The misdeeds and downfalls of characters drawn to the cultural panoply that is Los Angeles...The sun-kissed city of high hopes and second chances, where everyone seems to be from somewhere else. A siren's call to dreamers, misfits, mystics and freaks, lost souls and purveyors of sin. They roll in on their last tank of gas, their suitcases bulging with secrets of pasts better forgotten. They stay for a few days, a month, a year, a lifetime. The determined and the desperate, careening and colliding toward trouble, and their last resort. LAst Resort, a Sisters in Crime/Los Angeles anthology, includes stories by Avril Adams, Paula Bernstein, Lynne Bronstein, Stephen Buehler, Sarah M. Chen, Anne David, Gay Degani, L.H. Dillman, Wrona Gall, Cyndra Gernet, Georgia Jeffries, Melinda Loomis, GB Pool, Laurie Stevens, Wendall Thomas, and Mae Woods. Edited by Matt Coyle, Mary Marks, and Patricia Smiley, with a special thank you to Michael Connelly for the introduction.
Sometimes those who do terrible things to good people slip through the cracks. That's where Logan comes in. He tracks down the guilty and holds them accountable. He specializes in those who mistreat women and children. He works with a team of three young crime-fighters who've benefited from his efforts. And none of the four is above letting a little thing like the law get in his or her way. The Logan Triad includes three novellas: In "Logan's Young Guns," a young woman shows up in the emergency room, and Logan sets out to find the man responsible and make sure he doesn't do it again. In "Logan Shoots First," the team must balance a forced-prostitution ring with a lead on the case that's haunted Logan for seven years. In "Logan Gets Caught," a young woman from Logan's past reappears, insisting he investigate the murder of her mother. Plus the bonus stories "Daughters" and "Johnny and the Warehouse Women."
The dog days of August in Brooklyn and the detectives of the 61st Precinct are battling to keep all hell from breaking loose. Innocents are being sacrificed in the name of greed, retribution, passion and the lust for power-and the only worthy opponent of this senseless evil is the uncompromising resolve to rise above it, rather than descend to its depths. The heart pounding sequel to the acclaimed novel Gravesend-from Shamus Award-winning author J.L. Abramo-Coney Island Avenue continues the dramatic account of the professional and personal struggles that constitute everyday life for the dedicated men and women of the Six-One-and of the saints and sinners who share their streets.
"The tale bubbles along, a veritable gumbo brimming with gangsters, bitter mothers, cold-blooded killers, alligators, and a touch of voodoo." -Publishers Weekly. Sangster doesn't seem to be able to escape his past as a hitman, no matter how hard he tries. And now it's his friend, Father Patrick, dragging him back into the life. When the head of a faded Mafia Family in Philadelphia sends the top hitman in the business, Frankie Trigger, to New Orleans to kill the Patrick, the priest goes to the only person he can think of for help...Sangster. Can the former #1 hitman overcome the present #1 hitman and save his friend, while continuing to hold on to his newfound soul? Praise for the Hitman with a Soul series... "...an ambitious, fast-paced thriller that plunges readers headlong into the world of professional hitmen...author Randisi promptly throws some fresh twists into his tale that amp up the excitement and suspense all the more." -Wayne D. Dundee, author of the Joe Hannibal PI series. "Taut, clever and gritty, under the sure hand of Robert Randisi, The Souls of the Dead is an unputdownable crime story with a rough-hewn charm. Bring me more Sangster." -Gary Phillips, author of Treacherous: Ruffians, Grifters and Killers. "Leave it to master-storyteller Robert Randisi to come up with a soulful new spin on the hitman genre. Sangster is a unique addition to the ranks of killers for hire." -Max Allan Collins, creator of Quarry. "As many excellent hitman novels as there have been over the years...you wouldn't think there would be much left to do with the sub-genre. But you'd be wrong, as Robert J. Randisi...proves quite handily." -James Reasoner, author of Texas Wind.
A friendly poker game leads Henry Swann out to Hollywood where he tries to find the man, Rusty Jacobs, responsible for embezzling $1,000,000 from his client, and then bring back the dough. Swann finds Jacobs, but the mercurial wannabe film producer is involved in a "surefire" movie project aimed at the growing Christian market. And the money? Well, it seems to have vanished into thin air. At the same time, thanks to his irrepressible partner, Goldblatt, Swann finds himself knee-deep in the New York City art world, as he tries to get justice for another client who's possibly been defrauded on the purchase of a valuable painting that may or may not be a fake. As if this isn't enough to keep him busy, in the midst of these two troubling cases, Swann finds that the teenage son whom he hasn't seen in a dozen years has run away from his grandparent's Minnesota home and, chasing after a girl, has possibly become involved with a cult. And so, a guilt-ridden Swann has to take time out from his paying cases to find his son.
