Meet L.T. Vargus & Tim McBain
People always ask how she got started writing thrillers about serial killers. She just writes what she knows.
According to her mom, she is a “world-class swimmer” and “highly verbal,” whatever that means. She lives in the city that never sleeps — Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Her full catalog of books are available on Amazon and browsable below.
Tim is… I mean, I hate to say this, but Tim is a bit of an odd duck. Squirrelly. Hard to get a read on this guy. Wears a hat all of the time. Shifty-eyed. Quiet. Suspicious.
I’m not saying he’s the Zodiac killer, but I’m not saying he’s NOT the Zodiac Killer. Let’s just leave it at that.
Tim lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Weird guy.
His full catalog of books are available on Amazon and browsable below.
Victor Loshak Series
Beyond Good & Evil – A Serial Killer Thriller, Victor Loshak Book 1
“A string of brutal home invasion murders terrifies Dade County, Florida. The killer strikes in the dead of the night, savages innocent people in their beds, wipes out entire families.He attacks at random. Rich. Poor. Young. Old. No one is safe.
When the city sleeps, he comes alive. Stalks the night. Walks among us. The investigation is hopeless. There’s little physical evidence to work with, and the killer’s chaotic behavior makes him as unpredictable as he is dangerous.
What drives someone to such violence? And how can anyone make sense of such brutality?
The task force leading the investigation needs a profiler, and there’s only one man for the job.
Loshak. Special Agent Victor Loshak.“
Beyond Good & Evil is available as an eBook, audiobook & paperback – and free to read in the Kindle Unlimited Program.
What Lies Beneath – A Serial Killer Thriller, Victor Loshak Book 2
“Three elaborately staged victims. No clues. A public verging on panic.
FBI profiler Victor Loshak heads to Kansas City to hunt another serial killer. But something about this case is all wrong.
The three corpses lie posed. Face up. A glove laid to cover each right eye.
The victims seem to be selected at random. Suburban. Upper middle class. Squeaky clean. It doesn’t make sense.
A piece is missing from this puzzle.
If Loshak can find the missing link that connects the victims, he believes he can solve the case. The obstacles are many, however.
And the cryptic note someone left under his windshield wiper? It warns him that danger lurks all around.“
What Lies Beneath is available as an eBook, audiobook & paperback – and free to read in the Kindle Unlimited Program.
Silent Night – A Serial Killer Thriller, Victor Loshak Book 3
No one is safe.
A mass-shooter rages through Chicago in the days after Christmas. Brutal. Efficient. He etches a path of destruction through the city.
Shooting up the mall. Opening fire in traffic. Rampaging through a movie theater.
That's just his opening act.
FBI profiler Victor Loshak heads to the windy city to investigate and finds himself swept up in a frenzied manhunt. This killer will strike again -- it's a question of when not if -- so every second becomes critical.
As always, Loshak must enter the shadowy mind of the perpetrator to help catch him -- understanding the shooter's psychology will be the key to predicting his behavior, the key to stopping him.
The city veers toward panic. The killer seems invulnerable, always one step ahead.
And then there's the blizzard moving in.
Endless snow. Wind. Frigid temperatures.
The shooter and the elements will combine to test Loshak like he's never been tested before. But can he find the answers in time?
This pulse-pounding thriller will have you holding your breath until the final page. Fans of Michael Connelly, John Sandford, and Lisa Regan should check out the Victor Loshak series.
Silent Night is available as an eBook, audiobook & paperback – and free to read in the Kindle Unlimited Program.
Violet Darger FBI Thriller Series
Dead End Girl – Violet Darger FBI Thriller Book 1
“The most recent body was discovered in the grease dumpster behind a Burger King. Dismembered. Shoved into two garbage bags and lowered into the murky oil.
Now rookie agent Violet Darger gets the most important assignment of her career. She travels to the Midwest to face a killer unlike anything she’s seen. Aggressive. Territorial. Deranged and driven.
Another mutilated corpse was found next to a roller rink. A third in the gutter in a residential neighborhood.
These bold displays of violence shock the rural community and rattle local law enforcement.
Who could carry out such brutality? And why?"
Dead End Girl is available as an eBook, paperback, audiobook, & hardcover – and free to read in the Kindle Unlimited Program.
Image in a Cracked Mirror – A Violet Darger Novella
“A family has been massacred in their home, a display of violence both brutal and bizarre. The details prove curious — not only are the bodies savaged way beyond anything found at a normal murder scene, every mirror in the house has been shattered.
The spectacle shocks a peaceful island community, and when local police turn to the FBI for assistance, Agent Violet Darger finds herself working another harrowing crime scene. She stares, once more, into the abyss, and mankind’s warped reflection stares back."
