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What Others Are Saying

About Jack Patterson

“Jack’s storytelling feels as natural as James Patterson’s, and the short-chapter setup is the literary answer to Lay’s potato chips: you just want one more and before you know it, you’ve gone through the whole thing.

-David Bashore,The Times-News, Twin Falls, ID

“Jack Patterson does a fantastic job at keeping you engaged and interested. I look forward to more from this talented author.”

-Aaron Patterson, bestselling author of SWEET DREAMS

“Patterson has a mean streak about a mile wide and puts his two main characters through quite a horrible ride, which makes for good reading.”

-Richard D., reader

“Like a John Grisham novel, from the very start I was pulled right into the story and couldn’t put the book down. It was as if I personally knew and cared about what happened to each of the main characters. Every chapter ended with so much excitement and suspense I had to continue to read until I learned how it ended, even though it kept me up until 3:00 A.M.

-Ray F., reader

DEAD SHOT

“Small town life in southern Idaho might seem quaint and idyllic to some. But when local newspaper reporter Cal Murphy begins to uncover a series of strange deaths that are linked to a sticky spider web of deception, the lid on the peaceful town is blown wide open. Told with all the energy and bravado of an old pro, first-timer Jack Patterson hits one out of the park his first time at bat with Dead Shot. It’s that good.”

-Vincent Zandri, bestselling author of THE REMAINS

“You can tell Jack knows what it’s like to live in the newspaper world, but withDead Shot, he’s proven that he also can write one heck of a murder mystery. With a clever plot and characters you badly want to succeed, he is on his way to becoming a new era James Patterson.”

-Josh Katzowitz,

NFL writer for CBSSports.com

& author of Sid Gillman: Father of the Passing Game

DEAD LINE

“This book kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I didn’t really want to put it down. Jack Patterson has hooked me. I’ll be back for more.”

-Bob Behler

3-time Idaho broadcaster of the year

and play-by-play voice for Boise State football

DEAD IN THE WATER

“In Dead in the Water, Jack Patterson accurately captures the action-packed saga of a what could be a real-life college football scandal. The sordid details will leave readers flipping through the pages as fast as a hurry-up offense.”

-Mark Schlabach,

ESPN college sports columnist and

co-author of Called to Coach

Heisman: The Man Behind the Trophy

OTHER TITLES BY JACK PATTERSON

Cal Murphy Thriller series

Dead Shot

Dead Line

Better off Dead

Dead in the Water

Dead Man's Curve

Dead and Gone

Dead Wrong

Dead Man's Land

Dead Drop

Dead to Rights

James Flynn Thriller series

The Warren Omissions

Imminent Threat

The Cooper Affair

Seeds of War

Brady Hawk series

First Strike

Deep Cover

Point of Impact

Full Blast

For Brian, a great friend and a man

with passion for the Deep South

DEAD TO RIGHTS

A Cal Murphy Thriller

JACK PATTERSON

CHAPTER 1

May 8, 2004

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

WHEN ISAIAH DRAKE AWOKE, he wasn’t sure what felt stranger—the Glock G29 in his right hand or the mangled and severed ring finger he held in his left. The shrill call of the osprey circling overhead had startled him out of his nightlong slumber, causing him to sit up. The unsteady ground beneath Drake confused him, as did the water slapping the sides of the fiberglass johnboat. This wasn’t the type of vessel he was used to waking up on with such a pounding headache.

He inspected the two objects in his hand more closely. The gun felt about the same weight and size as the one he’d shot earlier in the day, though he wasn’t a weapons expert by any measure. The slender white finger with a chipped but manicured nail also looked familiar, but it was difficult to know where he’d seen it since it was so out of place. Regardless of whom it belonged to, the finger appeared in stark contrast to his dark muscular hand holding it. Studying both objects, he tried to think where they could’ve possibly come from and who they belonged to, though he was certain one owner was more upset about losing hers than the other.

Drake also heard voices nearby. He couldn’t see more than twenty feet in any direction due to the morning fog that had settled thick over the Okefenokee swamp.

“Reckon the jackfish will be bitin’ this mornin’?” asked one man.

“Maybe when it warms up a little. Billy told me the warmouths have been jumpin’ into people’s boats,” another man replied.

“Now, that’s what I like to hear. To heck with fishin’; I’d rather catch ‘em.”

“You and me both, brother.”

The voices grew louder and louder.

Drake looked at the items in his hands, carefully setting them down so as to not make a sound. But the gun clanked hard on the bottom of the boat, reverberating across the water. He held his breath and didn’t move.

“D’you hear that?” one of the men asked.

“Sure did,” the other man responded before calling out into the fog. “Hey! Anybody out there? We’re comin’ your way, and we’d hate to surprise ya by runnin’ into ya.”

Drake remained still, except for slight head movements as he scanned the boat for a paddle. The only thing at his feet other than a gun and a detached appendage was a smattering of blood.

He looked up just in time to see the outline of a small fishing boat trolling toward him, the front hull poised to pierce the fog. Without any other options besides announcing his presence, Drake laid back down and closed his eyes, praying they’d just scoot on by and leave him alone. Drake needed to figure out what was going on before he engaged with anyone in a conversation, especially two good ole boys fishing the swamp.

“Hold on, Jay. Put