John W. Mefford, Author
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The Ball & Chain Thrillers

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Cooper's running from the mob…
Willow's running from her past…
And a scorned sociopath is hell-bent on making them pay.
​
Through fate -- or a temporary misalignment of the stars -- Willow Ball and Cooper Chain cross paths for the first time since college. Sparks fly, but not for the right reasons.

The ex-lovers stumble over a dead body. The discovery fractures a family, but it's the killer's calling card that leaves everyone chilled to the bone.

The cops are baffled, unable to connect the dots. That's when Willow and Cooper reluctantly step in. 

As the bodies pile up, a pattern slowly develops. At least that's how Ball & Chain see it.

And then someone emerges from Willow's past -- and it rocks her to the core. Could he be connected to this string of murders?

It's been 18 years, 7 months, and 21 days.

The torment can last only so long.

The past might provide the breadcrumbs to end this nightmare, but Willow and Cooper may not live long enough to see it through.

Can the snarky crime-fighting duo stop the killing in the name of mercy? Or will they be the final victims?

If you're a fan of Michael Connelly's Ballard and Bosch, David Baldacci's King and Maxwell, Tess Gerritsen's Rizzoli and Isles, and the TV show "Castle," then you'll be sucked into this first, page-turning Ball & Chain thriller!
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Mindi Mendrano had it all -- she was a golden goddess with a tennis prowess few had seen.

And then she vanished.

Who had the greatest motive to kill her?

Before Cooper Chain can finally get the green light to pen his first book -- a biography on a once-famous tennis phenom -- he must find her. If she's still alive.

Can secrets kill?

A man disappears into the bowels underneath the city of Dallas, and Willow can't make sense of it or the odd people she befriends. Does at least one man have an ulterior motive?

Two die the hard way, leaving Willow and Cooper scrambling to see through a haze of lies.

Can secrets kill?

Retracing every aspect of Mindi's former life, team Ball & Chain uncover a key to her past. But will it unlock memories that create the ultimate time bomb?

The very existence of a hidden society is on the line -- and one man will either force their loyalty or recreate one of the deadliest events in modern history.

Can secrets kill?

Cooper and Willow have one chance to stop the killing and save a life. But will they be too late?
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Her death has haunted him for over thirty years.

And he's hell-bent on making someone pay.

A father goes missing. Not just any father. But a person once worshipped for his world-class talent.

Enter the most unconventional team around: Ball and Chain.

As a nurse at the community clinic, Willow has seen the painful effects of heroin addiction.

But now she's compelled to help a grieving wife and mother.

Dodging the mob at every turn, Cooper has a plan to bring them down while getting traction on his upstart career.

Is he marching into a trap?

With their relationship bordering the "friends with benefits" stage, Willow and Cooper team up to find the missing person. But it's not that simple. Nothing with them is ever simple.

The hunt corkscrews into an impossible maize of events -- their lives threatened by a swarm of twisted deviants and social misfits.

Emotions run rampant, stoking one savage response after another.

​A spark ignites the hate, but what is the real fuel for this wave of brutal crimes?

Ultimately, can Willow and Cooper save a family from the torment before it's too late?

Only if they can overcome their own…fear.
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Observation is just the first step.
Then comes the action.
And these actions will speak louder than any words. That much is certain.
 
Someone is watching. Scrutinizing every flip of the hair, change of expression, and spoken word.
What about their aura?
 
For Cooper Chain and Willow Ball, it was a normal weekday morning. Until the moment Cooper opened the back door and…
 
Was it just an accident? Or is an invisible force trying to eliminate Ball & Chain?
 
Unable to let go of the memory of her father, Willow takes the lure of learning more information.

But a meeting goes horribly wrong, and death is knocking on her door.
 
Sucked into a vortex of bizarre, deathly events, Willow and Cooper struggle to fight off a never-ending series of attacks.

They take one step, but someone else is always a step ahead. How can they defeat what they cannot see?
 