Image in a Cracked Mirror is available as an eBook & audiobook.
Killing Season – Violet Darger FBI Thriller Book 2
“Two days. Fourteen dead. The next victim could be you.
The first bullet punches through the windshield of an SUV. A head shot. The driver’s death is instantaneous. And it’s only the beginning.
A sniper along I-20 kills eight and causes a 36 car pileup. Brutal. Efficient.
The next morning, the same individual stalks through a grocery store parking lot with a handgun. He takes out six innocent shoppers along with the store’s front window before fleeing without a trace."
Dead End Girl is available as an eBook, paperback, audiobook, & hardcover – and free to read in the Kindle Unlimited Program.
The Last Victim – A Violet Darger Novella
“An escaped killer. A troubled investigator. Secrets that haunt the past and present.
New crimes lead FBI profiler Victor Loshak to revisit former scenes and witnesses in the Las Vegas area. The evidence suggests the return of a notorious and brutal serial killer from years ago — the one who got away.
Loshak conceals his work from his partner, Violet Darger, and tries desperately to stay one step ahead of both her and the murderer."
The Last Victim is available as an eBook & audiobook – and free to read in the Kindle Unlimited Program.
The Girl in the Sand – Violet Darger FBI Thriller Book 3
“Shallow graves scar the desert landscape. A cemetery in the sand. Some of the lost are never found.
Thousands of girls go missing every year in Las Vegas. Taken. Bought and sold. Or worse.
And now the dead are calling.
These lost girls summon FBI Profiler Violet Darger to Sin City — a new case. There are fresh dead to sort through — two bodies burned beyond recognition in the trunk of a sedan — and there’s reason to believe that there are missing girls waiting to be saved."
Dead End Girl is available as an eBook, paperback & audiobook – and free to read in the Kindle Unlimited Program.
Bad Blood – Violet Darger FBI Thriller Book 4
“The body slumps over the steering wheel. Pools of blood going tacky on the dash. Two shots to the back of the head. A mafia-style hit in a small town.
Special Agent Violet Darger must make sense of this savagery. Figure out how brutality like this could happen in rural Michigan.
The victim had been living the American dream. A small-business owner who built a construction empire. Started a family. Coached youth hockey. He seemed to have it all.
But his surface life didn’t tell the full story."
Bad Blood is available as an eBook, paperback & audiobook – and free to read in the Kindle Unlimited Program.
Five Days Post Mortem – Violet Darger FBI Thriller Book 5
“When two fishermen discover a corpse floating in the Clackamas river, profiler Violet Darger heads to rural Oregon to hunt another serial killer. What she discovers in the woods might change the course of her life.
What secrets does the water conceal?
The girl in the water marks the third such case in the area -- all drowned with superficial stab wounds and discovered in a body of water -- and Darger feels certain she won't be the last.
The corpses are badly decomposed. The flesh purpled and softened from their time in the water. The forensic evidence distorted by decay and the elements.
But the victims share one more thing in common -- all were discovered roughly five days post mortem. A coincidence? Something with meaning to be discerned?"
Five Days Post Mortem is available as an eBook, paperback & audiobook– and free to read in the Kindle Unlimited Program.
Into The Abyss – Violet Darger FBI Thriller Book 5.5
"Still awaiting trial, infamous serial killer Leonard Stump has hinted at the locations of additional bodies — more desert graves waiting to be uncovered. He wants to talk, but he has one condition. Violet Darger must be present at the interview.
Now the pressure is on. Should Darger head to Vegas and sit down with Stump? Everyone else seems to think so.
It’s a chance to close some cases and give families closure, they say. A chance to learn something crucial about the criminal mind, they say. A chance to do something good."
Into The Abyss is available as an eBook– and free to read in the Kindle Unlimited Program.
Night on Fire – Violet Darger FBI Thriller Book 6
Fire crawls up the sides of the church. The orange glow thrashes. Blackens the siding. Climbs up onto the steeple. The flames close in on the wedding party trapped inside.
When a serial arsonist terrorizes Los Angeles County, FBI profiler Violet Darger heads to California to investigate. The fires keep coming faster. The body count rises, and the threat hangs over the city as thick as the smog.
The case file is brutal -- stuffed with photographs of charred bodies, human faces melted beyond recognition. And when Darger gets up close to the crimes, the real thing, that sense of savagery only intensifies.
What kind of a person could carry out such cruelties? Understanding the warped psychology will be the key to solving the case.
