Gwen Ryland knows two things about the men pursuing her through the Rocky Mountains: they’re holding her brother hostage…and they won’t stop until they catch her, too. Now Gwen’s life depends on the man who once broke her friend’s heart—former army ranger Caden O’Callaghan. But can they figure out what the men want in time to save her brother…and Gwen? Views: 527
Introduced by Colin Dexter, one of England's greatest writers of detective fiction, here are twenty long-unavailable stories by Dashiell Hammett, the author of The Maltese Falcon and one of the finest writers of the twentieth century.
In the title story, a man on a bender enters a small town and ends up unravelling the dark mystery at its heart. A woman confronts the brutal truth about her husband in the chilling story, The Ruffian's Wife. His Brother's Keeper is a half-wit boxer's eulogy to the brother who betrayed him. The Second Story Angel recounts one of the most novel cons ever devised. In seven stories, the tough and taciturn Continental Op takes on a motley collection of the deceitful, the duped, and the dead, and once again shown his uncanny ability to get at the truth. In three stories, Sam Spade confronts the darkness in the human soul while rolling his own cigarettes. And the first study for The Thin Man sends John Guild on a murder investigation in which almost every witness may be lying.
In Nightmare Town, Dashiell Hammett, America's poet laureate of the dispossessed, shows us a world where people confront a multitude of evils. Whether they are trying to right wrongs or just trying to survive, all of them are rendered with Hammett's signature gifts for sharp-edged characters and blunt dialogue.
Hammett said that his ambition was to elevate mystery fiction to the level of art. This collection of masterful stories clearly illustrates Hammett's success, and shows the remarkable range and variety of the fiction he produced.
As a novelist of realistic intrigue, Hammett was unsurpassed in his own or any day. - Ross MacDonald
A legend of a different kind: exemplary, not only of a certain kind of American fiction, but also of a certain kind of American life - Margaret Atwood
Cover photograph: Mark Adams Views: 527
From New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong comes a brand new psychological thriller about the lengths one woman will go to in order to save a child. "Few crimes are reported as quickly as a snatched kid." That's what the officer tells single mother Aubrey Finch after she reports a kidnapping. So why hasn't anyone reported the little boy missing? Aubrey knows what she saw: a boy being taken against his will from the park. It doesn't matter that the mother can't be found. It doesn't matter if no one reported it. Aubrey knows he's missing.Instead, people question her sanity. Aubrey hears the whispers. She's a former stay-at-home mom who doesn't have primary custody of her daughter, so there must be something wrong with her, right? Others may not understand her decision to walk away from her safe life at home, but years of hiding her past – even from the people she loves – were taking their toll, and Aubrey knows... Views: 527
A missing girl. A corrupt investigation. They thought they could get away with it, but they forgot one thing: Roland March is BACK ON MURDERHouston homicide detective Roland March was once one of the best. Now he's disillusioned, cynical, and on his way out. His superiors farm him out on a variety of punishment details...until an unexpected break gives March one last chance to save his career. And his humanity.All he has to do? Find the missing teenage daughter of a Houston evangelist that every cop in town is already looking for. But March has an inside track, a multiple murder nobody else thinks is connected. Battling a new partner, an old nemesis, and the demons of his past, getting to the truth could cost March everything. Even his life."A rogue homicide detective is assigned to a grisly murder case, and through thisinvestigation discovers core life values that overturn his world. Bertrand's first novel is an astonishing and powerful mystery. Extremely well crafted. Highly recommended."--Davis Bunn, bestselling author of Gold of Kings"There's no way you're going to take your eyes off [Back on Murder] until it's finished. The story and writing is that good."--Sigmund Brouwer, bestselling author of Broken Angel"J. Mark Bertrand has captured the surreal world of homicide detectives with a realism and power rarely seen in fiction."--Mark Mynheir, homicide detective and author of The Night Watchman"Complex, the action-finale expertly done, the surprises efficiently sprung." -Weekly Standard Views: 527
Earth Is Room Enough is a collection of fifteen short science fiction and fantasy stories and two pieces of comic verse published by Isaac Asimov in 1957. In his autobiography In Joy Still Felt, Asimov wrote, "I was still thinking of the remarks of reviewers such as George O. Smith . . . concerning my penchant for wandering over the Galaxy. I therefore picked stories that took place on Earth and called the book Earth Is Room Enough. " The collection includes one story from the Robot Series and four stories that feature or mention the fictional computer Multivac. Views: 527
The man had secrets...
