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Iris Johansen

Biography

Iris Johansen

Iris Johansen is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than 50 consecutive bestsellers. Her series featuring forensic sculptor Eve Duncan has sold over 20 million copies and counting and was the subject of the acclaimed Lifetime movie The Killing Game. Along with her son, Roy, Iris has also co-authored the New York Times bestselling series featuring investigator Kendra Michaels. Johansen lives in Georgia and Florida.

Books by Iris Johansen

by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen - Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller

After scoring a plea deal in a high-profile murder trial, serial killer James Michael Barrett leads a grim parade of law enforcement officers to the body of his last victim. At the alleged burial site, the officers swing their shovels down and are met with a strange metallic sound they weren’t expecting. In a blink, a terrific explosion rocks the woods, killing Barrett and most of the officers instantly. The detonation is only the beginning of a shocking case for FBI consultant Kendra Michaels. A string of heinous murders in the style of the very-dead Barrett mysteriously continue, and it becomes clear that he may not have been working alone. But the killer has a terrifying plan that Kendra and her team are only beginning to understand.

by Iris Johansen - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Jane MacGuire is enjoying a period of domestic bliss as she focuses on her art, and her partner, Seth Caleb, uses his unique abilities as an agent for the MI6 intelligence service. But when Seth crosses crime lord Hugh Bohdan, he incurs the wrath of one of the world’s most powerful criminal empires, and Jane is soon on the run. With that peril, though, comes an astonishing discovery: a 200-year-old secret on the brink of becoming lost to history. Jane and Seth must join forces to unlock the fascinating puzzle, even as they hurtle toward a lethal final confrontation in the Highlands. But before their adventure is over, they will encounter their biggest shock of all…and realize nothing can be the same for them ever again.

by Iris Johansen - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

When archaeologist Riley Smith comes to ask Eve Duncan for help, Eve has to say no. Yet she is intrigued by the prospect of an isolated island that holds a secret locked in time. Traveling to Southeast Asia, Riley is aware of the threat from treasure hunters who are already searching and have no qualms about killing to get what they want. When she successfully evades them and finds the perfectly preserved body of a female warrior, it is just what she needs to entice Eve to help unlock the mystery. As these two strong women seek answers about this extraordinary past life, Riley makes a living, breathing discovery that will change history. If she can escape the island and survive long enough to share it with the world.

by Iris Johansen - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Archaeologist Riley Smith has been obsessed with Helen of Troy since she was a small girl, trailing her professor father all over the world in search of the tomb of the world’s most beautiful woman. Professor Smith put his life on the line to prove that, instead of a myth, Helen had been a living, breathing queen. Riley seeks the help of forensic sculptor Eve Duncan, who has the unusual skills necessary to recreate the face that launched a thousand ships --- revealing Helen’s true appearance for the first time in history. But convincing Eve to take on the challenge will be difficult because her efforts could come at great personal risk to her and her family.

by Iris Johansen - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Logan Tanner lives the exhilarating life of a professional gambler. But all the glitz and glamour hide a dark and violent past as an extractor --- a world that comes rushing back to him when Lara Balkon enters his life. Soon Logan is drawn into the conflict between two Russian mafia bosses over Lara, whose life now hangs in the balance. Logan has been offered something more valuable to him than money --- information he desperately needs --- in exchange for getting Lara out of Russia and to safety. Once together, Tanner discovers that Lara is a force to be reckoned with in her own right. Tanner’s search for the truth leads them to the bright lights of Las Vegas, where the person who was hunting Lara now lies in wait for them.

by Iris Johansen - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Diane Connors is a dedicated doctor with the world’s biggest secret, a discovery that could have shocking global ramifications. But while conducting private research trials, word has gotten out. The wrong people have heard the news and now want to hide Diane’s achievement for their own ends. With nowhere else to turn, Diane finds herself on the doorstep of the last man she wants to ask for help: her ex-husband, Joe Quinn. Joe has remarried, and he and his wife, Eve Duncan, seem blissfully happy in their quiet, rural life until they are faced with the challenge of risking it all for the greater good. Now Eve is trapped in a web of murder and deceit as powerful enemies rush to cover up the truth.

by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen - Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller

Delilah Winter is one of the hottest pop stars on the planet, so how in the world was she kidnapped right in the middle of a show at the famous Hollywood Bowl? If anyone can figure it out, it's Dr. Kendra Michaels, who works with local and federal authorities on only the most impossible cases. She agrees to lead the race to rescue the young singer before time runs out. Joined by Jessie Mercado, the singer's former bodyguard and a military hero, Kendra closes in on the hideout location but not before casualties mount up. Desperate for leads, Kendra must set aside her personal feelings when agent-for-hire Adam Lynch also volunteers his special skills to aid in the search. But as the abductor's true purpose becomes clear, the trio uncover a plot they never could have imagined --- leading to a showdown they won't soon forget.

