Called out to investigate a suspected suicide in a luxury high-rise apartment, forensic scientist Theresa MacLean only just escapes with her life when the building is blown to smithereens. An accident or something more sinister? A mostly empty block of trendy apartments in downtown Cleveland seems an unlikely terrorist target.
The following day, Theresa is examining another suspected suicide in a wealthy neighbourhood when the cop accompanying her is shot dead by an unseen assailant. Could the two events be connected?
As Theresa painstakingly pieces the clues she uncovers evidence of a dark secret in the murdered cop s past."

"Quite simply, one of the best storytellers around" Tess Gerritsen - Forensic scientist Theresa MacLean is puzzled by the questionable death of a female construction worker at a Cleveland building site. A witness to the death - a young girl nicknamed Ghost - may be able to help. Ghost says the woman was pushed by someone she can only identify as the Shadow Man. Soon Theresa finds herself in a race against time to protect Ghost from an unknown killer before he is able to find the little girl and silence her for good.

Forensic scientist Theresa MacLean stumbles across a murder rather too close for comfort when she returns to the Medical Examiner's office following a late-night call to find one deskman missing and the other beaten to death. Written in blood above the dead man's head is a single word: 'Confess'. It's the first time a homicide has taken place actually within the ME's office. Medical Examiner Stone works on how to spin the news while Theresa works the scene. When a second victim is discovered, Theresa uncovers a link to the death of another co-worker, records secretary Diane Allman, who was murdered in her own home ten years before. As she painstakingly pieces the clues together, Theresa realizes that she has become an integral part of a ruthless killer's murderous agenda. And if she is to survive, she must find out what really happened to Diane all those years ago.

Seventy-five years ago, the Torso Killer terrorized a city with a horrific spree of murder/dismemberments. He was never caught.

It would be impossible for the maniac to still be at large--and active--today . . .

A decapitated body has been found in a sealed room in an abandoned building--and forensic scientist Theresa MacLean believes the decades-old corpse is a previously unaccounted-for victim of the legendary psychopath. But the discovery of a second body--newly slain and bearing the unmistakable signature of the Torso Killer--suggests the unthinkable: that a copycat serial killer is following in a madman's bloody footprints.

A long-dormant nightmare has been reawakened as a dark history repeats itself. Theresa MacLean's forensic investigation has opened a door into a terrifying past--a door someone desperately wants to keep closed . . . and will keep killing to make it so.

Few tears are shed over the slain corpse of Marie Corrigan, found in the presidential suite at the Ritz-Carlton during a legal convention. A Cleveland defense attorney with a history of falsifying evidence, Corrigan was resoundingly hated by all--colleagues, adversaries . . . even her lovers.

Investigator Theresa MacLean is summoned to the crime scene by her daughter, Rachael, who is working the front desk, and immediately knows she is walking into a forensic nightmare--with trace evidence left behind by countless former hotel guests. But the discovery of two more bodies in rapid succession indicates that this nightmare is far worse than she initially imagined, that Corrigan's death was not a crime of passion, but the opening move of a serial killer with a vendetta . . . and that Theresa and her daughter are both frighteningly close to death.

Called out to investigate a suspected suicide in a luxury high-rise apartment, forensic scientist Theresa MacLean only just escapes with her life when the building is blown to smithereens. An accident - or something more sinister? A mostly empty block of trendy apartments in downtown Cleveland seems an unlikely terrorist target. The following day, Theresa is examining another suspected suicide in a wealthy neighbourhood when the cop accompanying her is shot dead by an unseen assailant. Could the two events be connected? As Theresa painstakingly pieces the clues she uncovers evidence of a dark secret in the murdered cop's past.

Forensic scientist Theresa MacLean stumbles across a murder rather too close for comfort when she returns to the Medical Examiner's office following a late-night call to find one deskman missing and the other beaten to death. Written in blood above the dead man's head is a single word: 'Confess'. It's the first time a homicide has taken place actually within the ME's office. Medical Examiner Stone works on how to spin the news while Theresa works the scene. When a second victim is discovered, Theresa uncovers a link to the death of another co-worker, records secretary Diane Allman, who was murdered in her own home ten years before. As she painstakingly pieces the clues together, Theresa realizes that she has become an integral part of a ruthless killer's murderous agenda. And if she is to survive, she must find out what really happened to Diane all those years ago.

"You Can't Fall Off the Floor" provides an honest, uninhibited bird's eye view into the life of Mona Lisa Black and her journey to loving herself. It shows how one can triumph over religious fanaticism, childhood abduction and rape, abusive relationships...and rise to becoming a college graduate, business owner, doting mother, and author. This autobiography will inspire, encourage, and motivate all who reads it to stand in the midst of chaos-after all..."You Can't Fall Off The Floor."
-RayShon Murdock-Williams, Friend

"There are many forensic experts. There are many writers. Rarely, however, do the two meld as seamlessly and synergistically as Lisa Black."
--Sacramento Book Review

"She is, quite simply, one of the best storytellers around."
--Tess Gerritsen

A former forensic scientist with the Cleveland coroner's office, Lisa Black knows the world she writes about, as she has proven in the past with her gripping thrillers featuring Theresa MacLean (Takeover, Evidence of Murder, Trail of Blood). With Defensive Wounds, Black delivers possibly her most sensational crime fiction masterwork to date--a stunning tale of forensic expert MacLean's investigation into the brutal murder of a criminal defense attorney at a Cleveland convention that reveals the frightening presence of a serial killer prowling the city. The forensic police thriller remains one of the most popular sub-genres in contemporary mystery fiction, and Defensive Wounds once again proves that Lisa Black is one of the "big guns," in the top tier alongside Patricia Cornwell, Kathy Reichs, Jefferson Bass, and Michael Connelly.