Blindsided by a hurricane, Katie Flynn was seeking shelter from the storm - but all she found was a moody, broody recluse named O'Neal. Trapped with him in his house on a windswept cliff overlooking the wildly tossed sea, Katie tried to fight the feelings O'Neal awakened in her - both of sensuality and fear. She began to suspect that something haunted the tall, gray-eyed man's domain, something more than the wicked servants or family ghosts...something strange that only O'Neal himself could reveal. Views: 527
Though Roe has proven she can handle just about anything, this part-time librarian may not be ready for the full-time crises that comes her way in the sixth Aurora Teagarden mystery...Roe’s life finally seems to have settled into a comfortable pattern. Her marriage to Martin is going well, she’s back at work at the Lawrenceton library—and she hasn’t found a dead body in quite a while. But then one afternoon her handyman goes crazy in her front yard. Roe suspects this is a sign of more bad things to come. And she is right.Soon Martin’s niece, Regina, shows up with a baby that no one knew she had. Then she disappears, leaving behind the child—and a murdered husband. To find her, Roe and Martin retrace her steps from sunny Georgia back to snowy Ohio, where they will uncover dark family secrets—at their own peril...DON\'T MISS THE AURORA TEAGARDEN MYSTERIES ON HALLMARK MOVIES & MYSTERIES! Views: 527
Based on true events, The Paper Daughters of Chinatown is a powerful story about a largely unknown chapter in history and the women who emerged as heroes. In the late nineteenth century, San Francisco is a booming city with a dark side, one where a powerful underground organization-the criminal tong-buys and sells young Chinese women into prostitution and slavery. These "paper daughters," so called because fake documents gain them entry to America but leave them without legal identity, generally have no recourse. But the Occidental Mission Home for Girls is one bright spot of hope and help. Told in alternating chapters, this rich narrative follows the stories of young Donaldina "Dolly" Cameron, who works in the mission home, and Mei Lien, a "paper daughter" who thinks she is coming to America for an arranged marriage but instead is sold into a life of shame and despair. Dolly, a real-life pioneering advocate for social justice, bravely fights... Views: 527
People aspire to make the world a better place in many ways. Some decorate any ugly space that offends the eye, another might take up justice's flaming sword and sally forth to tilt at windmills.All good intentions come at a cost. Some are rewarded, others demand the ultimate price.Evin Driscol is not just a historical writer, but a vampire who writes about supernaturals and their impact on human history. He is loved by some, hated by others, and tolerated by most. Though sharing knowledge of his own kind is pushing a fine line, Evin continues to write about supernatural history while exploring this own. Evin is ending his Vampires and the Roaring Twenties book tour in Chicago, his hometown. Just as things seem to be falling into place for Evin, his life is turned upside down when his own history threatens to repeat itself. Views: 527
A happy newlywed at last, the "Nameless Detective" returns from his honeymoon with the idea that he'll finally take it easy. And when the young, beautiful, and wealthy Melanie Ann Aldrich walks into his office, everything seems perfect. After rummaging through some old papers belonging to her dead parents, she's discovered that she's adopted. Now she wants to know who her real parents are and why no one ever told her the truth. Nameless could do this in his sleep, this case is so easy. But is it? Nameless delves easily enough into the past but no one there is talking... at first. As he starts to sort out the truth behind Melanie's mysterious history, he wonders how much his client will really want to know. Her real mother was an emotionally disturbed young woman, now deceased. Her real father was a teenage delinquent named Stephen Chehalis, who was chased out of town by his own father shortly after Melanie was born. But that's only the beginning. Now Melanie wants to meet her father and asks Nameless to arrange it. Easy enough, but after the arrangement is made, Nameless uncovers some disturbing information about the man—information Chehalis would kill to keep secret. Suddenly a routine case turns into a hardcase, and Nameless must risk his own life to protect a daughter from a vicious father with a deadly secret. Views: 526
Ex-soldier Lee Arnold and his Muslim assistant Mumtaz Hakim run a detective agency in London's ethnically diverse, crime-ridden East End. Mumtaz is approached by an Egyptian woman, Salwa, whose husband is in Belmarsh on terrorism charges. Salwa convinces Mumtaz of her husband's innocence and persuades her to go undercover to prove it. But Salwa is not what she seems. Trapped in an old tunnel that leads to the London docks, will Mumtaz escape with her life? Views: 526
Lost in a landscape of boiling mud pools and geysers, Paige Duvall wonders if she's finally descended into hell. The land her mother inherited in New Zealand is not the pastoral paradise she hoped for, a place where the worldly young woman hoped to recover from another failed relationship. Instead one wrong step can end her life. Then the devil himself, Maori sheep farmer Adam Tomoana, emerges from the swirling mists to guide her to safety.While she must rely on Adam to guide her home, is it safe to trust this man with her heart? While she is fascinated by their encounter, only Adam knows that it's not their first. Both are battered souls; both need healing, as does Adam's small silent son. But to heal, both must tell the whole truth, and there are secrets in Paige's past, and relationships she can't remember.If Adam reveals them, will he drive her away, or will he win her love forever? Views: 526