by Iris Johansen - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

When CIA agent Alisa Flynn flaunts the rules by breaking into a mansion in the middle of the night, she skillfully circumvents alarms and outwits guards only to find herself standing in billionaire Gabe Korgan's study…busted by Korgan himself. This could cost Alisa her job unless she can turn the tables and try to convince him to join her on the most important mission of her life. Schoolgirls in Africa have been kidnapped, and Alisa knows that Korgan has the courage, financial means and high-tech weaponry to help rescue them. With so many innocent lives hanging in the balance, what she doesn't reveal is that one of those schoolgirls is like a little sister to her. But when the truth gets out, the stakes grow even higher.

by Iris Johansen - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Forensic sculptor Eve Duncan and ex-Navy Seal Joe Quinn are about to give Seth Caleb their trust for the most important duty of his life: keeping their daughter, Jane, safe at any cost. Her talent as an artist has caught the attention of a brilliant psychopath with a violent past. Seth, Jane's strongest ally and fiercest protector, is determined to keep her out of danger, but that becomes nearly impossible when Jane is forced to take matters into her own hands and confronts the madman who wants her for himself…and wants Seth Caleb dead. As Jane and Seth chase down their bloodthirsty adversary, they finally commit to a life together. As the two come face to face with danger, one thing is made clear: it will take both of them working together to confront and defeat this evil.

by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen - Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller

Dr. Kendra Michaels, blind for the first 20 years of her life before gaining her sight via a revolutionary surgical procedure, is a renowned investigator known for her razor-sharp senses --- honed during her years in the dark --- and keen deductive abilities. Now her skills are needed uncomfortably close to home. Two staff members have been murdered at a school for the blind where Kendra spent her formative years. But the murders are puzzlingly dissimilar: one victim was brutally stabbed, while the other was killed by a bullet to the head. Are the crimes related? Or is Kendra on the hunt for more than one dangerous killer?

by Iris Johansen - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

A journalist shows up on Eve Duncan's doorstep with a plea for help. Jill Cassidy has just come from a small African village with a heartwrenching story: half the villagers --- many of them children --- have been killed in a horrific attack by guerilla soldiers, the bodies burned beyond recognition. Now, the families desperately need Eve's help to get closure and begin to heal. But when Eve arrives in the remote jungle, she begins to suspect that Jill's plea may have been a cover story for a deeper, more sinister plot. Isolated and unsure who she can trust, Eve finds herself stranded in an unstable country where violence threatens to break out again at any moment.

by Iris Johansen - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Despite her tragic childhood, violin prodigy Cara Delaney has finally found peace in her career as a professional musician and stability in her relationship with her guardians, forensic sculptor Eve Duncan and ex-Navy SEAL Joe Quinn. If only Jock Gavin, Cara's lifelong friend and a man with his own twisted history, would come back into her life, everything would be perfect. But the carefully constructed world Cara has built for herself is suddenly threatened when she is kidnapped by a mysterious man trying to settle a score against her family, setting off a violent chain of events that puts everyone Cara loves in danger.

by Iris Johansen - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

With his dying breath, Carl Venable, head of the CIA task force on terrorism and Jude Brandon’s final link to terrorist ringleader Max Huber, gives Brandon a mandate: keep his daughter Rachel safe --- at all costs. But Rachel Venable has a shocking, twisted past of her own, one that comes rushing back after her medical clinic abroad is attacked by Huber --- the same man who murdered her father and kept her imprisoned for months. Now, along with agent Catherine Ling, Rachel’s longtime ally and fierce protector, Brandon is determined to keep Rachel out of danger. As he and Rachel race against the clock to bring Huber down before he can orchestrate a disaster that will lay waste to half the country, they also fight a growing attraction to each other --- one that could prove just as dangerous as Huber himself.

by Iris Johansen - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Forensic sculptor Eve Duncan is once again thrown into a deadly game of intrigue when she receives a cryptic package containing a skull and a two-sided mirror. Eve is determined to reconstruct the skull and uncover the mystery of the person’s identity, and when she does, the face of a beautiful woman begins to emerge. But who is she? As Eve gets closer and closer to finding the answer, she becomes swept up in a lethal chase that spans continents and threatens to destroy the family that she has worked so hard to bring together. Eve and her team must work quickly to discover who is behind the murder --- and maybe even prevent more loss of life.

