part of the Big Box Trade:

 Twelve bodies, twelve states. What no one knows is that the “Highway Killer” is also a gifted psychiatrist who lures his victims into a false sense of security with his miraculous ability to understand their darkest emotional secrets. He is their confessor, but he is also their executioner. When the killer writes to The New York Times, challenging famed forensic psychiatrist Frank Clevenger to heal him through an exchange of open letters on the front page, he opens his diabolical mind to the one man with the courage to cure him – or die trying…

 the last sounds Dean Wilson hears are a clock striking twelve and a killer’s taunting words. And his death is just the first. One by one, victims are stalked and shot at close range. Only the killer knows their sins, and who will be the next to die at midnight. In the ten years since her Hollywood career imploded, Lorie Hammonds has built a good life in her Alabama hometown. When the first death threat arrives, she assumes it’s a joke. Then she gets a second note. Sheriff Mike Birkett, her high-school sweetheart, has avoided Lorie since she returned to Dunmore, but when investigators uncover her connection to a string of recent murders, he’s drawn into a case that’s terrifyingly persona. With every murder, the killer edges closer. Soon Lorie’s will be the last name left on his list. Her only hope is to unearth a deadly secret – before the clock runs out for good.

 Once Irene Kelly gave up journalism for public relations. Now the sudden, brutal death of her mentor is pulling her back to the news desk. But the search for O’Connor’s killer may prove fatal for the intrepid reborn reporter. Because a savagely mutilated “Jane Doe” corpse from thirty years ago is pointing the way into a lethal maze of blood and politics. And in the blink of an eye it could be “Goodnight, Irene” … forever.

 Now Rain has a new employer, the Mossad, which wants him to fix a “problem” in Manila with the aid of his new partner, Dox, whose good-ol’-boy persona masks a sniper as deadly as Rain himself. He also has a new hope: By using his talents in the service of something good, he might atone for all the lives he has taken. But when Rain’s conscience causes him to botch an assignment, he finds that he’s the Mossad’s next target…

 Life in a small town can take some interesting twists – especially for E.R. physician Dr. Rhea Lynch. When the chief coroner is shot in a hail of gunfire that leaves a man dead and a teenage boy searching for clues to his missing sister, Rhea is deputized as an assistant coroner. Then a mass grave is discovered – along with a killer’s baffling clue. Although she is a doctor dedicated to saving the living, Rhea is suddenly forced to find answers from the dead. Soon her skill and courage put her back on the front lines of the battle she fights best: a race between life and death.

 When Lisa Cornell, and her five-year-old daughter are killed, Wes Harding, a former classmate of Kali’s with a reputation as a troublemaker, becomes the prime suspect. Kali agrees to assist her long-time legal mentor on the case but is stunned when Harding refuses to help his own defense and won’t explain why. Kali soon discovers that Lisa Cornell harbored secrets of her own – including a mysterious link to a long-ago tragedy. Racing against time, Kali uses her wit and legal savvy to untangle one of the most complex cases of her career. But even she doesn’t suspect how close to danger she is – or how much she’ll have to risk to bring the cunning killer to justice…

 Someone has infiltrated the inside ring of the Secret Service – and already made an attempt on the President’s life. Joe DeMarco, a lawyer and fixer for the Speaker of the House, is asked to investigate. As witnesses and suspects around him are murdered, DeMarco embarks on a trail that twists through the Secret Service, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security – and snakes back to one of the most enduring mysteries of the 20th century.

 A killer dubbed “The Night Prowler” has turned the city that doesn’t sleep into a town kept wake by terror. Unseen, he enters couples’ homes. Unsuspected, he lingers until the perfect moment arrives. He leaves “gifts” for his victims – before taking their lives. Enter ex-homicide cop Frank Quinn, still reeling in the wake of an elaborate setup that ended his career. For Quinn, this isn’t just any job – it’s a last change to salvage his reputation. As the investigation proceeds, the murderer loses no time stalking new prey: a loan officer and her high-earning husband; a couple who make a killing in the stock market; a pretty actress and her prosperous lover. With the body count rising, it’s up to Quinn to unlock the mystery of a madman’s past and end his bloody reign. Quinn’s got his work cut out – because in a city the size of New York, any one of 8 million faces could be that of a killer – or his next target.