But when the gauntlet is thrown down, survival takes on a whole new meaning.

​And that's when Willow and Cooper come face-to-face with a force that could bury them for good.
 
How many shapes can evil take? 
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The blade of the shovel digs deeper and deeper.

And the cries from below are slowly devoured by the howl of a coyote.

Willow Ball and Cooper Chain are tied at the hip -- on some days that's a fantasy, other days a curse.

But there's one thing they agree on: if they hope to outsmart a ruthless crime boss, luck will have to fall their way.

But that's only part of their perilous imbroglio. Life slips off the rails in a hurry . . . and the implications could be deadly.

A shallow grave is uncovered… and it's the unthinkable. With little evidence, authorities have no suspects.  But could this be connected to a similar incident more than two decades earlier?

When another girl goes missing, their world stops down. How is Cooper's daughter caught up in the web?

Every path seems blocked, because every person wants something buried. Does that include what Willow and Cooper feel for each other?

Cops are gunned down, friends are framed and murdered -- how can Willow and Cooper make sense of it all to finally end the mayhem?

But when one more person goes missing, it shreds Cooper's heart.

What will Cooper and Willow sacrifice to save his daughter?
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ONE MURDER THAT WAS NEVER SOLVED.
Two lovers on the run.
And three kidnappings, cover-ups, and betrayals.

Cooper Chain can't sleep. He doesn't want to believe it. And he can't stop singing the lyrics from the old Hall & Oates song, "She's gone."

Stuck in Miami to drop off his daughter, Cooper's world goes from bad to worse. But is there a clue on a dead body that could lead him to Willow?

On the run from the cops and aided by a woman with skills akin to the Black Widow, Cooper's quest to find Willow is met with one death threat after another. Who can he really trust?

Ten years ago a little boy was murdered in a hilly Alabama forest. Is it possible that a re-connection of Ball & Chain is tied to uncovering the killer?

There's a dark shadow looming over one county in the deep south. And it might just devour Ball & Chain...unless they're to trust a clan of misfits.

With the clock about to run out, can Cooper, Willow, and their new friends solve a cold case and out-run, out-think a legion of ruthless mercenaries before they're buried for good?

You'll bust a gut at the wild cast of characters that ride shotgun in this heart-pounding Ball & Chain adventure.
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Book 9 Coming Soon!

One way in.
No way out.
It may take some magic…
And Houdini's stone snout.

Willow Ball and Cooper Chain are tied at the hip again, hoping to blend in with the masses in the city that never sleeps.

Can they locate Willow's father before his time is up?

Settling on old score wasn't on Cooper's mind--not until the man who destroyed his life shows back up.

Will history repeat itself?

Dead bodies turn up like rotten fish in the East River. While dodging threats has become a way of life for the unlikely crime-fighting duo…this time, the odds aren't in their favor.

​Is it possible this could be the end of the road for Ball & Chain?

Filled with vivid characters that leap off the page, this Ball & Chain thriller promises more thrills, more laughs and gaffes, and that thread of romance that will keep your pulse popping until the very last sentence.
A deadly crime ring.
A race to find her father.
A daring scheme.

Imagine TAKEN meets OCEANS 11.

Hunted by ruthless mercenaries everywhere they turn, Willow Ball and Cooper Chain have a date with destiny in a foreign land. Is there any way she'll finally reunite with her father?
 
It's not that easy. Girls are being kidnapped, and those that don't comply with their "owners" are discarded and killed. And when a murder hits close to home, Ball & Chain can't sit back and watch this travesty any longer.
 
But who can Ball & Chain trust with their lives?
 
On the run from assassins on both sides of the law, Cooper and Willow are forced to team up with an unlikely crew if they have any hope of saving these young people. Can they also crack the lid on the international crime ring?
 
With everything on the line, their audacious plot just might work. Or it might be a trap that devours them.

One thing is certain: when the dust settles, blood will be spilled. Who won't survive?

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