Millionaire lawyer Carlton Phillips has lost track of his daughter Marcy. Her last known whereabouts were at her school, Syracuse University. While trying to track down Marcy and/or her geeky boyfriend Sean Loomis on a quick trip upstate, Swann follows the clues to a sorority house, a pizza joint, and the office of a literature professor who is clearly hiding something. Armed with more questions than leads Swann flies up to Boston where he narrowly avoids the arms of a seductive and secretive librarian. Finally back in New York City, Swann tries to sort out the details of the case. Is Marcy Phillips a victim? What is the nature of her relationship to the sexy and cagey Elizabeth Lawson? Is Carlton Phillips somehow involved in this story? How are all of these people connected to the rare book world, and who is really trying to get away with something?
Skip tracer Henry Swann cares little about anything but money, so when a beautiful Upper East Side woman shows up in his office and hires him to find her missing husband, he smiles and takes the cash. But when this seemingly simple missing-person case turns into homicide, Swann finds himself trapped in a complex web of connections and multiple identities that takes him out of New York City and across two continents. Praise for SWANN'S LAST SONG ... "Swann's got the smarts and hard-boiled cynicism of Sam Spade, but he's also got a wicked sense of humor that keeps things cool even when the action gets hot." -Brian Kilmeade, author of New York Times bestseller The Games Do Count "Salzberg's a hell of a writer. He delivers thrills, insight and plenty of laughs. Swann is a very cool take on the classic P.I." -Andrew Klavan, author of True Crime and Don't Say a Word "A veritable travelogue of suspense, SWANN'S LAST SONG grabs hold of the reader and doesn't let go. Salzberg's anti-hero is a soulful investigator and one of the most paradoxically endearing characters I've come across. I hope this isn't Swann's last song." -Joy Behar (co-host of The View) "Salzberg defies expectations left and right in this subtly subversive, genre-twisting page turner. SWANN'S LAST SONG is where literature meets entertainment" -Mark Goldblatt, author of Africa Speaks
A crime novel about distorted love. A Western. A lyrical slice of the prairie, a frontier narrative. A noir novel about obsession and revenge, desire and predation. A look at one man's grip on insanity and a story about female beauty and showmanship. It was those wild eyes that did it to them every time. Every look as intense as a cobra stare, as if he was looking through the spider webbed surface of a broken window. When the rodeo comes to Surrey, it brings with it a world of violence. Murphy Stubbs came out of Oklahoma with a smoking gun and rage in his heart. He also arrives in the UK with a dream. It is a dark dream of a female rodeo star. He intends to stamp it on the UK. When he meets Rhonda she is the perfect fit for his plan, an actress in his drama. However, she is involved with the boxer Gary who does not trust Murphy. Then the hustler Mandy and fighter Hank arrive in town. And Hank is looking for someone, and he wants revenge. Two worlds collide in an explosive piece of the Wild West, a novel with the image of the frontier running through it, a novel about the rodeo and what it means to Murphy, who is beyond obsessed. He will ensure the rodeo goes ahead and he starts to remove all obstacles in his path. Only Rhonda can stop him, but while she holds the key to the past she needs to get closer to Murphy to find it and stop the violence.
In the ballroom of a sparsely furnished Connecticut mansion, police find a shocking sight: four bodies lined up next to each other, three teenagers and a middle-aged woman, each lying on a blanket, each shot once in the head. In an upstairs bedroom: an elderly woman and the family dog, both of them shot as well. The only person missing is the husband, father, son, and prime suspect, John Hartman, who's got a three-week jump on the police.Through the eyes of almost two dozen characters, including the neighbor who reports the crime, Hartman's mistress, a dogged state investigator, the family minister, and some of the characters Hartman meets on his escape route, we piece together not only what happened and how these shocking murders affect the community, but how John Hartman evades capture, where he's headed, and maybe even why he committed this gruesome crime in the first place.Based on the notorious John List murders and already compared to works by Norman Mailer and Russell Banks, DEVIL IN THE HOLE is gripping, literate, and haunting.Praise for DEVIL IN THE HOLE ..."DEVIL IN THE HOLE is powerful stuff. Drawing on real events, Salzberg has crafted a mesmerizing tale in many voices. He masterfully drip-feeds the compelling story, funneling moments from disparate, scattered lives to define the personality of a madman. The overall effect is like slowly opening a beautifully wrapped box of poisoned chocolates." - Tim McLoughlin, editor Brooklyn Noir."Salzberg masterfully weaves