Synopses & Reviews
Federal Chief Investigator Nick LeRue is an expert on unraveling a crime; he's brought down some of the smoothest operators on Capitol Hill and uncovered dangerous secrets in politicians' pasts. But when word that his ex-girlfriend, investigative journalist Heather Cole, is missing, Nick is about to learn that nothing is ever what it seems. Turning to Heather's twin sister, Melanie, she tells Nick of visions she's had of her sister being held captive by an unseen man, and as these images are quickly becoming darker and more frightening.
Though skeptical of the sisters' psychic connection, Nick follows Heather's trail all the way to Pushmataha, Mississippi. And it appears that Heather may have been close to uncovering this town's darkest and bloodiest secret, but the town's residents will do anything to keep this secret from getting out.
Review
"Earley's knowledge of the internecine machinations of Washington in general . . . give the book verisimilitude. . . . A cut above the popular thrillers of John Grisham and Tom Clancy."
New York Sun
Review
"Chillingly believable, The Big Secret is a fast-paced yarn that's all fun. As always Pete Earley's writing is superb and engaging."
Nelson Demille
Review
"Earley effectively tweaks the novel genre, beginning as a conventional chase thriller that grows deeper and more relevant as the story progresses."
Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Readers learn a great deal of information about, investigative journalism, U.S. Senate politics, Mississippi's social strata, racial bigotry, creation of false identities, college social clubs, friendship, lust and love."
St. Petersburg Times
Review
"John Grisham meets Stepen King in this compelling thriller. A terrific eye for action and character, Earley sure knows how to tell a story. Gripping and intelligent." Douglas Preston
Review
"Earley's knowledge of the internecine machinations of Washington in general . . . give the book verisimilitude. . . . A cut above the popular thrillers of John Grisham and Tom Clancy."---New York Sun on The Big Secret
"Chillingly believable, The Big Secret is a fast-paced yarn that's all fun. As always Pete Earley's writing is superb and engaging."-Nelson Demille
"Earley effectively tweaks the novel genre, beginning as a conventional chase thriller that grows deeper and more relevant as the story progresses."---Kirkus Reviews on The Big Secret
"Readers learn a great deal of information about, among other topics, investigative journalism, U.S. Senate politics, Mississippi's social strata, soul food, racial bigotry, identical twin studies, bipolar personality disorder, creation of false identities, college social clubs, friendship, lust and love."---St. Petersburg Times on The Big Secret
"John Grisham meets Stepen King in this compelling thriller. A terrific eye for action and character, Earley sure knows how to tell a story. Gripping and intelligent."---Douglas Preston, New York Times bestselling co-author of Relic and Brimstone on The Big Secret
Synopsis
The first work of fiction from the "New York Times" bestselling true-crime author. When his ex-girlfriend disappears while researching a brutal 1955 lynching in Mississippi, Federal Chief Investigator Nick LeRue teams up with the woman's twin sister who claims to have clairvoyant powers.
About the Author
Pete Earley is a former Washington Post reporter and winner of the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar for Best Fact Crime Book in 1996 for
Circumstantial Evidence: Death, Life, and Justice in a Southern Town. His book, which also won the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, helped free an innocent man from Alabama's death row. Earley's account of the John Walker spy ring,
Family of Spies, was a New York Times bestseller and CBS mini-series.
The Hot House: Life Inside Leavenworth Prison was a national bestseller and was based on a year that Earley spent inside a maximum security federal prison as an author.
Born in Arizona, Earley was reared in Colorado and worked for newspapers in Kansas and Oklahoma before moving to the Virginia suburbs of Washington D.C., where he lives with his wife, Patti. They have seven children.