The suspect seems hellbent on creating a spectacle. Bigger targets. More deaths. He treats setting fires like a Hollywood special effects sequence, like he's building up to the shocking finale.
Watch the city burn. It's entertainment.
And there's one more factor complicating the investigation: Autumn is settling in over Southern California. The leaves are changing color, and the Santa Ana winds have begun to change directions.
The Hollywood Hills are ripe for a forest fire. The arsonist means to make it the biggest one yet.
A page-turner packed with heart-stopping suspense. Fans of John Sandford, Michael Connelly, Lisa Regan, and Lisa Gardner should check out the Violet Darger series.
Night on Fire is available as an eBook, paperback & audiobook– and free to read in the Kindle Unlimited Program.
The Scattered and the Dead Series
Book 0.5 – The Scattered and the Dead Series
“All my friends are dead. Everyone I’ve ever cared about is dead.’
Loneliness drives an introvert to write a letter to the girl in the apartment across the hall. He is anxious. Reclusive. Desperate for a friend. The apocalypse interrupts this attempt at human contact. Now he watches out the window as the world gets cut to pieces by plague and riots. Buildings burn. Pedestrians vomit blood.
Soon the bodies line the streets. Rumors of zombies spread. And then the power goes out. Getting to know someone could be harder than he thought, let alone surviving in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
He might even need to leave the apartment."
Book 0.5 of The Scattered & the Dead series is available as an eBook, paperback & audiobook – and free to read in the Kindle Unlimited Program.
Book 1 – The Scattered and the Dead Series
“With 99.7% of the Earth’s population dead and gone, the few who remain struggle to survive in an empty world. The scattered. The leftovers. These are their stories.
Meet Mitch, a father infected with the zombie virus. He knows he has 24 hours until he turns. Maybe a little more if he’s lucky. He’s been a half-assed father. Checked out. Distracted. Can he find a path to redemption in his final hours? Can he make sure his kids are taken care of before time runs out?"
Book 1 of The Scattered & the Dead series is available as an eBook, paperback & audiobook – and free to read in the Kindle Unlimited Program.
Book 1.5 – The Scattered and the Dead Series
“Survival. Murder. Snow.
Winter is here. The cold spreads over the land, shriveling and choking out all the plant life. Harsh. Unforgiving. The first winter without electricity will surely claim more human lives as well.
The isolation may do more damage than the cold, however. Too much time alone drives people to unthinkable acts."
Book 1.5 of The Scattered & the Dead series is available as an eBook & audiobook – and free to read in the Kindle Unlimited Program.
Book 2 – The Scattered and the Dead Series
“With 99.7% of the population dead and gone for coming up on six months, what’s left of humanity is scarred, sinewy, whittled into something lean and hard. But the scattered survivors are still here.
Life goes on. Something like life, anyway.
The worst of their first post-apocalyptic winter may be behind them, but the scattered enter spring with dwindling supplies. Some will fortify their current residences and double down on their scavenging efforts. Others will leave all behind to journey into the unknown."
Book 2 of The Scattered & the Dead series is available as an eBook – and free to read in the Kindle Unlimited Program.
Book 2.5 – The Scattered and the Dead Series
“Catch up with Izzy, Erin, Baghead, and Delfino in the fifth volume in The Scattered and the Dead Series.
Endings and beginnings.
The road trip from hell continues as planned. Delfino shares revelations from his past as Baghead begins to recover from his injury.
But there’s a problem. They’re being followed."
Book 2.5 of The Scattered & the Dead series is available as an eBook – and free to read in the Kindle Unlimited Program.
Book 2.6 – The Scattered and the Dead Series
“This is the beginning of the end.
Catch up with old characters and meet new ones in the sixth volume in the Scattered and the Dead series, the penultimate entry.
War rages across the empty world. Those who follow Father, the Crusaders, creep through the woods to fight the Raiders from the Sovereign Cities.
Bloody battles separate limbs and torsos, heads and necks. It’s a struggle for control over resources and territory, but the shape of the future hangs in the balance as well"
Book 2.6 of The Scattered & the Dead series is available as an eBook – and free to read in the Kindle Unlimited Program.
Awake in the Dark Series
Fade to Black – The Awake in the Dark Series Book 1
“Jeff Grobnagger’s seizures take him on a ridiculous adventure into the spirit world and beyond.
He is standing in line at the grocery store when the seizure hits. No warning. Everything fades to black.
He wakes in an alley. Alone. Hung upside down by a noose lashed around his ankle.
And it’s right around this time that a hooded figure emerges and strangles him to death."
Fade to Black is available as an eBook & paperback – and free to read in the Kindle Unlimited Program.