 Terror has forever changed the life of psychiatrist Tess Ciccotelli. Someone is tormenting her patients, pushing them to commit suicide, and setting her up to take the blame. But Tess can’t break her oath to protect her patients’ privacy at all costs. Even when detective Aidan Reagan demands a list of everyone she’s treating. Even when the mounting danger threatens Tess herself. Aidan doesn’t like anyone who stalls his cases. Still, he can’t help but admire Tess’s fierce loyalty to her patients, especially when it becomes clear that a nameless, faceless enemy is set on destroying her career, her family, and finally, Tess herself. As Aidan’s heart softens, the killer’s will hardens, and one thing becomes clear – the noose is tightening around Tess’s neck.

 If Ridley Jones had slept ten minutes later, she would still be living the beautiful lie she used to call her life. Instead, a series of seemingly inconsequential decisions unleashed a chain of events that brought a mysterious package to her door. A package that informed her that her entire world was a lie. suddenly forced to question everything she knows about herself and her family, Ridley feels as if everyone in her life is a stranger. She has no idea who’s on her side and who has something to hide – even her new lover Jake seems to have secrets of his own.

Two from another member of MysteryBookSwap:

 Small-town cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse has had more than her share of experience with the supernatural – but now it’s really hitting close to home. When Sookie sees her brother Jason’s eyes start to change, she knows he’s about to turn into a werepanther for the first time – a transformation he embraces more readily than most shape-shifters she knows. But her concern becomes cold fear when a sniper sets his deadly sights on the local changeling population, and Jason’s new panther brethren suspect he may be the shooter. Now Sookie has until the next fool moon to find out who’s behind the attacks – unless the killer decides to find her first…

 It’s not every day that you come across a naked man on the side of the road. That’s why cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse doesn’t just drive on by. Turns out the poor thing hasn’t a clue who he is, but Sookie does. It’s Eric the vampire – but now he’s a kinder, gentler Eric. And a scared Eric, because whoever took his memory now wants his life. Sookie’s investigation into who and why leads straight into a dangerous battle among witches, vampires, and werewolves. But a greater danger could be to Sookie’s heart – because this version of Eric is very difficult to resist…

Mailbox Monday is on tour, with August’s location being at Life in the Thumb.

Well this week I got some older books in the mail as part of a Paperbackswap Box-of-Books trade.

 Iran has been invaded by Russia. America responds with a lightning-fast counterattack by air, by sea – and a lethal new technology that is about to redefine war both on the ground and in space. Its code name is Silver Tower – the most sophisticated and unstoppable laser defense system ever created. And it will change the balance of world power forever…

 When the National Security Agency’s invincible code-breaking machine encounters a mysterious code it cannot break, the agency calls in its head cryptographer, Susan Fletcher, a brilliant, beautiful mathematician. What she uncovers send shock waves through the corridors of power. The NSA is being held hostage – not by guns or bombs, but by a code so complex that if released would cripple U.S. intelligence. Caught in an accelerating tempest of secrecy and lies, Fletcher battles to save the agency she believes in. Betrayed on all sides, she finds herself fighting not only for her country but for her life, and in the end, for the life of the man she loves.

 Five prominent biophysicists give the United States government an urgent warning: sterilization procedures for returning space probes may be inadequate to guarantee uncontaminated re-entry to the atmosphere. Two years later, Project Scoop sends seventeen satellites into the fringes of space in order to “collect organisms and dust for study.” Then a probe satellite falls to the earth, landing in a desolate area of northeastern Arizona. In the nearby town of Piedmont, bodies lie heaped and flung across the ground, faces locked in frozen surprise. the terror has begun…

 Meet Archy McNally, a freewheeling playboy who specializes in “Discreet Inquiries” for the rich and not-so-discreet. Beneath the glaring sun of Palm Beach – and behind the lowest crimes of high society – McNally is paid to keep family skeletons in the closet. But when it comes to sex and scandal, McNally has a few secrets of his own…

Plus I received one e-book courtesy of Library Thing’s Early Reviewer program:

 The last thing Delilah Preston wanted to do was be a hero, but when she finds herself in a position to prevent an assassination, her conscience wouldn’t let her walk away. As a result, she gets caught up in an FBI investigation and the media spotlight. The problem? Delilah Preston is not who she claims to be. Seven years ago she fled from a cruel and sadistic husband, a powerful underworld figure who wants her back, dead or alive. Enter Special Agent Dominic Santiago who discovers Delilah’s true identity and realizes that after many years of dead-ends, she’s his ticket to taking down notorious crime boss Cap Grimaldi. But Cap isn’t about to let anyone threaten his family’s empire, and quickly devises a plan to not only discredit the Federal Monkey on his back, but also recover his errant wife and the fortune she took from him when she fled.

