Illusionist: Volume 5

A contemporary crime thriller perfect for Louise Penny and Robert Dugoni fans, Illusionist presents PI McPherson with an impossible dilemma: kill an author at a writing retreat in the Pacific Northwest, or let a college student die. WHEN AN ILLUSIONIST joins the Pines & Quill writing retreat, one of the owners vanishes without a trace in the middle of everyonebut the surrounding would-be witnesses dont see or hear a thing. Thats when crime boss Georgio Gambino makes a checkmate move against his nemesis, Sean McPhersonhe attempts to blackmail a writer in residence into killing another writer and framing McPherson. In a video call, Gambino warns the writer, If you dont follow orders, your daughter will die. Then he pans the camera to prove his access to her college dorm room. As he begins to investigate, McPherson discovers that Carmine Fiore, Gambinos second in command, covets his bosss role and is staging a coup. As Gambinos soldiers traffic drugs, weapons, and humans, Fiore plants incriminating evidence against the notorious Sureos gang. Can McPherson leverage that knowledge for a temporary truce and the gangs help? Even if he can, the Sureos gang wont be enough alone. As the clock ticks down, McPherson gathers Pines & Quills writers in residencea former NASCAR driver, a professional triathlete, an architect turned house flipper, and a world-renowned magician who may not be who she appears to beto create the illusion of a lifetime.