Manhattan Mayhem: New Crime Stories From Mystery Writers of America

Best-selling suspense author Mary Higgins Clark invites you on a tour of Manhattan’s most iconic neighborhoods in this anthology of all-new stories from Mystery Writers of America, produced to commemorate its 70th anniversary. In Lee Child’s “The Picture of the Lonely Diner,” legendary drifter Jack Reacher interrupts a curious stand-off in the shadow of the Flatiron Building. In Jeffery Deaver’s “The Baker of Bleecker Street,” an Italian immigrant becomes ensnared in WWII espionage. And in “The Five-Dollar Dress,” Mary Higgins Clark unearths the contents of a mysterious hope chest found in an apartment on Union Square. With additional stories from T. Jefferson Parker, S. J. Rozan, Nancy Pickard, Ben H. Winters, Brendan DuBois, Persia Walker, Jon L. Breen, N. J. Ayres, Angela Zeman, Thomas H. Cook, Judith Kelman, Margaret Maron, Justin Scott, and Julie Hyzy, Manhattan Mayhem is teeming with red herrings, likely suspects, and thoroughly satisfying mysteries. Illustrated with iconic photography of New York City and packaged in a handsome hardcover, Manhattan Mayhem is a delightful read for armchair detectives and armchair travelers alike!
Views: 589

Where Are You Now?

From America's Queen of Suspense comes a gripping tale of a young woman trying to unravel the mystery of a family tragedy -- a quest with terrifying repercussions. It has been ten years since twenty-one-year-old Charles MacKenzie Jr. ("Mack") went missing. A Columbia University senior, about to graduate and already accepted at Duke University Law School, he walked out of his apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side without a word to his college roommates and has never been seen again. However, he does make one ritual phone call to his mother every year: on Mother's Day. Each time, he assures her he is fine, refuses to answer her frantic questions, then hangs up. Even the death of his father, a corporate lawyer, in the tragedy of 9/11 does not bring him home or break the pattern of his calls. Mack's sister, Carolyn, is now twenty-six, a law school graduate, and has just finished her clerkship for a civil court judge in Manhattan. She has endured two family tragedies, yet she realizes that she will never be able to have closure and get on with her life until she finds her brother. She resolves to discover what happened to Mack and why he has found it necessary to hide from them. So this year when Mack makes his annual Mother's Day call, Carolyn interrupts to announce her intention to track him down, no matter what it takes. The next morning after Mass, her uncle, Monsignor Devon MacKenzie, receives a scrawled message left in the collection basket: "Uncle Devon, tell Carolyn she must not look for me." Mack's cryptic warning does nothing to deter his sister from taking up the search, despite the angry reaction of her mother, Olivia, and the polite disapproval of Elliott Wallace, Carolyn's honorary uncle, who is clearly in love with Olivia. Carolyn's pursuit of the truth about Mack's disappearance swiftly plunges her into a world of unexpected danger and unanswered questions. What is the secret that Gus and Lil Kramer, the superintendents of the building in which Mack was living, have to hide? What do Mack's old roommates, the charismatic club owner Nick DeMarco and the cold and wealthy real estate tycoon Bruce Galbraith, know about Mack's disappearance? Is Nick connected to the disappearance of Leesey Andrews, who had last been seen in his trendy club? Can the police possibly believe that Mack is not only alive, but a serial killer, a shadowy predator of young women? Was Mack also guilty of the brutal murder of his drama teacher and the theft of his taped sessions with her? Carolyn's passionate search for the truth about her brother -- and for her brother himself -- leads her into a deadly confrontation with someone close to her whose secret he cannot allow her to reveal.
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A Private Investigation

When fourteen-year-old Zoe Johnson doesn’t come home on a Monday night in early December, the alarm bells in Kings Lake Central police station do not ring straight away – after all, she’s from the Dockmills, one of the toughest estates in the town. But for Detective Sergeant DC Smith, due to retire in just three weeks’ time, there are some strange echoes of the case that has haunted him for the past thirteen years. Maybe it’s simply his over-developed sense of irony, or maybe, in his final days as a police officer, Smith must look once more into the eyes of a serial killer. **
Views: 588