Mailbox Monday is on tour, with August’s location being at Life in the Thumb.

Both books this week are from Bookmooch:

 Former Justice Department operative Cotton Malone wakes to find an intruder in his Copenhagen bookshop: an American Secret Service agent with assassins on his heels. Narrowly surviving a ferocious firefight, the two journey to the secluded estate of Malone’s friend Henrik Thorvaldsen. The wily Danish tycoon has uncovered the insidious plans of the Paris Club, a cabal of multimillionaires bent on manipulating the global economy. But Thorvaldsen also harbors a hidden agenda – a vendetta – that will force Malone to choose between friend and country, past and present. Starting in Denmark, moving to England, and ending up in the storied streets and cathedrals of Paris, Malone is forced to match wits with a terrorist for hire and to plunge into a desperate hunt for Napoleon’s legendary treasure, lost for two hundred years. It’s a breathless game of duplicity and death, all to claim a prize of untold value. But at what cost?

 For caterer Goldy Schulz, who’s been worrying about her cash flow, the chance to work for a high-powered company like Prospect Financial Partners seems like a dream come true. But it turns out to be murder … in every sense of the word. When Goldy is hired to cater a party to kick off Prospect’s latest venture – the reopening of the Eurydice Gold Mine – she prepares a feast fit for a king. Yet the Tomato-Brie Pie has barely been served, when all hell breaks loose – and the main culprit is Goldy’s best friend, Marla. Marla is sure the mine venture is a scam. And when one of the partners ends up missing, it looks as if she was right. Why, then, are the police treating Goldy’s friend as if she committed a crime? As Goldy works furiously to restore her business by whipping up shrimp-studded Plantation Pilaf and Sour Cream Cherry Coffee Cake, she finds herself drawn into a case of stolen millions and multiple homicides. And only when she can discover which of the victims is the main corpse will Goldy be able to unravel the mystery that threatens to cancel out her friend’s dearest asset – her life.

Mailbox Monday is still on tour, with July’s location being at A Sea of Books.

From Bookmooch, requested solely for a reading challenge:

 DID J. EDGAR DIE A NATURAL DEATH? . . .  OR WAS HE MURDERED?
Inver Brass-a group of high-minded and high-placed intellectuals who see a monstrous threat to the country in Hoover’s unethical use of his scandal-ridden private files.  They decide to do away with him-quietly, efficiently, with no hint of impropriety.  Until best-selling thriller writer Peter Chancellor stumbles onto information that makes his precious books like harmless fairy tales.  Now Chancellor and Inver Brass are on a deadly collision course, spiraling across the globe in an ever-widening arc of violence and terror.  Hurtling toward a showdown that will rip Washington’s intelligence community apart-leaving only one damning document to survive . . .

From PBS, a wishlist book:

 Amelia Wilkes’s strict father does not allow her to date, but that doesn’t stop the talented, winsome high school senior from carrying on a secret romance with her classmate Anthony Winter. Desperately in love, the two envision a life together and plan to tell Amelia’s parents only after she turns eighteen and is legally an adult. Anthony’s mother, Kim, who teaches at their school, knows – and keeps – their secret. But the couple’s passion is exposed sooner than planned: Amelia’s father, Harlan, is shocked and infuriated to find naked pictures of Anthony on his daughter’s computer. Just hours later, Anthony is arrested. Despite Amelia’s frantic protests, Harlan uses his wealth and influence with local law enforcement and the media to label Anthony a deviant who preyed on his innocent daughter. Spearheaded by a zealous prosecutor anxious to turn the case into a public crusade against “sexting,” the investigation soon takes an even more disturbing and destructive turn. As events spiral wildly out of control and the scandalous story makes national news, Amelia and Anthony risk everything in a bold and dangerous attempt to clear the names and end the madness once and for all.

