Book excerpt: From Jeffery Deaver, New York Times bestselling author of The Empty Chair and The Devil's Teardrop, comes his trademark "ticking-bomb suspense" (People) that explodes off the page in this heart-stopping thriller. Hard-living Hollywood location scout John Pellam found the perfect backwater Missouri town for shooting a retro gangster film. But when real bullets leave two people dead and one cop paralyzed, Pellam—an unwitting witness to the brutal hits—is suddenly the South’s most wanted man. The feds and local police want him to talk. Mob enforcers want him silenced. And a mysterious blonde just wants him. Trapped in a town full of sinister secrets and deadly deceptions, Pellam must focus on facing down a killer before his own story fades to black.