Seventy-five years ago, a madman nicknamed the Torso Killer terrorized Cleveland. His horrific spree lasted four years and crisscrossed the entire city. Overall, he was credited with more than a dozen murders. And he was never caught.

Today, forensic scientist Theresa MacLean is called to an abandoned building where a desiccated, decapitated body has been found in a room that's been sealed off for years. Although there's no immediate proof, everyone assumes the same thing: that the newly discovered corpse was a Torso Killer victim. The body has decayed beyond recognition, leaving few forensic clues, but Theresa sees this as an opportunity to shed some light on a big piece of Cleveland's past that until now has been shrouded in mystery.

But then another body--this one recently deceased--turns up, and all signs at the scene seem to indicate the work of a new Torso Killer. Suddenly, Theresa's investigation takes on a whole new meaning. Her examination of the old body has opened a door to the past--a door someone wanted to keep closed--and she shifts her focus from solving a historical puzzle to catching a very dangerous, present-day psychopath.

But as the body count rises, Theresa finds herself nearer to danger than she ever imagined. For the killer is keeping a watchful eye on Theresa, and she begins to feel his presence everywhere. Each step brings them closer and closer to each other--at one point separated by no more than a speeding train in a railroad switchyard--as Theresa scours the city in her hunt for a murderous lunatic intent on reliving a terrifying past.

Forensic investigator Theresa MacLean takes on the worst kind of murder case--one without clues--in this second novel in a hot new series from Lisa Black

Eight months ago, forensic investigator Theresa MacLean lost her fiancE in a bank robbery gone wrong, and she's had trouble concentrating on her work ever since. But now a particularly difficult case may just be what she needs to regain her focus by demanding all her skill, intelligence, and attention.

Jillian Perry has been found dead in the woods, leaving behind a husband of three weeks and a young daughter. The police can't determine how she died--her body shows no visible marks, and the autopsy reveals nothing suspicious--and the leading theory is that she purposely wandered into the forest and succumbed to the freezing weather. But something doesn't feel right to Theresa, and she can't let it go.

To complicate matters, a former boyfriend of Jillian's unexpectedly petitions for custody of the daughter. Obsessed with Jillian, he also suspects foul play in Jillian's death, and now he and Theresa believe Jillian's daughter may be in danger of meeting a similar fate. With a child's life at stake, Theresa must search for evidence of murder--evidence that doesn't seem to exist--before it's too late.

Standing at the intersection of Native history, labor, and representation, Picturing Indians presents a vivid portrait of the complicated experiences of Native actors on the sets of midcentury Hollywood Westerns. This behind-the-scenes look at costuming, makeup, contract negotiations, and union disparities uncovers an all-too-familiar narrative of racism and further complicates filmmakers' choices to follow mainstream representations of "Indianness." Liza Black offers a rare and overlooked perspective on American cinema history by giving voice to creators of movie Indians-the stylists, public relations workers, and the actors themselves. In exploring the inherent racism in sensationalizing Native culture for profit, Black also chronicles the little-known attempts of studios to generate cultural authenticity and historical accuracy in their films. She discusses the studios' need for actual Indians to participate in, legitimate, and populate such filmic narratives. But studios also told stories that made Indians sound less than Indian because of their skin color, clothing, and inability to do functions and tasks considered authentically Indian by non-Indians. In the ongoing territorial dispossession of Native America, Native people worked in film as an economic strategy toward survival. Consulting new primary sources, Black has crafted an interdisciplinary experience showcasing what it meant to "play Indian" in post-World War II Hollywood. Browse the author's media links.

Standing at the intersection of Native history, labor, and representation, Picturing Indians presents a vivid portrait of the complicated experiences of Native actors on the sets of midcentury Hollywood Westerns. This behind-the-scenes look at costuming, makeup, contract negotiations, and union disparities uncovers an all-too-familiar narrative of racism and further complicates filmmakers’ choices to follow mainstream representations of “Indianness.� Liza Black offers a rare and overlooked perspective on American cinema history by giving voice to creators of movie Indians—the stylists, public relations workers, and the actors themselves. In exploring the inherent racism in sensationalizing Native culture for profit, Black also chronicles the little-known attempts of studios to generate cultural authenticity and historical accuracy in their films. She discusses the studios’ need for actual Indians to participate in, legitimate, and populate such filmic narratives. But studios also told stories that made Indians sound less than Indian because of their skin color, clothing, and inability to do functions and tasks non-Indians considered authentically Indian. In the ongoing territorial dispossession of Native America, Native people worked in film as an economic strategy toward survival. Consulting new primary sources, including pay records and unpublished publicity photographs, Black has crafted an interdisciplinary experience showcasing what it meant to “play Indian� in post–World War II Hollywood.