From a MysteryBookSwap member for a birthday book:

 In St. Peter’s Basilica, a man sits in a confessional asking forgiveness for a murder he’s about to commit. And a young priest begins a desperate journey to stop him. It’s the beginning of a ruthless race to find a rumored cache of sacred texts that could be one of the most explosive discoveries of all time. For as Clara Tannenberg and a team of renegade archaeologists journey deep into an Iraq on the brink of war, another far more sinister group is determined to get there first. Sweeping from the time of the biblical patriarchs to the front lines of the Iraqi conflict, from the horrors of Nazi Germany to the back rooms of Washington, D.C.

For Review:

 When Nick Davis, a forty-something small town machinist, spots an intruder’s shadow through the mist of an early morning storm. He is oblivious that the seemingly random occurrence will lead him on a path that will change his life forever. After Nick accidentally overhears a conversation between Lou Evans – his boss and the owner of Lou-Paul Machine Shop – and a mysterious person, he unwittingly becomes a pawn in a game of international proportions. When Lou gruffly asks him to take possession of prototype blueprints, Nick has no idea that the blueprints contain a dark secret – a secret with the potential to kill. Combined with unwanted attention from a local police officer as well as a skeletal, dangerous former FBI agent, Nick’s normal life is suddenly not that at all, and no one can guarantee his safety – not even the beautiful FBI agent who has been assigned to the case. Lou may not be who he says he is, and, unfortunately for Nick, his downfall may be that he is the best machinist around and the only one Lou can count on to help him carry out a perilous mission.

Mailbox Monday is still on tour, with July’s location being at A Sea of Books.

Here we go. Another week, another pretty full mailbox. I didn’t think I was going to get anything this week and then Friday’s mail housed all my new goodies! I’m super excited that I finally received my first LibraryThing Early Reviewer book!! I will definitely be picking that one up next because I want to read and get my review up on the site! So here’s my mailbox:

I received four books as part of a Box-of-Books trade at PBS:

 Ashley Freeman, a beautiful, bright art student, had what she thought was just a fling with Michael O’Connell, a blue-collar bad boy. But now, no amount of pleading or reasoning can discourage his phone calls, ardent e-mails, and constant, watchful gaze. For Michael’s brash, handsome features conceal a black and empty soul. Control is his religion and rage is his language. In desperation, Ashley turns to her divorced parents and her mother’s new partner – three people locked in a cold triangle of resentment. But their fierce devotion to Ashley is the common bond that will draw them together to face down a predator. For Ashley’s family, her ordeal is a test of primal love that will drive them to the extreme edge – and beyond – in a battle of wills that escalates into a life-or-death war to protect their own.

 Every politician has a secret. And when the daughter of a politically connected family is kidnapped abroad, America’s new president will agree to anything – even a deadly and ill-advised rescue plan – in order to keep his secret hidden. But when covert counterterrorism operative Scot Harvath is assigned to infiltrate one of the world’s most notorious prisons and free the man the kidnappers demand as ransom, he quickly learns that there is much more to the operation than anyone dares to admit. As the subterfuge is laid bare, Harvath must examine his own career of ruthlessly hunting down and killing terrorists and decide if he has what it takes to help one of the world’s worst go free.

 When the president of the United States is blackmailed into releasing five detainees from Guantanamo Bay, a sadistic assassin with a vendetta years in the making is reactivated. Suddenly, the people closest to counterterrorism operative Scot Harvath are being targeted and he realizes that somehow, somewhere he has left the wrong person alive. With his life plunged into absolute peril, and the president ordering him to stay out of the investigation, Harvath must mount his own covert plan for revenge – and in so doing will uncover shattering revelations about the organizations and the nation he has spent his life serving.

 June 632 A.D.: The prophet Mohammed shares a final and startling revelation. Within days he is assassinated. September 1789: Thomas Jefferson uncovers a conspiracy that could change the face of Islam. Present day: Men still kill to keep the secret hidden. When a car bomb explodes outside a Parisian cafe, counterterrorism operative Scot Harvath is thrust back into the life he has tried desperately to leave behind. In a race to uncover an ancient secret with the power to stop militant Islam, Harvath will risk everything to reclaim Mohammed’s final revelation and defeat one of the deadliest evils the world has ever known.