together dozens of voices, including the killer's, in an effort to find out why a man would murder his entire family and then disappear. DEVIL IN THE HOLE is a haunting meditation on the thin, wavering line between sense and senselessness." - Kaylie Jones, author Lies My Mother Never Told Me: A Memoir, and Speak Now"The devil isn't in the details, but in a tony Connecticut town. Charles Salzberg's DEVIL IN THE HOLE is a fine piece of crime writing and a hell of a fun read." - Reed Farrel Coleman, three-time Shamus Award-winning author of Gun ChurchIn this smartly constructed crime novel, Salzberg uses multiple viewpoints to portray an unlikely killer who methodically slaughters his family ... an intriguing collage of impressions and personal perspectives for the reader to ponder. - Publishers Weekly"Salzberg does an ingenious job of weaving together the various voices - each distinct in its own right - and giving us the story as told by the people who experienced it. It paints a psychological picture of a murderer, while also telling the story of those left in the aftermath and how they were affected as well. Brilliant and captivating storytelling." - Erica Ruth Neubauer, Crimespree magazine"Salzberg has taken a true crime tale and made it into a compelling work of fiction that attempts to imagine the mind of a killer, not only through his own mind, but through the minds of many others. This is a novel which few readers will want to put down, turning pages mostly, I think, to find out how in the world the author pulls it off. 'How,' I kept asking myself, 'how can he finish this story?' The buildup becomes more and more absorbing because Charles Salzberg has a lot to say about human nature that is thought-provokingly wise and penetrating." - Duff Brenna, South Carolina Review"I am typically not a fan of books written in this manner but Salzberg masterfully uses this technique to create a novel that is different in an extremely good way. The author effortlessly blends the different perspectives, viewpoints, and impressions of each character into a brilliant tapestry that envelops the reader, while peaking interest and the desire for more information about the crime. DEVIL IN THE HOLE is one of the best books that I have read this year and I most highly recommend it." - Robin Thomas, New Mystery Review
Nominated for the 2017 Anthony Award for Best Novella Life can turn on a dime against the jagged cliffs of California's Central Coast... Bruised, battered, but determined, Jane Innes must navigate a tangled web of deception, depravity and murder, and turn the tables on cunning swindlers. Using the art of deception, this out-of-work actress embarks on a daring caper-her last chance to take down a deadly adversary. Following THE SHILL and KILL THE SHILL, BEWARE THE SHILL concludes this thrilling trilogy from Shamus Award-winning author John Shepphird. Praise for the Shill books: "Sly, sexy and surprising, THE SHILL is a darkly comic Hollywood tale of a not-so-innocent out-of-work actress being groomed for larceny." -Wallace Stroby, author of The Devil's Share, Shoot the Woman First, and Cold Shot to the Heart "[THE SHILL is] a fast-paced heist story filled with colorful characters and interesting plot twists." -S.W. Lauden, author of Crosswise "[KILL THE SHILL is] a fast and hard ride into a con trick. Told by a writer who pulls no punches this does not disappoint." -Richard Godwin, author of Wrong Crowd "Hell hath no fury like an actress duped. Revenge is the motivation, deception the means to get even in this exciting crime thriller." -Scott Adlerberg, author of Spiders and Flies and Jungle Horses, on KILL THE SHILL Meet the Author: John Shepphird is a Shamus Award-winning author and writer/director of TV movies. His three "Shill" novellas were inspired by noir master James M. Cain; it is a terse, tense, and twist-filled trilogy with a cast of characters immersed in the art of deception, depravity, and murder. Author's website: JohnShepphird.com.
Outlaws. It's what makes the best of country music and crime fiction. Sometimes it's hardened criminals: murders, thieves, and convicts, sometimes it's just a poor fool driven to the edge by hard times, hard drinking, or a hard lover. In this collection you will find stories from the best voices in crime fiction inspired by the best voices in outlaw country music. Stories with: ¿ An off-books mercenary trying to save a trucker's delivery from a beautiful thief ¿ An ex-con dealing with small town prejudice...and armed robbery ¿ Outlaw newlyweds running from a Tri-county druglord ¿ A young girl seeking solace in the company of dogs bred to fight that she never found in family ¿ A wife discovering the other woman is not what she thought ¿ A writer finding out what prison is really like Stories by J.L. Abramo, Trey R. Barker, Eric Beetner, Levi Black, Michael Bunker, Delilah Dawson, Les Edgerton, Christa Faust, Tommy Hancock, Grant Jerkins, Ken Lizzi, Riley Miller, James A. Moore, Bobby Nash, Mel Odom, Eryk Pruitt, Jay Requard, Charles R. Rutledge and Ryan Sayles.
