Download or read book Grand Trunk and Shearer written by Ian Truman and published by D'Arcy Kennedy. This book was released on 2016-07 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: GRAND TRUNK AND SHEARER, a D'Arcy Kennedy Crime Novel by Ian Truman. 1st in series.
Download or read book A Cougar s Kiss written by Frank De Blase and published by Down & Out Books. This book was released on with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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. Praise for Frank De Blase… “A fifties pulp-noir that has ex-crimescene turned girlie photographer, Frankie Valentine leaving Hollywood for a return to Rochester to ferret out whodunit. Mobsters, murder and plenty of femme fatales…what’s not to love.” —Steve Hodel, New York Times bestselling author of Black Dahlia Avenger: A Genius for Murder “Frank De Blase writes with the world-weary wit and hardboiled grit of a literary veteran, but his natural talent for storytelling transcends mere nostalgia. The compelling immediacy of his charismatic voice carries the reader not down memory lane, but onward through a brilliantly realized alternate noir-verse that is vibrantly vivid and palpably pulpy, populated by colorful characters and drenched in retro-rich atmosphere.” —Will Viharo, author of the The Thrillville Pulp Fiction Collection and the Vic Valentine, Private Eye series
Download or read book The Blade This Time written by Jon Bassoff and published by Down & Out Books. This book was released on with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A man wakes to find himself below ground in the abandoned subway stations of New York City. He has no idea how he got there, no idea who he is. In his pocket he finds only a wad of blood-stained cash and a deck of playing cards. Once above ground, he rents out a cheap apartment, previously occupied by an enigmatic artist named Max Leider who’d left most everything behind—books, clothes, personal letters. But most peculiar are a series of paintings, each one of a mysterious woman hidden behind a curtain. Without an identity of his own, the man becomes fascinated with Leider. He begins wearing his clothes. He begins painting on his canvases. He begins taking on his obsessions. But as his persona fully transforms into Max Leider, he will find some horrifying truths about the artist…and himself. Praise for THE BLADE THIS TIME: “Jon Bassoff’s The Blade This Time is a nightmarish descent into the underbelly of New York City and the darkest corners of the psyche. A gritty, disorienting ride.” —Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts “The Blade This Time a dark masterpiece of classic horror. Bassoff blends art, insanity, violence, and obsession into a haunting nightmare that you don’t want to stop. Truly, Bassoff at his best.” —C.J. Howell, author of The Last of the Smoking Bartenders “Jon Bassoff’s latest full-length piece of noir, The Blade This Time, transports you into the bowels of urban, subterranean, humankind. Literally. A riveting, tightly woven masterpiece of hard-boiled loneliness, I was held mesmerized by it. Part Charlie Huston, part Henry Miller with a sprinkling of Bukowski, this is a novel you will not want to miss.” —Vincent Zandri, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Remains and Orchard Grove “Dark and disturbing, a guided tour through one man’s private hell. You can feel the pain, touch the grime, and smell the decay. I burned right through it, tripping on the feverish story arc, and came out the other side more than a little uneasy.” —Tim Curran, author of Doll Face “The Blade This Time is the book David Goodis would have written if he’d taken WAY too much mescaline one weekend and holed himself up in an abandoned Port Richmond movie theater and hallucinated straight into his typewriter. Brilliantly demented. —Scott Phillips, author of The Ice Harvest “Creepy, intriguing, compelling and well-crafted, Bassoff’s novel is the kind of thing you didn’t realize you were looking for until you’re already up to your neck in it. And by then you’re hooked.” —Victor Gischler, author of The Deputy
Download or read book South of Cincinnati written by Jonathan Ashley and published by Down & Out Books. This book was released on 2017-07-10 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jon Catlett and Paul Frank have turned their once-failing used bookstore into one of the most thriving businesses in the Highlands. But they paid in blood for their success, for Twice Told Books is not just another dusty thrift shop, but a front for the largest heroin distribution network ever based in Louisville. The two eccentric intellectuals-turned-gun thugs enlist the help of an unscrupulous narcotics cop nicknamed Mad Dog and a former marine importing dope through Fort Knox from Afghanistan purer than anything the city has ever seen. In between trading muzzle flashes with a corrupt and psychotic DEA agent and thwarting two crusading homicide detectives, Catlett and Frank plan to corner the market…or at least everything South of Cincinnati. Praise for SOUTH OF CINCINNATI: “If you only read one book this year, make it South of Cincinnati. Hits all the right notes in a narrative to have you renew your faith in the sheer joy of a great book.” —Ken Bruen, bestselling author of the Jack Taylor series “Scumbag addicts, dirty cops, savage brutality, and the price of a broken heart. My kind of people. My kind of book. In his latest Jon Catlett novel, author Jonathan Ashley tackles the toughest question facing a junkie: what’s harder to kick—the dope or the girl? South of Cincinnati is a thrilling head-first dive into the dirty drug underworld as we watch a hero trying not to drown in pursuit of his humanity.” —Joe Clifford, author of Junkie Love and the Jay Porter thriller series “Jonathan Ashley is elbowing his way to the front of the crowd of crime writers with his crisp dialogue, edgy characters and relentlessly gritty action. South of Cincinnati is a razor-sharp slice through the mire of the Midwestern drug underworld, allowing us to peek from a safe distance.” —Joe Ricker is the author of Walkin’ After Midnight
