Book picks similar to
you don't exist by Chris Rhatigan
crime-mystery-thriller
pulp
short-collections
short-story-novella-collections
Death and Taxes
David Dodge - 1941
Often compared to Dashiell Hammett, David Dodge's urbane writing style stands the test of time. His novels still show the hallmarks of being fresh, fast-paced and witty. Whit Whitney is the last person you’d want to meet. The taxman is no one’s best friend. But in 1940’s San Francisco, there’s a price to pay for murder, romance, and heavy drinking, and the taxman turned detective is coming to collect. Hilarious and twisty, Dodge’s first novel is among his best, and makes for a terrific introduction to one of last century’s greatest talents in mystery.
Thieves Fall Out (Hard Case Crime)
Gore Vidal - 1953
The lost pulp crime novel by great American novelist Gore Vidal! Hired to smuggle an ancient artefact out of Egypt, Pete Wells finds himself the target of killers and femme fatales - and just one step away from triggering a revolution that will set Cairo aflame!
Gun Work
David J. Schow - 2011
That’s what the Mexican kidnapping cartel was demanding for Carl Ledbetter’s wife. So Carl reached out to the one person he knew with a chance in hell of saving her, a deadly man whose own life he’d saved in the sands of Iraq. It was time to call in some favors. Because some situations call for negotiation, but some… call for gun work.
So Nude, So Dead
Ed McBain - 1952
Now he was just an addict, scraping to get by, letting his hunger for drugs consume him. But a man’s life can always get worse - as Ray Stone discovers when he wakes up beside a beautiful nightclub singer only to find her dead... and 16 ounces of pure heroin missing. On the run from the law, desperate to prove his innocence and find a killer, Ray also faces another foe, merciless and unforgiving: his growing craving for a fix...
Casino Moon (Hard Case Crime #55)
Peter Blauner - 1994
Growing up in the Atlantic City mob has left its mark on Anthony Russo. He wants to go legit, but sometimes the lawful world can prove to be just as dirty. And someone elses murder may be the only way to prevent his own.
Killer in the Rain
Raymond Chandler - 1964
Here then, from the well-thumbed pages of 'Black Mask' and 'Dime Detective Magazine', are eight of his finest stories including 'The Man Who Liked Dogs', 'The Lady in the Lake' and 'Bay City Blues'. Sharper than a hoodlum's switchblade, more exciting than an unexpected red-head and stronger than a double shot of whisky, they are packed full of the punchy poetry and laconic wit that makes Chandler the undisputed master of his genre.'Anything Chandler writes about grips the mind from the first sentence' Daily Telegraph 'One of the greatest crime writers, who set standards others still try to attain' Sunday Times'Chandler is an original stylist, creator of a character as immortal as Sherlock Holmes' Anthony BurgessBest-known as the creator of the original private eye, Philip Marlowe, Raymond Chandler was born in Chicago in 1888 and died in 1959. Many of his books have been adapted for the screen, and he is widely regarded as one of the very greatest writers of detective fiction. His books include The Big Sleep, The Little Sister, Farewell, My Lovely, The Long Good-bye, The Lady in the Lake, Playback, Killer in the Rain, The High Window and Trouble is My Business.
The Ninth Step
Grant Jerkins - 2012
Last night, she murdered a stranger… Helen is a recovering alcoholic struggling through a twelve-step program. Now it’s time to make amends for a crime she got away with—a hit and run accident that killed the wife of school teacher Edgar Woolrich. It’s time to face the consequences. When she finally gathers the courage to meet him, the ninth step begins with a lie—the first of many as their relationship grows, and Helen knows it’s far too late to reveal the truth to a man she’s come to love. Then one day, she receives an anonymous note: Does he know you killed his wife? Now her devastating trail of deceit is about to lead her into the darkest place so far—that of other people’s secrets…
The House on Hill Street
Judy Nunn - 2012
But the neighbours are becoming concerned. Eileen Jameson and the boys haven't been seen for quite some time...When a gruesome discovery points the finger, quite literally, at the Professor's house, Inspector Max Carruthers and Detective Sergeant Lucas Matthews come knocking at the door. It's a day they will never forget ...