Bled White – The Awake in the Dark Series Book 2
“All Jeff Grobnagger wanted was to be left alone. The events of Fade to Black (Awake in the Dark #1) shifted his goal from a life of solitude to figuring out what the hell is happening to him ASAP, so he can, you know, get back to the solitude.
His journey takes yet another twist when a burned corpse sporting a League of Light robe turns up in a vacant lot. Working undercover to solve the murder reveals bigger and bigger clues about his seizures. Solve the murder, solve the seizures? Maybe. He meets new people and is shown new places on the other side. But who and what can he trust? Just as he realizes that someone close may be working against him, he gets blindsided by the biggest shock yet."
Bled White is available as an eBook – and free to read in the Kindle Unlimited Program.
Red on the Inside – The Awake in the Dark Series Book 3
“The events of Bled White (Awake in the Dark #2) leave Grobnagger drained, often struggling to keep from falling asleep. He shuffles through life half awake, half tethered to reality. He still has no idea what is happening to him, but he’s not sure he even cares anymore.
When those that mean him harm finally begin to assert themselves, however, Grobnagger finds himself and his friends under direct threat of death. Plans are made to cross over and rescue Amity once and for all from her vulnerable position in the other world. But his adversaries are one step ahead and a violent spectacle becomes inevitable. His adventures to this point may have changed him some, but now Grobnagger will never be the same."
Red on the Inside is available as an eBook & paperback – and free to read in the Kindle Unlimited Program.
Back in Black – The Awake in the Dark Series Book 4
“The events of Red on the Inside (Awake in the Dark #3) leave Grobnagger hurt and angry. He hides out in a crappy motel where he plods through the days fantasizing about vengeance, picturing himself murdering Farber over and over again. The seizures start up again, too, and he finds himself returning to the alley.
When his enemies make a move to give themselves the upper hand once more, however, he finds himself in a tough spot. Will he sacrifice himself to save a friend? Are the trips to the alley trying to teach him a lesson, or is it all meaningless?."
Back in Black is available as an eBook & paperback – and free to read in the Kindle Unlimited Program.
Beyond the Blue – The Awake in the Dark Series Book 5
“All things must pass. Jeff Grobnagger knows this well enough by now. After the face melting events of Back in Black, maybe he’s ready for the end.
An experiment with Amity goes weird, and all aspects of Grobnagger’s journey turn inward. New mysteries grant him peace, grant him the love for himself he could never locate before. And yet he finds himself alone again and fighting to stay that way, just as he started out, disappearing deeper and deeper within himself.
If you find a way to love yourself, do you really need anyone else? And where does that path lead? Divinity or damnation? This becomes Grobnagger’s choice, and even if he doesn’t fully understand it, it will determine his fate: Life or death or something worse."
Beyond the Blue is available as an eBook – and free to read in the Kindle Unlimited Program.
Standalone Books
Casting Shadows Everywhere: A Dark Psychological Thriller
“In his own words, 15 year old Jake is a “huge pussy.” He flinches. Always.
He’s too timid to make a move on Beth, the buxom girl of his dreams, and too busy getting face-slammed into lockers by bullies to do much else. He seeks the guidance of the biggest bad ass he knows, his cousin Nick.
Nick is a professional burglar and makes Jake his apprentice. They stalk suburban neighborhoods night after night, ransacking houses for jewelry and sweet valuables.
Nick teaches Jake the finer points of breaking and entering along with his dark philosophy – that there is no right or wrong in the world, just a series of events that happen without meaning.
At first, adopting Nick’s callous worldview helps Jake get over his fears and confront his tormentors, but he also unleashes an aggression in himself he never thought possible. And as he learns more about his cousin, he realizes that Nick’s crimes go way beyond burglary.
In the end, Jake must face not only the monster in his cousin but also the one in his own heart.”
Casting Shadows Everywhere is available as an eBook & paperback – and free to read in the Kindle Unlimited Program.
The Clowns
“They lurk in the woods. The biggest threat the city has ever faced – clowns. Evil clowns, armed and angry and hungry for human flesh.
Yep. Creepy clowns beckon people into the woods and stab them a bunch of times. Like so many times.
It’s the age old battle of man vs. clown, and with the local police oblivious to the growing clown problem, Phillip Burkholder may be mankind’s only hope. He is 15. He is flunking geometry. And possibly social studies. He has little to no clown slaying experience.
Crap. We could be looking at a clown-pocalypse scenario. Not good. You know, we could go on and on about it, but it’s homicidal clowns. You either want to read something like that or you don’t.”
The Clowns is available as an eBook & paperback – and free to read in the Kindle Unlimited Program.
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