by Iris Johansen - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Scotland holds a treasure that Jane MacGuire has been hunting for years. But as she scours the highlands in search of it, she’s plagued by dreams of a girl in danger. Who is this girl, and what is she trying to tell Jane? And will Jane figure it out before it’s too late --- for her and the mysterious young woman? Things are further complicated when Seth Caleb comes back into Jane’s life. This time, Jane finds herself pulled unexpectedly into his world as she fights to save him. But Caleb isn’t the only person sweeping her up into startling developments. When Eve Duncan surprises Jane with news of her own, Jane comes face to face with stunning changes in the lives of those she loves most.

by Iris Johansen - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Raised off the grid in an abusive home, Margaret Douglas’ only escape was the nearby forest where she sought refuge. There, she discovered a strange gift: the ability to understand animals and to communicate with them. But her abilities have not gone unnoticed, and there are those who would use them for their own purposes. Determined not to be a pawn in anyone’s game, every time someone gets too close, Margaret uproots her life and outruns them. When CIA operative John Lassiter breaks into Margaret’s apartment, she vanishes again, but Lassiter has good reason to be persistent. As a CIA operative, he owes his life to his men, one of whom is being held captive by an unrelenting enemy --- an enemy who has set his sights on Margaret.

by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

A serial killer is on the loose in San Diego with a most unusual M.O. With each kill, the perpetrator leaves behind mystifying random objects. In this confusing array of unrelated evidence, the one thing that is clear is that the murders all have one characteristic in common: they all require the specific skills of Kendra Michaels, hired gun for both the CIA and FBI. Kendra, who was blind for the first 20 years of her life, gained her sight through a revolutionary surgical procedure and now uses her acute powers of observation to assist in cases all over the United States. FBI investigators soon make a startling discovery: the left-behind objects are actually souvenirs of other unsolved serial murder cases from around the country.

by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Born blind, Kendra Michaels spent the first 20 years of her life living in the darkness. Then, thanks to a revolutionary medical procedure developed by England’s Night Watch Project, she was given the gift of sight. Her highly developed senses (honed during her years in the dark), combined with her new found vision, have made her a remarkable investigator, sought after by law-enforcement agencies all over the country. But her newest case becomes deeply personal as she uncovers the truth about the shadowy organization that has given her so much.

by Iris Johansen - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Forensic sculptor Eve Duncan lies in a well-guarded hospital room in Carmel, California. But she and Joe Quinn have sworn to protect an innocent young girl, Cara Delaney, whose enemies are getting closer by the hour. Weighing her own health against Cara’s safety, Eve decides they must disappear --- and so she turns to her daughter, Jane MacGuire, for an unexpected solution. After years of resistance, Jane has finally succumbed to the inevitable: John MacDuff’s insistent plea to track down a treasure presumed buried in Scotland. The remote mountains should be a perfect hiding place for Eve and Cara, but they soon realize there is nowhere distant enough from the ruthless predators who are on their trail.

by Iris Johansen - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Forensic sculptor Eve Duncan risked it all to protect Cara Delaney from the enemies who want her dead. The journey has led them from California to a remote mountain in the Scottish highlands --- and earned Eve the distinction of becoming their next target. When, despite all precautions, Cara is taken, Eve must hunt down the very people who want to kill her in order to save the young girl. At a time in her life when she has more at stake than ever before, she unhesitatingly puts it all on the line in a pulse-pounding mission of rescue and survival.

by Iris Johansen - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

When a sheriff in California contacts Eve Duncan with a request for help on the reconstruction of the skull of a girl whose body has been buried for eight years, his fierce investment in the case puzzles her. But when Eve finds herself experiencing an unusual connection with the girl she calls Jenny, she becomes entangled in the case more intensely than she ever could have imagined. Not since her daughter Bonnie has Eve had such an experience, and suddenly she finds herself determined to solve the murder and bring closure to the crime.

by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Kendra Michaels was instrumental in bringing serial killer Eric Colby to justice. And yet, despite his apparent execution, Kendra is convinced that Colby is still alive. The problem is that she can't prove it. Even her razor-sharp powers of observation --- developed to an amazing capacity during the 20 years she spent blind and now in constant demand by law enforcement agencies --- have gotten her nowhere. But then a reporter who very publicly humiliated Kendra is murdered. Visiting the crime scene in search of anything that might link the brutal homicide to Colby, Kendra instead finds evidence that points to her.

by Iris Johansen - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Catherine Ling is one of the CIA's most prized operatives. Just as she is building a relationship with her son, who was kidnapped nine years ago, it seems that someone from Catherine's past is playing a deadly game with her. Someone is picking off the people she cares about one by one, with the circle narrowing closer and closer to those she loves the most. Catherine has no choice but to weed through her past to find out who is targeting her now, and then go after the vicious killer herself.