Just One Bite

"Heath's boundless imagination and singular voice have produced a truly unique thriller." —Jeffery Deaver, New York Times bestselling author, on HangmanThe shocking, fast-paced and queasily funny follow-up to Jack Heath's international bestselling thriller, HangmanTimothy Blake, ex-consultant for the FBI, now works in body disposal for a local crime lord. One night he stumbles across a body he wasn't supposed to find and is forced to hide it. When the FBI calls Blake in to investigate a missing university professor, Blake recognizes him as the dead man in his freezer.Then another man goes missing. And another.There's a serial killer in Houston, Texas, and Blake is running out of time to solve the case. His investigation takes him to a sex doll factory, a sprawling landfill in Louisiana and a secret cabin in the woods.As they hunt the killer together, FBI...
Views: 587

Some People Die Quick

Pristine offshore islands, coastlines ruined by casino hotels, and Gulf of Mexico waters is the setting for intrigue, horror, and quick death. A must read for any aficionado of the Mystery/Thriller genre.Jay Leicester (pronounced "Lester"), a retired airline pilot now running his own investigation firm, is sent a client by his old friend Guy Robbins, an attorney on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. The client is a horribly disfigured young female marine biologist who is Director of a research lab on Cat Island, twelve miles off the coast of Gulfport. Her disfigurement is the result of an attack by a tiger shark during a dive to the wreck of a World War Two German submarine sank during the war by the U.S. Navy off the coast of Chandeleur Island.During a two year recovery period the scientist becomes convinced the attack was orchestrated by someone who wanted to steal the formula for a shark repellent being developed at the research lab. The repellent, if perfected, would be worth billions of dollars. How a pelagic shark could be used to attack a specific diver in the open ocean becomes the enigma behind the investigation of this mystery thriller.One of the most enigmatic characters is the marine biologist herself. Annatoo Yillah, a direct descendant of Polynesian parents, is as strange as she is intelligent. A woman who, though educated in the west, believes she is an ancient God of Tiburon - a shark god. Other characters in the work are: Anna Yillah's two research assistants, George Lenoir and Vickey Fourche, brilliant graduate students from Mississippi State University, who worship and learn at the feet of their mentor; Susan Weems, a lifelong friend and former colleague of Anna Yillah, enters the scene with a bizarre tale of love and friendship; a career criminal and shrimp fisherman, Bob Sabado, who is tied to the lab by unrequited love. Then we meet Hebrone Opshinsky, one of those unforgettable characters that linger on in our mind forever. An "in-country" Viet Nam soldier trained as a silent killer and put back on the street after the war without any indoctrination in how to adjust to a peaceful society. A man who is more deadly than all the sharks in the Gulf of Mexico and lives among the underbelly of the shrimp fishermen along the docks of the Mississippi Coast. Finally, we meet a Police Detective and a Chief of Police who could not be more different in their investigative techniques. Both think Jay Leicester may be responsible for three murders and an attempt at a fourth.After meeting with Anna Yillah and conferring with Guy Robbins, Jay takes the case and accompanies her to Cat Island. Understanding why a brilliant research scientist could believe an attack in the open ocean by a shark could be purposefully accomplished is the first priority. He learned quickly that not only was it possible, but that it was exactly what had happened.With hundreds of visiting scientists rotating on and off the island doing research, the list of possible suspects seems insurmountable, but soon is narrowed to a select few. To expose the antagonist Anna and Jay recreate the original dive on the German submarine. It goes horribly wrong resulting in a ghastly death and failing to reveal a murderer. Starting over, Leicester finds an unlikely ally in an original suspect. This assistance leads to the discovery of the killer, but not before another innocent life is lost, and Jay is confronted with his own mortality.Pristine offshore islands, coastlines ruined by casino hotels, and Gulf of Mexico waters is the setting for intrigue, horror, and quick death. A must read for any aficionado of the Mystery/Thriller genre.There are 10 ebooks in the Jay Leicester Mysteries Series by JC Simmons:Blood on the VineSome People Die QuickBlind OverlookIcy Blue DescentThe Electra FilePopping the ShineFour Nines FineThe Underground LadyAkel DamaThe Candela of Cancri
Views: 586