In April of 1968 Steve McQueen arrives in San Francisco to film Bullitt. Rough-and-tumble SFPD Inspector Johnny O'Rorke, aka The Fixer, is the department's Executive Protection Officer. His job is to make sure that visiting celebrities are well taken care of. O'Rorke is instructed to take special care of McQueen; the city's movers and shakers are hoping to develop San Francisco into Hollywood North. McQueen takes a liking to O'Rorke, and when Russ Cortig, a member of his film crew, is busted at a wild Haight Ashbury party, he asks O'Rorke to try to have the charge dismissed. Fixing Cortig's arrest sheet is a minor problem, but it leads O'Rorke into a tangled web of intrigue and corruption that includes the murder of one of his longtime informers, a crossdresser who goes by the name of Vanessa the Undresser, tangling with a Chinatown drug lord, being shot at by a sadistic Soviet hit man, going up against a wealthy former Russian Mafia leader now living in San Francisco, dealing with a vicious local gangster, Alec Zek, aka The Swine, and a chasing after a priceless blue diamond known as the Stalin Blue. If that isn't complicated enough, O'Rorke breaks into a real sweat when McQueen asks him to make a screen test for a part in Bullitt. ***Praise for Jerry Kennealy*** "Kennealy always delivers hard-boiled excitement nicely with humor and style." -Booklist "Kennealy's characters, combined with his seasoned ability to weave several plot elements into a smooth whole, make his books stand out in the crowded thriller genre." -Publisher's Weekly "Kennealy's nicely crafted stories always hold my interest. Never a wasted word." -San Francisco Chronicle
Billy Lafitte is back... Back from the brink of death. Back on the Gulf Coast, his home stomping grounds, looking to reunite with his beloved one last time. Back in the sights of DeVaughn Lagrenade, a former gangbanger whose brother was gunned down by Lafitte and his partner during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Back in the mind of his biggest nemesis, Franklin Rome, who swings back into Lafitte's orbit in a most unusual way. Throw in a wild-eyed waitress looking for some violent kicks, an ambitious FBI agent slithering up the administrative ladder, a wannabe bad boy on Lafitte's tail with a young psychopath in the passenger seat, and you've got the makings of a rumble that only a prayer to Santa Muerte might help Billy survive. Cult crime-novelist Anthony Neil Smith is like a modern-day Charles Willeford. He doesn't just step over "the line," but drag-races past it and keeps on going. With this fourth novel in the Billy Lafitte's series, Smith raises the stakes once again for his damaged ex-cop turned stone cold killer. You'll root for Lafitte all the way, and wish you hadn't, and hope to hell he survives so you can do it all again.
With inferno stories, George Williams returns with another original and electrifying collection. Two home invaders put on trial a descendant of San Juan Capistrano's oldest families for the sins of his ancestors. A man encounters a cult that mistakes him for both savior and sacrifice. Two screenwriters in search of a story follow a strange man from Istanbul up the coast of Italy to Duino, where he carves into a tree a baffling equation that changes their marriage forever. A fired White House speechwriter travels south along the East Coast in stolen rowboats with a woman he meets under a D.C. bridge, leaving a comedy of chaos in their wake. In the title story, a retired sex worker in L.A. turned trickster and avenging angel settles dozens of scores with methods of punishment both ancient and modern. Inferno takes the reader from east Texas to Catalina Island, from ancient Rome to cedar forests of Provence, from the low country of Savannah to the burning hills of Southern California. Brazen bulls and kamikaze pilots, karaoke and crucifixions, the canals of Venice and the killing fields of the I-45 corridor all figure in these twelve superbly crafted stories written in a subtle and daring range of voices and styles. Williams opens the door onto a world of uneasy inhabitants, credulous creatures who want the truth they already know they cannot bear, characters fully human in their heartbreak, cruelty, and capacity for self-deception. ***Praise for George Williams*** "George Williams writes with an electric energy, unpredictable inventiveness, and deft ear for dialogue that makes him one of the most exciting and compelling writers of his generation." -Richard Burgin, author of Rivers Last Longer and Shadow Traffic "...shows a darkly comic sensibility more akin to that of the filmmaking Coen brothers (think Barton Fink) than to more obvious literary influences...Recommended to adventurous readers, who will surely enjoy Williams's wildly irreverent inventions." -Library Journal "Williams paints a grotesque picture of modern America, one filled with witches and terrorists, con men and succubi. Actually, I don't know if there are any actual succubi in the pages . . . but it sure feels like there should be." -Popmatters "George Williams, a self-described "reformed anarchist," writes a hyper-controlled, smart and taut prose that goes beyond the spare exactness of the Moderns. The sentences seem so easy, but their accretion is sly: William's prose unveils a tough and dense vision, the steady shock of a live snapping wire." -Stephen D. Geller