And finally the LibraryThing Early Reviewer book that I received. I read this book immediately! Read my review here.

 After tragic events tear him away from his parents, fifteen-year-old Mickey Bolitar is sent to live with his estranged uncle Myron. For a while, it seems his train wreck of a life is finally improving – until his girlfriend, Ashley, goes missing without a trace. Unwilling to let another person he cares about walk out of his life, Mickey follows Ashley’s trail into a seedy underworld, revealing a conspiracy so shocking it will leave him questioning everything about the life he thought he knew.

Mailbox Monday is still on tour, with July’s location being at A Sea of Books.

Well, I went a little nuts on PBS with the BOB feature again. Oops. I really need to restrain myself a little bit, but I can’t. Received ten books, here’s what I got:

 A high-level assassination attempt in Russia has the newly elected Ryan sending his most trusted eyes and ears – including antiterroism specialist John Clark – to Moscow, for he fears the worst is yet to come. And he’s right. The attempt has left the already unstable Russia vulnerable to ambitious forces in China eager to fulfill their destiny – and change the face of the world as we know it…

  In the secretive world where fearless men and women wage a daily covert war, the CIA has intercepted two terrorist cells – but a third, led by a dangerous mastermind, is feared to be on the loose. Counterterrorist agent Mitch Rapp joins forces with a warrior as dedicated – and lethal – as they come: ex-Marine and elite operative Mike Nash. Both Rapp and Nash have stared down the jihadist culture of death. Both have saved thousands of lives without accolades or acknowledgement of their personal sacrifices. But the political winds have changed on Capitol Hill, and certain leaders want Mitch Rapp put back on a short leash. And when a nightmare scenario descends on Washington, D.C., Rapp and Nash will follow new rules of engagement: their own.

  Mitch McDeere is a young, intelligent and ambitious lawyer. When he gets a job with a top law firm in Memphis, he is delighted, but soon Mitch discovers that the firm is listening in on his phone calls and that the FBI want to speak to him.

  Twenty-one-month-old Cassie Jones is the picture of health. Yet her parents rush her to the emergency room night after night with symptoms no doctor can explain. Cassie’s parents seem genuinely concerned. Her favorite nurse is a model of devotion. When Delaware is called in to investigate, his instinct tells him that one of them could be a monster. Then a physician is brutally murdered. A shadowy death is revealed. And Alex and his friend, LAPD detective Milo Sturgis, have only hours to uncover the link between Cassie’s terrifying condition and these shocking, seemingly unrelated events.

  The voice belongs to a woman, but Dr. Alex Delaware remembers a little girl. It is eleven years since seven-year-old Melissa Dickinson dialed a hospital help line for comfort – and found it in therapy with Alex Delaware. Now the lovely young heiress is desperately calling for the psychologist’s help once more. Only this time it looks like Melissa’s deepest childhood nightmare is really coming true. Twenty years ago, Gina Dickinson, Melissa’s mother, suffered a grisly assault that left the budding actress irreparably scarred and emotionally crippled. Now her acid-wielding assailant is out of prison and back in LA – and Melissa is terrified that the monster has returned to hurt Gina again. But before Alex Delaware can even begin to soothe his former patient’s fears, Gina, a recluse for twenty years, disappears. And now, unless Delaware turns crack detective to uncover the truth, Gina Dickinson will be just one more victim of a cold fury that has already spawned madness – and murder.

  Only two rival spies – and one mysterious woman – can stop them: Scofield, CIA, and Talaniekov, KGB. They share a genius for espionage – and a life of terror and explosive violence. Sworn enemies, they have vowed to terminate each other – yet now they must become allies. Because only they possess the brutal skills and ice-cold nerves vital to destroy an international circle of killers, the Matarese.

 Andrea Labore is a beautiful, ambitious Twin Cities TV newscaster, hungering for an anchor chair, and with two men hungering for her. One is Rick Beanblossom, a star reporter who hides his disfigured face behind a cotton mask and his scarred soul behind a cynical shield. The other is the channel’s uncanny weatherman, Dixon Bell, a gentle bearlike genius whose claws are as concealed as his past. When Andrea goes after the story of a serial killer of pretty young women, it becomes clear that the monstrous murderer is after her. Trusting the wrong man with her love can cost her life. And as the clouds of suspicion darken, the only sure forecast is that death will strike like lightning again and again … closer and closer.

