Whispering Bodies: A Roy Belkin Disaster


Jesse Michaels - 2013
    Belkin must begin each day with the task he calls The Service: visiting Christian chat-rooms to reply to users innocent questions with mocking answers. “Why do they call the taking of the communion ‘Mass?’”? Belkin124 responds: “They call it the Mass because after Jesus was crucified, a mass of people rushed forward to the cross and ate him. Now they eat the wafer to remember it.” At forty-seven, balding, and mildly agoraphobic, Belkin is a man without direction. He rarely leaves his apartment (he refers to the outside world as The Pounding), and when he must leave, he meticulously recounts the day in his Thunder Book; a journal where he lists all that repulsed him that day.But everything changes the day Belkin returns to his apartment to find the building ablaze along with the suspected murder of the apartment building’s maintenance man. As police question him, Belkin meets the mysterious Pernice Balfour, the alluring, religiously obsessed neighbor accused of the crime. Soon, Belkin has no choice but to come out of his shell (and his apartment) to try to clear her name. But the more Belkin investigates, the muddier things become. Wandering through San Francisco’s seedy Tenderloin district, Belkin begins to unravel the truth behind the murder, and encounters a bizarre series of characters and situations: "pansexual" crime-scene photographer, an idiot detective, and an all-knowing government operative.Whispering Bodies is comical offbeat exploration of the wisdom found in madness and the madness found in conventional life, all brought together in a classic tale of who-done-it.

The Big Ugly


Jake Hinkson - 2014
    She’s only been out for a day when she accepts a strange job offer from the head of a Christian political advocacy group. He wants her to track down a missing ex-con named Alexis. Although no one knows where Alexis has gone, it seems like everyone in Arkansas is looking for her—from a rich televangelist running for Congress to the governor’s dirty tricks man. When Bennett finds the troubled young woman, she has to decide whether to hand her over to the highest bidder or help her escape from the most powerful men in the state.

Kids Who Kill: Case 2: Eric Smith


Kathryn McMaster - 2018
    But he chose not to. Eric continued to deal with Derrick's body because he wanted to, because he chose to, and most frighteningly of all, because he enjoyed it."Four-year-old Derrick Robie is dead. The killer's name is Eric Smith. He is just thirteen years old. Eric Smith loves torturing small animals of all descriptions; cats and kittens, birds, even snakes. When he graduates to people, he shows no remorse for what he has done. "I have just met the Anti-Christ," says a family friend to his wife after meeting teen-killer Eric Smith for the first time.This is the true story of a chilling murder of a preschooler who becomes the target of Eric's uncontrollable rage. Did police officers stop a serial killer in the making? You decide.If you read true crime books by Ann Rule, Jack Rosewood, or Kathryn Case, you will enjoy reading Kathryn McMaster's books. Kathryn McMaster is an accomplished author who specializes in true crime and unsolved cases and explores the darkest side of the human mind.

The Guilty Ones


Ross Macdonald - 1952
    Reginald Harlan, M.A. Of course Archer generally didn't like people whose names started with a single syllable. Harlan hired Lew to find his sister. A respectable school mistress that has run off with a bohemian artist type. But he finds more than what he expected when he has a corpse literally dumped on him!

Last Train to Helsingør


Heidi Amsinck - 2018
    Menacing and at times darkly humorous there are echoes of Roald Dahl and Daphne du Maurier in these stories, many of which have been specially commissioned for Radio 4.From the commuter who bitterly regrets falling asleep on a late-night train in Last Train to Helsingør, to the mushroom hunter prepared to kill to guard her secret in The Chanterelles of Østvig.Here, the land of ‘hygge’ becomes one of twilight and shadows, as canny antique dealers and property sharks get their comeuppance at the handsof old ladies in Conning Mrs Vinterberg, and ghosts go off-script in TheWailing Girl.Scandi noir at its finest.

Violent Love, Vol. 2: Hearts on Fire


Frank J. Barbiere - 2018
    BARBIERE and VICTOR SANTOS.Collects issues 6-10.