Nominated for the 2017 Anthony Award for Best Anthology/Collection Here you are in New Jersey, but not Soprano-land New Jersey, this is central Jersey, the edge of the Pine Barrens, where the everydayness of life is interrupted by devils and angels, murderers and saviors, cheaters and music fans. Bobby Kovacki adores his married girlfriend but is compelled to search for Janine, his hard-partying former classmate who has gone missing. Metalhead Marty, odd-looking and shy, has the chance of a lifetime when he joins the band Dark Beast. Tyrell Colton uses a two-foot-long pipe to avenge himself from a bully. Eleanor Webb, eighty-four, deals with her low blood pressure and a violent neighbor. In the title story, scrappy soccer player, Jade, veers down a path in the woods and stumbles upon a trio of terrifying drifters. And in several different tales, police officer Andrea Vogel, widowed and quietly brokenhearted, attempts to rescue the elderly, help an old boyfriend out, and connect with a young rape victim. Brutal and fierce, the characters in these linked stories search for meaning in their lives but more importantly, they search for the humanity in themselves. "Jen Conley has the rare ability to imbue her stories with an emotional heft that is both subtle and powerful within the darkness. Amongst the other writers with that similar (and extremely rare) skill set, none do it as well as she does." -Todd Robinson, author of The Hard Bounce "Far from the concrete wasteland of the Turnpike lies the dark heart of the Garden State, and Cannibals carves it out still beating. Jen Conley writes with the soul and poetry of Springsteen, pure blue collar Jersey Gothic. These stories take a big bite out of you." -Thomas Pluck, author of Blade of Dishonor
Charlie Wiggs is a quiet, unassuming accountant who has worked in a Glasgow firm for thirty years. When he agreed to look after a package for a work colleague, he didn't expect to be flung from the roof of a forty-story building. He didn't intend to be caught up in a world of money laundering and blackmail. Nor did he ever think he would find himself being hunted by a vicious criminal gang. Forced to flee for his life Charlie is reluctantly joined by George, a maintenance man, and Tina, George's girlfriend. The trio find themselves falling into a world they are ill-equipped to deal with. A world populated by criminals and death. A world that gives them three choices: run, die or fight back... ***Praise for Falling*** "With its intriguing perspective, blistering action and swarms of dodgy guys in suits, this is an explosive, harrowing riot that has movie potential written all over it." -Daily Record "The action in this novel grabs you by the throat, punches you in the body then gives you a good slapping." -Caro Ramsay, author of The Tears of Angels "Brown keeps a firm, skillful grip on his material in what turns out to be a very promising debut novel." -The Herald
Nominated for the 2017 Anthony Award for Best Novella Tommy Ruzzo is a disgraced NYPD cop who follows his coke fiend girlfriend back to her hometown in Florida. She leaves Ruzzo high and dry just before he's named Head of Security at Precious Acres, a beachfront retirement community populated by wisecracking New Yorkers. Ruzzo is stranded among the local losers until the day he discovers a murdered senior citizen on the Precious Acres bocce ball court. The bodies pile up as Ruzzo uncovers a dangerous trail of clues that brings everybody in his new world under suspicion.
It's 1980 on Florida's Gulf coast. Sun, drugs, gambling debts, and dirty deals push Navy-prison parolee, Scotland Ross, deeper into the life of crime he never wanted. His sister's life, a potential newfound love, and his own freedom are all on the line as he tangles with a redneck gangster intent on becoming the state's next governor. Will Scotland make the right choice or the one that keeps him alive? Beachhead is dark noir set in the state of sunshine. A story of crime and loyalty, love and hate, and choices made when everything you care about is on the line.
It's 1960 and Frankie Valentine is doing just fine. The transplanted New York photographer is living it up in the Hollywood sunshine surrounded by beautiful women more than willing to dispose of their clothes and pose. He has no reason to go back east. That is, until the body of a childhood friend, who had disappeared in 1950, turns up. Valentine flies back home to lend his expertise as a crime scene photographer and help out a friend who's in a jam. Instead he finds a compromised crime scene, a hidden stash of cash, and trouble. A Junkie stripper and her mother-a woman who ushered Valentine into manhood-a mob boss racked with jealousy and homicidal rage and assorted low-lifes all roll out the unwelcome mat. It's all blood, money, sex and lies...sealed with a Cougar's Kiss.
***PROCEEDS BENEFIT THE SEMPER FI FUND*** A WORLD AT WAR. A LONE MARINE FIGHTING TO SURVIVE. Charlie Doherty, the hero of PROHIBITION and SLOW BURN returns in a novella of World War I. 1918 -As a corrupt patrolman in New York City, Charlie Doherty had the ward bosses of Tammany Hall and other political cronies to watch his back. But in the hell-storm that became known as the Battle of Belleau Wood, only his rifle and his training keep him alive. After taking cover behind a fallen tree during the worst of the German shelling, Doherty links up with a brave Marine captain and a ragtag crew of survivors who realize the only way out of danger lies not in retreat, but in marching toward the sound of the gunfire. They fight the enemy wherever they find them, hoping to hold back the advancing German tide long enough for the shaken American forces to regroup and re-enforce them. They lean forward. They dig in. They fight back. Doherty and the others began the day as Marines. But by the time it is over, they will be part of a battle that helped secure the reputation of the United States Marine Corps as one of the most feared fighting forces in the world. They will become known as THE DEVIL DOGS OF BELLEAU WOOD.
