A violent criminal with a knack for evading justice. A beautiful victim with a secret to hide. Between them stands one good cop, torn between justice and the law. This rape case is an exception: The victim is more than willing to testify. And there's abundant evidence to put the suspect behind bars. Just one thing bothers Detective Larry Millsaps. Young and beautiful Melissa Nelson seems to know almost too much about the evidence needed to convict her attacker. The unfolding investigation unearths a brutal track record on the part of the suspect . . . and a stunning revelation of Melissa's own haunting past that could do far worse than destroy her credibility. Caught in a deadly conflict between the ironies of the law and the demands of his Christian convictions, Millsaps finds himself protecting Melissa from a psychopathic stalker's lethal game of cat-and-mouse . . . even as evidence collects that could send to prison not an inhuman criminal, but the woman Millsaps has come to love. Justifiable Means is the second book in the Sun Coast Chronicles by award-winning author Terri Blackstock. From absorbing legal drama to lightning-paced action, the Sun Coast Chronicles offers suspense at its finest, tempered with remarkable realism and penetrating insights into the human heart. Look for Evidence of Mercy, Presumption of Guilt, and Ulterior Motives at your favorite bookstore.
Terri Blackstock is a New York Times best-seller, with over six million copies sold worldwide. She has had over twenty-five years of success as a novelist. Terri spent the first twelve years of her life traveling in an Air Force family. She lived in nine states and attended the first four years of school in The Netherlands. Because she was a perpetual "new kid," her imagination became her closest friend. That, she believes, was the biggest factor in her becoming a novelist. She sold her first novel at the age of twenty-five, and has had a successful career ever since.
In 1994 Terri was writing for publishers such as HarperCollins, Harlequin, Dell and Silhouette, when a spiritual awakening drew her into the Christian market. As she was praying about her transition, she went on a cruise and noticed that almost everyone on the boat (including her) had a John Grisham novel. It occurred to her that some of Grisham's readers were Christians, and that if she wrote a fast-paced thriller with an added faith element, she might just find her niche. As God would have it, Christian publishers were showing interest in the suspense genre, so she quickly sold a four-book series to Zondervan. Since that time, she's written over thirty Christian titles, most of them suspense novels.
Besides entertaining her readers, Terri tackles issues that she hopes will change lives. Her recent book, Predator, was inspired by her experiences on Facebook and Twitter, and her concern that people posted too much personal information about themselves. The book deals with an online predator who uses social networks as his playground. She hopes the book will change readers' online habits. Her New York Times best-seller, Intervention, was inspired by her own personal struggles with a daughter on drugs. In the book, a mother hires an interventionist for her drug-addicted daughter. But on the way to treatment, the interventionist is murdered, and the daughter disappears. Barbara, the mother, sets out to search for her daughter. Terri modeled Barbara after herself, and poured many of her own emotions and experiences into that character. As a result, many families experiencing drug addiction have written to thank her for telling their story and giving them hope.
Other recent books include her stand-alone novel Shadow in Serenity, and Vicious Cycle (Book 2 in her Intervention Series). She's also known for popular series such as the Restoration Series, the Cape Refuge Series, the Newpointe 911 Series, and the SunCoast Chronicles series.
Terri has appeared on national television programs such as "The 700 Club" and "Home Life," and has been a guest on numerous radio programs across the country. The story of her personal journey appears in books such as Touched By the Savior by Mike Yorkey, True Stories of Answered Prayer by Mike Nappa, Faces of Faith by John Hanna, and I Saw Him In Your Eyes by Ace Collins.
