THE BIG PAY OFF Frank Nolan had been on the outside a long time. But now the Family was split in two, the doors to power were open, and Nolan walked in — right into a sizzling crossfire of doublecross, danger and death. Nolan didn’t know who wanted him out of the way. He just knew he had a sweet young swinger named Sherry for unlimited aid and comfort, a well-worn and trusted.38 for limited security, and an old score that could only be settled with BLOOD MONEY.

New York Times bestselling author Max Allan Collins seamlessly blends fact and fiction to recreate the twentieth century’s most notorious crimes. Now, in this spellbinding tale of suspense, detective Nathan Heller leaves behind the glamour of Hollywood for a wild ride in the Windy City... Chicago, 1950 — the target of America’s first-ever congressional inquiry into organized crime. Big trouble for anyone who knows where the bodies are buried, and Nate Heller has buried more than a few of them himself. He has no illusions about his civic — he prefers to stay alive and in business, mixing with the likes of starlet Jayne Mansfield and singer Frank Sinatra. But certain high-level...

After Mike Hammer witnesses Wall Street superstar Vincent Colby getting clipped by a speeding red Ferrari, the shaken victim’s stockbroker father hires Hammer to find the driver. But the toughest private eye of them all soon is caught up in a series of bizarre, seemingly unconnected slayings marked by a forbidden martial arts technique.

This delightful husband-and-wife collaboration features three stories by two-time Shamus award-winner Max Allan Collins, four stories by acclaimed short-story writer Barbara Collins, and two stories that the couple co-wrote. Among the contributions from Max Allan Collins — whose credits include novels, nonfiction, film criticism, songwriting, and four independent films — is “Catgate,” in which a womanizing senator tries to replace his dead mistress with a lookalike. Barbara Collins’ work has been included in the first three volumes of The Year’s 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories. Her pieces include “The Inconvenience Store,” in which a late-night craving drives a pregnant...

Have yourself a crooked little Christmas with The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries. Edgar Award-winning editor Otto Penzler collects sixty of his all-time favorite holiday crime stories — many of which are difficult or nearly impossible to find anywhere else. From classic Victorian tales by Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Thomas Hardy, to contemporary stories by Sara Paretsky and Ed McBain, this collection touches on all aspects of the holiday season, and all types of mysteries. They are suspenseful, funny, frightening, and poignant. Included are puzzles by Mary Higgins Clark, Isaac Asimov, and Ngaio Marsh; uncanny tales in the tradition of A Christmas Carol by Peter Lovesey...

In Eastern Europe four CIA agents are dead — geopolitical pawns caught in border dispute cross fire. Why were they there? Who sent them? Not even the President knows. Back in Washington, the Secretary of the Interior dies from an apparent allergic shock. As details emerge, so do suspicions that she was murdered. Investigating their respective cases, ex — Secret Service agent Joe Reeder and FBI Special Situations Task Force leader Patti Rogers recognize a dangerous conspiracy is in play. When suspects and government contacts are killed off with expert precision, their worst fears are confirmed. As the country edges closer and closer to war, Reeder and Rogers must protect the...

The first video arrives by email. An unidentifed man. A naked woman. Her scream caught in a freeze-frame. The producers of TV’s Crime Seen! can’t believe what they’re witnessing — an all-out sadist “auditioning” for a starring role in reality television. And if he doesn’t get it, he’ll kill again. To meet the demented demands of the self-proclaimed “Don Juan,” former sheriff and TV host J.C. Harrow has no choice but to spotlight him along with another ruthless maniac who has captivated millions of viewers. Now two killers are locked in a bloodthirsty competition. For fame. For notoriety. For victims.

When Crane, a graduate journalism student, hears that his fiancée has committed suicide, he’s immediately suspicious and launches into an investigation of her death. The tiny New Jersey town she lived in has seen a rash of suicides lately, with the unlikely coincidence that everyone who has died worked for Kemco, the chemical factory company that fuels the town’s economy. As Crane digs deeper, he encounters Boone, a local woman writing a book about the environmental destruction that has come at the hands of the local chemical giant. The two team up to unravel the conspiracies surrounding the factory — which soon makes them the next targets for those aiming to keep Kemco’s shady dealings...

Otto Penzler rounds up the most cunning, ruthless, criminals in mystery fiction. The best mysteries — whether detective, historical, police procedural, cozy, or comedy-have one thing in common: a memorable culprit. For all the heroes in earnest pursuit, there are malefactors on the loose, determined to outfox their efforts and sow trouble in their wake. These are the rogues and villains who haunt our imaginations, but they often have more in common with their heroic counterparts than we might expect (and, as we shall see, some even moonlight as detectives or do-gooders themselves). The seventy-two handpicked stories in this collection introduce us to the miscreants who have schemed and...

Given its extraordinary span, its international scope, and its variant styles and groundbreaking stylists, A Century of Great Suspense Stories is a singular achievement. A bestselling master of suspense himself Jeffery Deaver had the enviable task of selecting from the thousands of stories written over the past one hundred years those which best represented the classic form, as well as the justly celebrated authors whose ironic twists and stunning payoffs left a lasting, vivid, and unnerving impression. The result is a triumph. In this ambitious anthology you’ll revel in the sardonic, overtly amoral plotting of Patricia Highsmith. You’ll rediscover the strangely poignant and surprising...