Malcolm Cavanaugh Bleekston, MC Bleak, McBleak, enjoys hobnobbing with the one percenters and stealing from them. In The Extractors, he puts his life on the line to take a greedy man's gain while wondering if his girlfriend sees through his façade. Ned "Noc" Brenner is a drifter with an unusual skill set-he's an extreme athlete good at whatever he does be it MMA fighting to riding a motorcycle off a mountaintop. After winning in an all-night poker game, this sets in motion a series of events in The Anti-Gravity Steal where Noc must use all his abilities to prevent wholesale destruction. Part Shaft and part Batman sans the cowl, Luke Warfield, a philanthropist with a black ops background, the Essex Man, goes on the trail in 10 Seconds to Death of the villain who killed his foster father and uncovers not only ghosts from his past, but must stop a deadly plan of mass slaughter in his own backyard. Bonus Essex Man short story, "Murder by Remote Control."
Her role in the con game was to be the shill before the scam exploded in bloody violence. Discarded, sacrificed like a pawn, Jane's left holding the bag. The swindlers left a murderous trail and millions of dollars are missing. The problem; Jane knows too much. She's a liability they can't afford to keep around. But the con artists underestimated Jane. They miscalculated her tenacity and will-to-survive. Not one to be crossed, her plan is to use their own weapon, the "art of deception," against them. Facing insurmountable odds Jane sets out to settle the score with fierce determination, and a few tricks up her sleeve. THE SHILL is part two of a trilogy from Shamus Award winning author, John Shepphird. "Hell hath no fury like an actress duped. Revenge is the motivation, deception the means to get even in this exciting crime thriller." -Scott Adlerberg, author of Spiders and Flies and Jungle Horses
The real estate mogul is lying about something, but his wife really was raped twenty-years ago in an unsolved assault. Now she's long dead by her own hand, the case has gone cold, and the mogul starts dropping cash into former Saint Ansgar homicide detective turned private eye Richard Dean Buckner's wallet to find some answers. Just hours later Buckner's old homicide partner calls up. His grandmother was just killed in a drive-by that hit the wrong address. People that stupid need to be taught harsh lessons, and vengeance just so happens to be one of Buckner's finer skills. Everything circles the drain as Buckner finds himself at war with the worst gang the city has to offer as well as the slithering rapist who has resurfaced just to tie the loose ends from the twenty year-old crime. Buckner doesn't back down, and if that means getting himself carjacked so he can interrogate the gang bangers, pose as the mogul's secret lover and chase the rapist into a women's shower room so he can beat him mercilessly, so be it. Just another day.
When Jack was six years old, his parents were brutally slain by a serial killer. The police later found drifter Clyde Colsen driving a stolen car, his clothes soaked in blood. He was tried, convicted and executed. Jack grew up knowing the police got their man. Now a decorated homicide detective in New Rhodes, Jack arrives at the third crime scene of the "South End Killer" murders and finds his name. He will soon find out something else: thirty years ago, they got the wrong guy. And now the right guy's come back to pay Jack and New Rhodes his bloody respects. As Jack struggles to stay on the case, his cat-and-mouse game with the killer makes him wonder if he's the cat or the mouse. His family and everyone in his life is fair game. As the killer escalates and threatens the entire city, Jack has a question he must answer in his desperation: can he stop the monster without becoming one? Praise for WELCOME BACK, JACK: "I've been following Liam Sweeny's writing career for several years. He started out pretty good and now-with Welcome Back, Jack -he's become smokin' good! I predict this novel will propel him to the highest ranks of novelists writing police procedurals. That may look like I'm climbing out on a limb and if so, it's an extremely stout and solid limb. This ranks with the best of the genre and Sweeny is poised to become a writer of the highest rank. Remember his name-you're going to be seeing it a lot." -Les Edgerton, author of The Genuine, Imitation, Plastic Kidnapping, The Rapist, The Bitch and others "A new dark, very dark star has appeared in the noir spectrum and what a star it is. Welcome Back, Jack is the real deal, as down and deliciously dirty as it gets but with a wonderful fresh style and artistry that is as compelling as it is addictive. This is one hell of a start to what promises to be a unique series." -Ken Bruen, author of the Jack Taylor series "When a triple homicide in New Rhodes bears worrisome similarities to one from police officer, Jack LeClere's, childhood, nothing can stop him from following the sinewy clues to their horrific conclusion. As long as writers like Liam Sweeny can work the police procedural to such great affect, readers will follow Jack back to the gritty streets of New Rhodes gladly. Sweeny's writes beautifully and Welcome Back, Jack is full of memorable characters. Claustrophobics beware!" -Patricia Abbot, author of Concrete Angel "Equal parts police procedural and psycho-thriller, Liam Sweeny reinvents a genre with Welcome Back, Jack. When serial killing gets personal, Jack LeClere is dragged underground into the past. Literally. With crisp, taut dialogue, fast-paced action, and more plot twists than the subterranean tunnels Jack must navigate to earn redemption, Sweeny taps into modern-day, urban paranoia, mining the best of Ellroy, Cain, and Westlake. Sweeny pays homage while tearing up some serious new ground." -Joe Clifford, author of Lamentation and December Boys "Do yourself a favor: Before you start reading Welcome Back, Jack, clear your schedule. You're not going to be able to stop until you've seen it through to the explosive finale." -Rob Hart, author of New Yorked
