THE FLAMING JEWEL Deep in the woods of upstate New York lives the disreputable Mike Clinch and his stepdaughter Eve. Clinch possesses a case full of jewels which he acquired, not entirely honestly, from the thief, Quintana. Quintana wants them back. To that end, he has assembled a gang to reacquire the jewels. But the jewels really don't belong to Quintana either. He stole them from Theodorica, Grand Duchess of Estonia. And hot on Quintana's heel is James Darragh, posing as a thief as well, who has pledged to return them to her. Meanwhile, state trooper Stormand, having fallen for Eve, also becomes involved. Together this motley group will play out a deadly game in search of the purloined treasure, and most especially, the Flaming Jewel! THE TALKERS From the moment when Sadoul first meets Gilda Greenway, he becomes mad about her. Unfortunately, she does not share the feeling. Then comes the masked ball, when Gilda meets Stuart Sutton. The spark between them is instant. Everything changes for her. Then, too, that is the night that Gilda dies. Or does she? Sutton certainly thinks she is dead. But then Pockman performs an operation on her, and the girl opens her eyes. Now Gilda seems in thrall to Sadoul. She becomes the new after hours belle of the ball. But she confesses to Sutton that another soul entered her body when she died, and now wants control of her-Sadoul exerts a hypnotic control over her and her Other. It is up to Sutton to figure out how to save Gilda. For not only is her life in danger, but quite possibly her very soul.