Download or read book Route 12 written by Marietta Miles and published by All Due Respect, an imprint of Down & Out Books. This book was released on 2017-11-09 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Route 12 is two haunting novellas set in Appalachia in the seventies and eighties. These are stories of people down on their luck—a girl crippled by a bad dose of polio vaccine, a young pregnant woman with no one to turn to, a mother desperate for cash who makes a terrible mistake. In this debut book from Marietta Miles, God's country is as corrupt as any place on earth and trusting anyone is a dangerous proposition. Praise for ROUTE 12: “Miles rolls on instinct infused with raw talent, utilizing a palate of emotion to repaint what we thought was Southern noir, turning it into something new, something poignant, something entirely hers.” —Tom Pitts, author of Hustle and Knuckleball
Download or read book Beware the Shill written by John Shepphird and published by Down & Out Books. This book was released on 2016-04 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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. Nominated for a 2017 Anthony Award, 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
Download or read book The Manipulated written by Nathan Walpow and published by Down & Out Books. This book was released on 2018-06-04 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Joe Portugal’s experienced killing before. He’s seen gunmen mow down a friend on little more than a whim. He’s known greed and ambition to drive his friends to murder. But now he’s face to face with a whole new degree of wickedness. A show business prodigy has been shot dead. Though no one—except perhaps the man’s father—will mourn him, his demise puts Joe in debt to a shadowy presence whose sway extends deep into Southern California industry, government, and law enforcement. And suddenly Joe begins to suspect that everyone he knows—his protégé, stunning television star Ronnie McKenzie; his new wife, Gina; and most disturbing of all, his prison vet father—is part of that clandestine coterie known as “the manipulated.” Nathan Walpow’s “snappy Chandleresque dialogue” (Los Angeles Times) adds punch to this intricate, darkly witty whodunit set in the trashier byways of Tinseltown. Praise for THE MANIPULATED: “I thought the last Joe Portugal mystery, One Last Hit, was unbeatable. Wrong. The Manipulated is even better. Suddenly this is a must-read series.” —Lee Child, author of the Jack Reacher novels
Download or read book A Scholar of Pain written by Grant Jerkins and published by ABC Group Documentation, an imprint of Down & Out Books. This book was released on 2018-03-16 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In his debut short fiction collection, A Scholar of Pain, Grant Jerkins remains—as the Washington Post put it—“Determined to peer into the darkness and tell us exactly what he sees.” Here, the depth of that darkness is on evident, oftentimes poetic, display. We meet, and come reluctantly to sympathize with: The office chair-sniffer who only wants to be loved, a bottomed-out cough-syrup addict, a terminally ill school bus driver who takes her young riders on a drunken suicide run, and a cheated-on housewife who discovers her husband’s other woman isn’t a woman at all, but a…No spoilers here. Just read it. Read all sixteen of these deviant diversions. Peer into the darkness. Praise for A SCHOLAR OF PAIN: “A Scholar of Pain hits that literary sweet spot: Could be crime fiction, might be southern gothic—or even horror. The stories are funny as hell, too. And compassionate. In fact, Jerkins’ voice is amongst the most compassionate I’ve heard, because he extends it to some hideous wretches in a way that underscores the humanity I share with them. I heartily recommend Grant Jerkins.” —Jedidiah Ayers, author of Peckerwood and Fierce Bitches “Sophisticated. Elegant. Sleek and demolishing.” —Ryan Sayles, author of Subtle Art of Brutality and Warpath “A joyous celebration of the darkness within us all. With A Scholar of Pain, Grant Jerkins gives an unflinching look—with no anger or judgment—into the realities that surround us. It’s one thing to write a convincing and compassionate love story, but writing one that involves a sex doll, well that’s another thing completely.” —DH Tuck, author of Formica
Download or read book Street Whispers Stories written by Liam Sweeny and published by All Due Respect, an imprint of Down & Out Books. This book was released on 2018-02-23 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An eclectic collection of pulp, grit and noir stories inspired by the Capital Region of New York, a rust-belt crossroads in the shadow of the city that never sleeps. Here’s a trip led by fat slobs in smoky, vomit-stained cabs, heading to the oasis of the strip club on a street lined with rusted out factories, ventilated with beer cans and rocks. No heroes and villains in these pages, just shades of grey and characters making choices between bad and worse. Tales of woe and macabre, the profane and ordinary dance with each other in a building where the forgotten stay, passing their street whispers like bottles from the bottom shelf.