It's been three years since Mustafa Bahdoon, one-time leader of the Southside Killaz, saved his fugitive son Adem from the clutches of pirates in Somalia. But when Mustafa is asked to rescue a young girl from the gang's sex trafficking empire, he returns from retirement to seize control once again. But his coup ignites a vicious gang war on the streets of Minneapolis. Meanwhile, still haunted by guilt over the girl he left behind in Somalia, Adem reprises the role of Mr. Mohammed, legendary pirate negotiator. But the CIA is on his tail and he soon finds himself unwillingly enmeshed in a deadly campaign against organized crime. Half a world apart, survival for both father and son depends upon telling friend from enemy, truth from lie, and their own true selves from the roles they must play. Once A Warrior is the highly anticipated follow-up to the award-winning All The Young Warriors. Praise for ONCE A WARRIOR: "A complex book with likeable, complete characters who I was rooting for despite their many faults. THIS is the kind of thriller that should be on every airport bookshelf." -Chris Rhatigan, author of Wake Up, Time to Die "This is a book that can make a long trans-Atlantic flight pass as if it's barely been minutes since take-off. It would be perfect for the beach on a lazy holiday. It's just what you need to take your mind off the cold outside when you're sitting by a fire in mid-winter. It's a great read start to finish wherever you happen to be and whatever the situation." -Nigel Bird, author of Southsiders "The novel takes on some of the most urgent social justice issues of our times: sex-trafficking (making young girls into slave-prostitutes, to be blunt), drug and gang violence, the disillusionment of unwelcome immigrants, the chaos and despair that comes in the blend of terrorism and ungoverned Middle East/African nations and territories...I don't have answers to those questions, and I'm not sure Smith does, either. But he raises the questions, and that may be the more important thing." -Dana Yost, poet and essayist
Winner of the 2012 Spinetingler Award for Best Novel: Rising Star! When two of the Twin Cities' "Lost Boys"-young Somali men drafted to fight for terrorists back in the homeland-kill a pair of cops on his home turf, detective Ray Bleeker is left devastated. One of the dead cops was his girlfriend. The investigation grinds to a halt when he discovers that the young murderers have fled to Somalia to fight in the rebel army. He's at his wits' end until the father of one of the boys, an ex-gang leader called Mustafa, comes looking for answers. Bleeker and Mustafa form an uneasy alliance, teaming up to help bring the boys back home. But little do they know what Somalia has in store for them. Praise for ALL THE YOUNG WARRIORS: "A brilliant book, possibly the best novel of the year." -Les Edgerton "Written with a sureness of hand and a depth of character that are impressive. A highly accomplished crime novel exposing an often unseen world." -The Big Issue "All The Young Warriors will grip readers who enjoy the chance to slip into a foreign culture and also those who want a page-turning thriller" -Spinetingler Magazine "A powerful story that is both riveting and meaningful" -Crime Fiction Lover "This book is a classic in the making" -I Meant To Read That "All The Young Warriors is a pretty rare beast, a clever page-turner. It deserves to be a bestseller and has film adaptation stamped all over it." -Loitering With Intent "A courageous novel that raises a lot of pertinent questions" -Dead End Follies "Smith writes with force and clarity" -The Chicago Tribune "Smith's version of Minnesota is no Lake Wobegon; the inhabitants are refreshingly made up entirely of the deranged, the damaged, and the doomed. If you can picture the intellectual and physical mayhem that might have resulted from a Jim Thompson and Harry Crews collaboration, you'd be on the right track. But Anthony Neil Smith is his own writer-and a very fine one, indeed." -Booklist
A sultry novel in which an art thief finds himself out of his depth in a criminal maelstrom when he meets a beautiful woman with no past. When Claude meets Maxine in the Caribbean he falls for her. He does not expect he will start an affair with her back in London, then again he does not expect to have to call on the help of his old mate Spike, nor that will they become embroiled with Russian gangsters Vladimir and Grigory. But then Claude will do anything to hold onto Maxine. Peopled with thieves, hustlers, gangsters, gun runners and pimps, Wrong Crowd is a slick and action-packed ride into London's low-life. East End villains and the Russian Mafia collide in a fast-paced novel of deceit and criminal obsession that sparkles as it speeds towards its astonishing conclusion. Praise for Wrong Crowd "Wrong Crowd by Richard Godwin is a tense slice of international noir that oozes atmosphere." -Paul D Brazill, author of Guns of Brixton and A Case of Noir "An extended meditation on sexual obsession, deception, and violence." -T. Jefferson Parker, author of Full Measure and The Famous and the Dead "If