Code 61

What initally looks like a small time midwinter break-in, leads to something much bigger – a million dollar siege of a floating casino on the frozen Mississippi River. But the temperature is rising and the heat is on Deputy Sheriff Carl Houseman… Following hard on the heels of the bestselling Eleven Days and The Known Dead, Donald Harstad really hits his stride with The Big Thaw, an irresistible big thriller with a Fargo-like atmosphere.The dead of winter has hit the heartland. It's thirty below zero and all anyone has to look forward to in Nation County, Iowa is an evening's entertainment aboard a floating casino docked a short drive away on the Mississippi River. With his friend and partner Hester Gorse pulling security duty on the Beauregard, it's left to Deputy Sheriff Carl Houseman to keep Nation County criminals in check. In Carl's experience, though, crime takes a holiday when the mercury falls. But the men lying low at a nearby compound have much bigger plans. They're waiting for a break in the weather to pull off a masterful million-dollar siege of the state's biggest economic asset. And Hester, trapped on the Beauregard, is directly in the line of fire. While desperately trying to maintain his control of the investigation, Carl has to plan for disaster relief, lobby the FBI for a team of SWAT sharpshooters, hold the media at bay, and save Hester's life before the temperature rises for the big thaw…

Includes a never-before-published Sookie Stackhouse story!

What could be scarier than the first day of school? How about a crash course in the paranormal from Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner, editors of Home ? Your worst school nightmares — taking that math test you never studied for, finding yourself naked in school assembly, not knowing which door to enter — will pale in comparison to these thirteen original stories that take academic anxiety to whole new realms.

In #1 bestselling author Charlaine Harris's story, "Playing Possum," Sookie Stackhouse brings enough birthday cupcakes for her nephew's entire class but finds she's one short when the angry ex-boyfriend of the school secretary shows up.

When her guardian, Kate Daniels, sends her undercover to a school for exceptional children, teenaged Julie learns an all-new definition of "exceptional," in bestselling author Ilona Andrews's "Magic Tests."

For those who like fangs with their forensics, bestselling author Nancy Holder offers "VSI," in which FBI agent Claire is tested as never before in a school for Vampire Scene Investigation.

And in bestselling author Thomas Sniegoski's "The Bad Hour," Remy Chandler and his dog Marlowe find evil unleashed in an obedience school.

You'll need more than an apple to stave off the creatures in these and nine other stories. Remember your first lesson: resistance is fruitless!

Includes stories by: ILONA ANDREWS, AMBER BENSON, RHYS BOWEN, MIKE CAREY, CHARLAINE HARRIS, DONALD HARSTAD, STEVE HOCKENSMITH, NANCY HOLDER, FAITH HUNTER, TONI L.P. KELNER, MARJORIE LIU, JONATHAN MABERRY, THOMAS SNIEGOSKI