by Iris Johansen - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

When Teresa Casali was young, she discovered she had a strange gift: the ability to read people’s memories. But the gift seemed more like a curse as her mob boss father used her to gain the upper hand in his world of corruption and violence. Exposed by her own family to the darkest impulses of mankind, Teresa is alone and unprotected. She realizes that if she is to survive, she has to run.

by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Before the experimental surgery that gave her sight, Kendra Michaels developed her other senses to an amazing capacity. Law enforcement agencies clamor for her powers of perception and observation. When Kendra realizes that an apparent traffic accident on San Diego's historic Cabrillo Bridge is in fact a murder scene, she rushes to alert the police. As the body count rises, a gruesome pattern emerges. Someone is killing people in ways that mirror Kendra's most notorious cases…and he is not working alone.

by Iris Johansen - Fiction, Romance, Romantic Suspense, Suspense, Thriller

Catherine Ling, one of the CIA’s prized operatives, faces a monster whose crimes stretch back 40 years. The job grows even more complicated when Catherine meets Richard Cameron, a supposed ally who’s clearly not telling all he knows. Their attraction is immediate, but Catherine isn't sure he can be trusted. If she’s going to rescue American journalist Erin Sullivan with a story worth killing for, she’ll need to keep Cameron very close.

by Iris Johansen - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

In TAKING EVE, the game began. In HUNTING EVE, the chase was on. Now, in SILENCING EVE, the prey is cornered. Will Eve Duncan survive? Will those she loves take the fall with her? And will the secrets of Eve’s past ultimately become her undoing? All these questions will be answered in a shocking, you-never-saw-it-coming conclusion.

by Iris Johansen - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

The stakes are raised even higher in book two of Iris Johansen’s new Eve Duncan trilogy as Eve battles the man who is holding her prisoner. Secrets about why Eve has been targeted come into the light, bringing her even closer to danger. With its cliffhanger ending, HUNTING EVE sets up perfectly for the finale, SILENCING EVE.

by Iris Johansen - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Jim Doane's 25-year-old son may or may not be dead, and he has only burned skull fragments as possible evidence. But he cannot go to the police for answers without risking his own secrets and dark past, so instead he chooses a bold step to find the truth --- a truth that takes forensic sculptor Eve Duncan down a twisted path of madness and evil and into the darkest heart of her own history.

by Iris Johansen - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Forensic sculptor Eve Duncan knows what it's like to be haunted by the past. For years after her daughter Bonnie was stolen from her, she fought for closure. But now as she's striving to begin anew, she can't shake the feeling that something terrible is about to happen --- or maybe already has. When her mother, Sandra, asks for help in finding a missing friend named Beth Avery, Eve is sure that she's hiding something.

Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

The FBI doesn’t usually consult with music therapists, but Kendra Michael has perfected the art of picking up the most subtle audio, olfactory and tactile cues from the world around her. Former FBI agent Adam Kyle is a notorious master manipulator, skillfully handing criminals and colleagues alike. But now he needs Kendra’s help to find her ex, who may have run directly into the path of a serial killer.

by Iris Johansen - Thriller

When Catherine's old friend Hu Chang creates something so deadly, and completely untraceable, the chase is on to be the first to get it.  With rogue operative John Gallo also on the hunt, Catherine finds herself pitted against a group so villainous and a man so evil that she may not survive the quest to protect those she cares about.

by Iris Johansen - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

With the help of her beloved Joe Quinn and CIA agent Catherine Ling, Eve Duncan has come closer than ever to finding out the truth surrounding the disappearance of her daughter. But the deeper she digs, the more she realizes that Bonnie’s father is a key player in solving this monstrous puzzle.

by Iris Johansen - Fiction, Thriller

 

As a former Navy SEAL turned cop, Joe Quinn has seen the face of evil. When he first met Eve Duncan, he never expected to fall in love in the midst of her  tragedy. As their search takes them deep into a web of murder and madness, Joe and Eve must test their resolve to uncover the bone-chilling truth. 

by Iris Johansen - Fiction, Thriller
A young wife is forced to confront a decades-old deadly secret when a medium connects her to her dead grandfather. A vicious psychopath wants ultimate revenge against Savich, but first, she wants to destroy what he loves most --- his family. A series of three red boxes are delivered personally to Savich at the Hoover Building, each one containing puzzle pieces of a town only FBI agent Pippa Cinelli recognizes. Savich sends in Cinelli to investigate undercover but someone knows who she is. Savich and Sherlock are up to their eyebrows in danger, but can they figure out the red box puzzle and the young wife’s secret before it’s too late?