you get into The Wrong Crowd then you're into the 'right book.' Richard Godwin is an author's author who never fails to deliver a cracking read, and this one is no exception." -Matt Hilton, author of the best-selling Joe Hunter thriller series "When you pick up a Richard Godwin book, you can be sure you're holding the work of one of the most daring and distinctive crime writers working today. He's also one of the most versatile... Godwin can also always be relied upon to introduce a single moment of violence that permanently sears itself into the mind, and Wrong Crowd is no different... Careful you don't miss it-tonally this is a Fulham Wolf of Wall Street, exposing the emptiness at the heart of excess. Another gem from Godwin" - Mike Stafford, nudgemenow.com "Once more Richard Godwin proves he is the only worthy successor to Patricia Highsmith. The Wrong Crowd is a deliciously tantalizing bit of dark psychological thriller that will make you think twice about whom you make friends with while on vacation. You won't want to put this one down for a second." -Vincent Zandri, NY Times and USA Today best-selling author of Everything Burns and Moonlight Weeps "Richard Godwin does it again! With the adroit skill of a seasoned writer that knows that human decency is just a fragile scab on a wound that harbors a violent world seething in sex, drugs, lust and death, Godwin introduces us to the Wrong Crowd." -Lou Boxer, Founder of NoirCon "Only Godwin. It's a phrase you'll use often when you get acquainted with the sensual and sultry atmosphere of this master storyteller. Wrong Crowd is some of his most accessible work, but it's one of his most textured and refined as well. Only Godwin can pull it off every time like that." -Benoît Lelièvre, deadendfollies.com "Claude meets Maxine knee-deep in the Caribbean and knows he'd do anything to make her his: anything. But keeping her means raising the stakes: cash, guns, gangsters and a return to his bad old habits. Will there be enough of him left to keep her by the time he's through? Godwin makes The Wrong Crowd lethally sexy-which makes this story just right." -K.A. Laity, author of White Rabbit "Don Juan meets the Marquis de Sade meets Kafka meets Jim Thompson meets Richard Godwin who gets them all together in one room and they collaborate on Wrong Crowd. It's a brilliant success." -Les Edgerton, author of The Genuine
Three beautiful women are murdered in an Irish pub in Syracuse. The cops think it's an open and shut case, pointing the finger at bar owner James John Smith. But when the police fail to find Smith or any trail to his past, the mother of one of the victims hires former karaoke star and stripper Bill "Free Willy" Tedesco to investigate. The deeper Tedesco digs, the more secrets of the dead and living surface, and the question of who pulled the trigger becomes more important than why.
The girl has gone missing. Again. But this time people are trying to kill her. Trying to burn down everything she has touched or left behind. The girl's surrogate father feels responsible and to assuage his guilt, he hires Richard Dean Buckner, former Saint Ansgar homicide detective turned private eye to ferret her out. Buckner was doing fine as a bare-knuckles detective for the PD until he was rendered "unserviceable" by a hit attempt. Early retirement doesn't sit well with that type of man, half predator and half savior. He takes the case, and from two ex-boyfriends who ruined their lives for the girl, her rapist dad, drug dealers she burned for thousands, an uncomfortable meeting at the local Incest Survivors group to whoever is setting fire to her life, Buckner is going to need all his guts, instinct and .44 Magnum to finish the job. Because in Saint Ansgar, what doesn't kill you only makes you wish it did. Praise for The Subtle Art of Brutality "Richard Dean Buckner is just the hero for our modern world: a righteous killer who can step outside convention and right the wrongs; and Sayles is just the writer to drive his story. This is how I like my fiction: unrelenting prose and kick-ass justice." -Joe Clifford, author of Lamentation "The brutality is in the prose. Course and violent, Sayles writes like he is seeking vengeance against the world. It's 21st century noir. Mickey Spillane on meth." -Tom Pitts, author of Knuckleball "As subtle as brass knuckles to the face. Buckner is a classic and Sayles is one to watch." -Eric Beetner, author of Rumrunners and The Year I Died Seven Times "...Richard Dean Buckner left me wanting more. He is a breath of fresh air in an antiques shop. A biker in a museum. A chaotic, reckless anomaly. You know I'm enjoying something when I deliberately slow down my reading pace to enjoy the novel longer. The Subtle Art of Brutality is a ridiculously strong first novel, starting the new darling of the P.I novels legacy." -Benoit Lelievre, blogger and reviewer at Dead End Follies "Gut twisting detective fiction done the way it is supposed to be done. RDB makes Dirty Harry seem a little soft." -Todd Morr, author of Jesus Saves, Satan Invests "The Subtle Art of Brutality is a nut busting slice of noir. All of the required hard-boiled elements are present and accounted for..." -Chris Leek, author of Gospel of the Bulley "The Subtle Art of Brutality is a testosterone-and-meth cocktail, a relentless blast of tough guy intensity. 21st-century hardboiled." -Warren Moore, author of Broken Glass Waltzes
Prenumerera på vårt nyhetsbrev för att få fantastiska erbjudanden och inspiration för din nästa läsning.
Genom att registrera dig accepterar du vår personuppgiftspolicy.