Download or read book Down Out The Magazine Volume 1 Issue 2 written by Rick Ollerman and published by Down & Out Books. This book was released on with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Picking up from where our last issue left off, we have another group of crime stories written especially for us. Starting with ex-police detective Lissa Marie Redmond whose short fiction has appeared in anthologies like Akashic’s Buffalo Noir and whose debut novel will be out in February 2018, we move along to novelist Andrew Welsh-Huggins, author of the Andy Hayes PI series. Then we have a chilling new tale by short story specialist Nick Kolakowsi, followed by this issue’s featured writer, Bill Crider, who takes us to Blacklin County, Texas, where he treats us to a new story starring everyone’s favorite sheriff, Dan Rhodes. Tim Lockhart’s debut novel came out earlier this year amidst a lot of buzz and he’s here with a very dark tale indeed. Next we offer a taste of J.J. Hensley’s fast-paced writing with an airborne story as we await the premiere of a new series early next year. Our trip to the past brings us to the legendary writer Carroll John Daly and his no-holds-barred character Race Williams, who never shot any man that didn’t deserve it. We close out the issue with a story strong with irony by Ben Boulden. Throw in a terrific column by J. Kingston Pierce and you’ve got another issue of Down & Out: The Magazine.
Download or read book The Logan Triad written by Nathan Walpow and published by Down & Out Books. This book was released on with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.” Praise for Nathan Walpow… “There’s truth and humanity baked into his writing. I rate him among my absolute favorites.” —Lee Child, bestselling author of the Jack Reacher thrillers.
Download or read book Beachhead written by Jeffery Hess and published by Down & Out Books. This book was released on 2016-03-07 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Swann s Last Song written by Charles Salzberg and published by Down & Out Books. This book was released on 2016-12-12 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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
Download or read book Screen Test written by Jerry Kennealy and published by Down & Out Books. This book was released on 2016-07-11 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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 SCREEN TEST: “Steve McQueen. Bullitt. Transvestites. Murder. And the City by the Bay. Who could ask for more? Gear up for a rockin’ roller coaster ride up and down San Francisco’s tumultuous hills in Jerry Kennealy’s entertaining, triple-fast thriller Screen Test, but make sure to wear your seatbelt.” —Paul D. Marks, Shamus Award-winning author of White Heat Praise for the books of 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
Download or read book Swann s Way Out written by Charles Salzberg and published by Down & Out Books. This book was released on 2017-02-20 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For a limited time only! Purchase SWANN’S WAY OUT for just $2.99 and get a link to download the first book in this series, SWANN’S LAST SONG, for FREE! 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. Praise for the Henry Swann Mysteries: “I always love it when I come across a new private detective to admire and worship, someone who is brave where I’m weak, someone who gets his hands dirty while I keep mine clean. Henry Swann is such a detective and he tells a great story. For fans of hard-boiled mysteries or just plain old good fiction, I’m sure you’ll love Swann Dives In.” —Jonathan Ames, author of Wake Up, Sir! and the creator of Bored to Death. “Smart, satisfying, even profound, this is exactly what every mystery reader is looking for: A terrific story, full of wit and originality, and a master class in voice. Charles Salzberg is a true talent, and his Henry Swann is a classic—complex, hilarious, and completely charming.” —Hank Phillippi Ryan, Mary Higgins Clark award winner for The Other Woman, Agatha winner for The Wrong Girl, on Swann’s Lake of Despair “Salzberg’s a hell of a writer. He delivers thrills, insight and plenty of laughs. Swann is a very cool take on the classic PI.” —Andrew Klavan, author of True Crime, on Swann’s Last Song
Download or read book We Take What Fathers We Can written by Richard Godwin and published by Down & Out Books. This book was released on 2018-06-25 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In two parts, fathers lament the losses of their daughters. In the novella All The Broken Things a father discovers his daughter has been brutally raped and murdered and enters a labyrinth of excavation only to discover she had as a journalist unearthed the secrete dangerous Magenta Club. As he digs for clues his marriage falls apart and his wife leaves him for a man who tries to destroy her. In Inhabit we are unsure whether the grieving father even had a daughter. Then a young woman turns up on his estate and he is convinced she is Emily returned.
Download or read book Welcome Back Jack written by Liam Sweeny and published by Down & Out Books. This book was released on 2015-10-05 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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