  Death row inmate Rommy Gandolph insists he’s innocent – and new evidence has convinced his court-appointed attorney. Once a skeptic, Kindle County corporate lawyer Arthur Raven is now a fervent crusader. But in the world of criminal law he’s a rookie squaring off against a D.A. determined to prove she’s right, a female judge who served time for taking bribes, and the original detective on the case eager to seal Rommy’s doom. The battles are hard-fought and more vicious than anything Raven has ever imagined. Because when the state has the power to kill, everything is life or death.

  A shocking act of violence plunges Boulder, Colorado, clinical psychologist Dr. Alan Gregory into the most challenging and dangerous case of his career. At the heart of the sensational crime are two women trapped by the furies of fame. One is the beautiful daughter of an assassinated U.S. official, whose life is threatened by a mysterious attacker. The other is Alan’s wife, associate district attorney Lauren Crowder, who has just been arrested on suspicion of murder. His desperate search for answers will bring Alan face o face with true evil: a conspiracy fueled by human greed and bound by a deadly secret someone will kill – and kill again – to keep.

 One month in 1865 witnessed the frenzied fall of Richmond, a daring last-ditch Southern plan for guerrilla warfare, Lee’s harrowing retreat, and then, Appomattox. It saw Lincoln’s assassination just five days later and a near successful plot to decapitate the Union government, followed by chaos and coup fears in the North, collapsed negotiations and continued bloodshed in the South, and finally, the start of national reconciliation. In the end, April 1865 emerged as not just the tale of the war’s denouement, but the story of the making of our nation. Jay Winik offers a brilliant new look at the Civil War’s final days that will forever change the way we see the war’s end and the nation’s new beginning. Uniquely set within the larger sweep of history, and filled with rich profiles of outsize figures, fresh iconoclastic scholarship, and a gripping narrative, this is a masterful account of the thirty most pivotal days in the life of the United States.

Mailbox Monday is still on tour, with June’s location being at Bluestocking’s Thoughts on Books.

Another good mailbox this week. Three books came in:

     John Clark is the man who conducts the secret missions President Ryan can have no part of. Whether hunting warlords in Japan or druglords in Colombia, Clark is efficient and deadly but even he has ghosts in his past. And nowhere more than the peril he must face in Rainbow Six: a group of terrorists the world has never encountered before. This is Tom Clancy’s most shocking story ever – closer to reality than any government would care to admit.

     It’s a hideous echo of a violent past. Across America, murders are being committed with all the twisted hallmarks of the Boston Strangler, the Zodiac Killer and Son of Sam. The media frenzy explodes and Nashville homicide lieutenant Taylor Jackson knows instantly that The Pretender is back … and he’s got helpers. As The Pretender’s disciples perpetrate their sick homages – stretching police and the FBI dangerously thin – Taylor tries desperately to prepare for their inevitable showdown. And she must do it alone. To be close to her is to be in mortal danger, and she won’t risk losing anyone she loves. But the isolation, the self-doubt and the rising body count are taking their toll – she’s beside herself and ready to snap. The brilliant psychopath who both adores and despises her is drawing close. Close enough to touch…

     Detective Alex Cross and Bree Stone’s wedding plans are put on hold when Alex is called to the scene of the perfectly executed assassination of two of Washington, DC’s most corrupt: a dirty congressman and an underhanded lobbyist. Next, the elusive gunman begins picking off other crooked insiders, sparking a blaze of theories – is the marksman a hero or a vigilante? The case explodes, and the FBI assigns Agent Max Siegel to the investigation. As Alex and Siegel battle over jurisdiction, the murders continue. It becomes clear that the killings are the work of a professional who has detailed knowledge of his victims’ movements – information that only a Washington insider could possess. As Alex contends with the sniper, Siegel, and the wedding, he receives a call from his deadliest adversary, Kyle Craig. The Mastermind is in DC and will not relent until he has eliminated Cross and his family for good.