Man with No Name
Laird Barron - 2016
Delivered from the mean streets by the Heron Clan, he mastered the way of the gun and knife and swiftly ascended through yakuza ranks to become a dreaded enforcer. His latest task? He and an entourage of expert killers are commanded to kidnap Muzaki, a retired world-renowned wrestler under protection of the rival Dragon Syndicate. It should be business as bloody usual for Nanashi and his ruthless brothers in arms, except for the detail that Muzaki possesses a terrifying secret. A secret that will spawn a no-holds barred gang war and send Nanashi on a personal odyssey into immortal darkness.
Fade to Blonde
Max Phillips - 2004
She had nice straight shoulders. There was nothing wrong between them and her open-toed shoes, so I guess the trouble must have been somewhere behind those blue-gray eyes. They'd be trouble, of course. She looked up and called, 'Is your name, Corson?' " From the first paragraph, Max Phillips's pitch-pure ear sets the tone; we have entered a back-alley world where men are tough and women are easy; where dirty secrets clog the citadels of power. With its staccato dialogue and its strip-club fusion of sex and vengeance, Fade to Blonde ironically recalls a more innocent age.
The Album of Dr. Moreau
Daryl Gregory - 2021
Moreau combines the science fiction premise of the famous novel by H. G. Wells with the panache of a classic murder mystery and the spectacle of a beloved boy band.It’s 2001, and the WyldBoyZ are the world’s hottest boy band, and definitely the world’s only genetically engineered human-animal hybrid vocal group. When their producer, Dr. M, is found murdered in his hotel room, the “boyz” become the prime suspects. Was it Bobby the ocelot (“the cute one”), Matt the megabat (“the funny one”), Tim the Pangolin (“the shy one”), Devin the bonobo (“the romantic one”), or Tusk the elephant (“the smart one”)?Las Vegas Detective Luce Delgado has only twenty-four hours to solve a case that goes all the way back to the secret science barge where the WyldBoyZ’ journey first began—a place they used to call home.
A Beck Halloween (The Beck Brothers Series Short)
Andria Large - 2017
Find out what happens and the chaos that ensues in this Beck Brother short story.
The Name Is Archer
Ross Macdonald - 1955
MYSTERYIncludes the following stories:Find the womanGone girlThe bearded ladyThe suicideGuilt-edged blondeThe sinister habitWild goose chaseMidnight blueSleeping dog
Blackmailer (Hard Case Crime #32)
George Axelrod - 1952
From the Academy Award-Nominated Screenwriter of BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S and THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE Comes a Breathtaking Story of Murder and Mischief...IT'S THE STORY of a big-game hunter, fisherman, fighter, visitor to Cuba, drunk, and Nobel Prize-winning author, recently deceased of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, whose final unpublished manuscript could fetch a mint...IT'S THE STORY of a short, balding man with a high-pitched voice and a vicious wit, whose cocktail parties are the talk of the town, especially when a beautiful woman dies at one of them...IT'S THE STORY of Hollywood's sexiest starlet, who manages to conceal things even when she's wearing nothing but a towel......and it's the story of Dick Sherman, intrepid New York publisher, on the trail of the literary find of the century-and the killer who will stop at nothing to keep it from being found.
Guarded by Hellhounds (Hell Baited Wolves, #1)
Cali Mann - 2021
Any man... but him. So I run.In the midst of a wild storm, three hot men save me. Men with dark secrets and a demonic nature my pack might never accept, but my heart's already claimed them. They're mine.Grab this steamy why choose shifter romance now and enter the world of Hell Baited Wolves, a sexy demon paranormal romance series by Cali Mann and Freya Black.