Lonesome Days, Savage Nights


Steve Niles - 2020
    But a terrible incident on his first beat has left him dishonored, dismayed, and barely clinging to sanity. Years later Stu prowls the streets again, not as a cop, but a scruffy private detective with one hell of a trick up his sleeve...and a monster under his skin. But when the city he always wanted to protect claims the one person who helped him survive it this far, Stu is prepared to unleash the beast he's kept inside and embark on his own road to revenge...and he gets the feeling that two graves will not be nearly enough. A supernatural hardboiled crime thriller for the 21st century. "Feels like a modern retelling of a classic monster movie" - THE BEAT "One of the masters of modern horror comics." - PASTE MAGAZINE "What separates Lonesome Days, Savage Nights from your typical werewolf story is how Stu communicates with the beast within." - HORROR DNA "TKO Studios is the Criterion Collection of comic books" - COMIC BOOK COUPLES COUNSELING "TKO Studios wants to revolutionize comics...and it just might do it" - AV CLUB

Rilke on Black


Ken Bruen - 1997
    Nick, an ex-bouncer, Dex, a charismatic sociopath, and Lisa, a motor-mouth junkie femme fatale. Their prey is a powerful, local businessman with an obsession for the poet Rilke. Thing is, each kidnapper has a very different agenda. Which means it's only a matter of time before the joking stops, and the ever threatening violence begins. Rilke on Black is an eerie, crooked tale of sex, obsession and betrayal. Ken Bruen's dark contemporary thriller matches a razor sharp vernacular with a country music soundtrack to create a truly intoxicating and original mix.

The Wilder Side of Chaos


Pete Brassett - 2014
    A riveting read. Ex British agent Nathan Pearson has settled into Parisian life when his design agency receives a lucrative offer he can't refuse. When it transpires that the contract is a cover for a Russian smuggling operation he is drawn into a violent man chase that has Interpol and the CIA stretched to their limits. But when the smoke has settled, who will pay? Pete Brassett is the author of Clam Chowder at Lafayette and Spring which is also available on kindle.http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Wilder-Si...

Fatal Prescription: A Doctor without Remorse


John Griffiths - 1995
    a remarkable story—Leeza Gibbons, NBC-TV • Grippingly told ... a wonderful, powerful book—David Berner, Radio CKNW Vancouver • Reads with the pace of a taut thriller—George Henderson, Gloucestershire Citizen • Mesmerizing—Bob Stall, Vancouver Province. Now revised and updated. The amazing, true story of how medical authorities allow a family doctor to continue practising even after he begins living with a 15-year-old patient—and allegedly has sex with another girl in exchange for giving drugs to her father. The notorious doctor still carries on as before and a third patient complains about infamous conduct—until he silences her by putting out a contract for murder.

The Thursday Murder Club / The Man Who Died Twice


Richard Osman
    

McGraw: The Incredible Untold Story of Tam 'The Licensee' McGraw


Reg McKay - 2008
    He rose from poverty in the city's East End to amass a vast fortune from crime and, when he died in 2007, his empire stretched from Glasgow to the Canaries. When he was alive, few would talk openly about the man known as 'The Licensee'. But now his incredible, untold story can finally be revealed. Real stories about the time McGraw cheated The Godfather, risking his life to end a dynasty. How he was behind the UK's biggest coke heist and who paid the price. Who killed the six Doyles in the Ice Cream Wars. Why the BarL Team was never caught even with MI5 on their case. Armed jail breakouts - who arranged them, who grassed them. There are hit contracts, backstabbings, vendettas and scores to settle with everyone from The Godfather to The Devil, M Family, Specky Boyd and Paul Ferris. McGraw did all that and much more yet was never caught. Why? He was The Licensee. Licensed to Commit Crime.

Dirtbags


Eryk Pruitt - 2014
    But Calvin Cantrell doesn’t care for those jobs anyway. Instead, he dreams of becoming a famous serial killer. When sleazy restauranteur Tom London hires Calvin to kill his ex-wife, Calvin’s dreams begin. And so do Lake Castor’s nightmares.

Vine Street


Dominic Nolan - 2021
    SOHO, 1935.SERGEANT LEON GEATS' PATCH.A snarling, skull-cracking misanthrope, Geats marshals the grimy rabble according to his own elastic moral code.The narrow alleys are brimming with jazz bars, bookies, blackshirts, ponces and tarts so when a body is found above the Windmill Club, detectives are content to dismiss the case as just another young woman who topped herself early.But Geats - a good man prepared to be a bad one if it keeps the worst of them at bay - knows the dark seams of the city.Working with his former partner, mercenary Flying Squad sergeant Mark Cassar, Geats obsessively dedicates himself to finding a warped killer - a decision that will reverberate for a lifetime and transform both men in ways they could never expect.

Stray Bullets, Vol. 7


David Lapham - 2003
    This seventh volume trade paperback reprints issues twenty-five through twenty-eight of the critically acclaimed and Eisner Award winning series - Stray Bullets Truly horrifying The kidnapping and nightmarish search for Virginia Applejack The Collected Stray Bullets Series is a perfect introduction for new readers, a great way for fans to complete the series.