Demonicus Misanthropicus

Just another day in the lives of two chaos demons, Necroloogeus and Morghoulus, having a conversation while they're on the job. Darkly comedic and slightly disturbing.In early July 2013, the following news article made headlines: "Possibility of First Head Transplant Fraught with Ethical and Medical Dilemmas." Are head transplants really in our near future, and what will that mean for mankind? Dante Marando understands that the human body is fragile. With recent medical advances, he's certain scientists will soon be able to keep healthy people alive for longer stretches of time, and he is determined to be a part of history in the making. Is Dante interested in helping mankind thrive, or is he only looking out for himself?
Views: 585

Children of Vice

I, Ethan Antonio Giovanni Callahan, first son of the former head of the Irish mob, Liam Alec Callahan, and former head of the Italian mafia, ex-governor, Melody Nicci Giovanni Callahan, solemnly swear to ruthlessly protect our family name, business and way of life, no matter the cost to me or anyone else. I shall show no mercy; I shall offer no forgiveness; there will be no peace for those who stand against me. I will live for my family. I will kill for my family. I will marry for my family. I, Ivy O'Davoren, the only daughter of Shay O'Davoren, solemnly swear to ruthlessly and mercilessly exact revenge on the Callahans and all those who betrayed my father and family. I will live for revenge. I will kill for revenge. I will marry for revenge. You devoured the Ruthless People series. Now it’s time to revel in the reign of the Callahan children… Stand-alone sequel series to Ruthless People series. You do not have to read Ruthless People series beforehand .
Views: 585

Crosscut

The very first short story from Archer Mayor's much-loved Joe Gunther series.Going into the previously unexplored history of VBI Detective Sammie Martens, Archer Mayor reveals the story of how Sammie first met Joe Gunther and Willie Kunkel. Sammie Martens, raised by a single mother in a chaotic household, returns home after leaving the Army only to have her mother's current boyfriend kick her out of the house. When her mother is arrested the next day on a charge of armed robbery, Sammie is convinced her mother's boyfriend set it up and is now up to no good. Warned to stay away by the seemingly uninterested police, Sammie does exactly the opposite and starts her own investigation.Includes 3 free chapters of BOMBER'S MOON, the next book in the Joe Gunther series.
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Every Kind of Wicked

In this mesmerizing new novel from bestselling author Lisa Black, the discovery of a young man's corpse leads forensics expert Maggie Gardiner and Cleveland detective Jack Renner into a dark and dangerous web of lies . . . Life and death have brought Maggie Gardiner full circle, back to the Erie Street Cemetery where she first entered Jack Renner's orbit. Eight months ago, she learned what Jack would do in the name of justice. More unsettling still, she discovered how far she would go to cover his tracks. Now a young man sprawls atop a snowy grave, his heart shredded by a single wound. A key card in the victim's wallet leads to the local university's student housing—and to a grieving girlfriend with an unsettling agenda. Maggie's struggle to appease her conscience is complicated by her ex-husband, Rick, who's convinced that Jack is connected to a series of vigilante killings. Also a homicide detective, Rick...
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The Unknown

The Cult of Daeva believe that a set of twins will be born upon the Winter Equinox during a lightening storm occurring within a blizzard around the time of the witching hour. Are Andrew and Andrew McKinley the twins of the prophecy or is their mother simply insane enough to do whatever it takes to make them the prophecy?Amanda McKinley is a devout follower of the Cult of Daeva upon finding out she was due on the Winter Equinox she began to earn favor within the cult.....even more so when it became clear that she carried multiples. She was desperate to have them in the early morning hours so that she could deliver the children of the prophecy. For her unhinged desperation to birth the children she almost lost them all. Are the surviving children, Andrew and Andrea McKinley the children of prophecy or is Amanda's insane logic turning them into monsters she cannot control?
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Last Laugh

Once in a lifetime, a writer puts it all together. This is Rahiem Brooks's best book ever.TotalFor 4 years, Rahiem Brooks has written unputdownable, pulse-racing novels. Now, he has written a book that surpasses all of them. LAST LAUGH is the thriller he was born to write.CityAll over the City of Philadelphia, crimes are being committed. Andre Bezel and his nemesis, former DEA Agent Lucas McKenzey, both want to commit the ultimate one, though: kidnapping Kareem Bezel from federal custody. Andre wants to rescue his brother from a lengthy prison term, while McKenzey wants to kill him. Whose wish will come true?
Views: 584