Book picks similar to
Guns of Brixton by Paul D. Brazill


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Plugged


Eoin Colfer - 2011
    His favorite hostess and love interest, Connie, was murdered in the parking lot behind the club. And Zeb, the dubious plastic surgeon who implanted McEvoy's hair plugs, has disappeared. In no time at all McEvoy's got half the New Jersey mob, dirty cops and his man-crazy upstairs neighbor after him. Bullets are flying, everyone's on the take, and McEvoy still doesn't have a clue about what's happening.

Dead Men Talking: The World's Worst Killers in Their Own Words


Christopher Berry-Dee - 2010
    Subjects include John Edward Robinson, convicted in 2003 of the murders of several women in Kansas; "Ice Queen" Melanie McGuire of New Jersey, convicted in 2007 of the murder and dismemberment of her husband; Philip Carl Jablonski, convicted of killing five women in California and Utah between 1978 and 1991; 94-year-old Viva Leroy Nash, serving two consecutive life sentences in Utah for murder and robbery; Michael Bruce Ross, executed in 2005 by the state of Connecticut, and "The Happy Face Killer" Keith Hunter Jesperson, serving three consecutive life sentences at the Oregon State Penitentiary.

Blood and Mystery in the Saloon: A Historical Western Adventure Book


Austin Grayson - 2020
    When a powerful rancher’s son is found dead behind her saloon, all fingers point at her. There is no doubt that someone wants Lillian behind bars. Luckily for her, Boone Travers, the sheriff of the town, will do whatever it takes to rescue his good friend and the woman he is falling in love with. Will Lillian manage to escape from a dangerous trap, or will she be sentenced for a crime that she never committed?With the real killer out there, no one in town can sleep peacefully. Boone is determined to shed light on the mystery and find out who committed this bloody crime. For now, he has no choice but to arrest Lillian, as she will be safer in prison. Boone knows deep inside that he will solve the case and that Lillian’s terrible nightmare will end for good. Will he eventually find out who set Lillian up and serve justice, or will he fail to complete his most challenging missions?The trial tears the town apart and sparks a range war between local ranchers and the neighboring Navajo people. Blood feuds become complicated, and lives are pitted against one another in an epic clash of power and passion, love and loyalty. In the end, will Boone arrest the vicious killer and help Lillian celebrate the clearing of her name? A gripping, action-packed western adventure filled with mystery, adrenaline, and drama. A must-read for fans of Western action with a touch of romance.

Her Last Call to Louis MacNeice


Ken Bruen - 1998
    I guess it all began with Cassie.? Cooper had done his time for GBH. Now he was on the outside, he?d set up a legit business with Doc whom he?d met in prison. They called themselves ?Righteous Repo? and they even had an accountant. The Repo firm did good business but lacked a certain je ne sais quoi. And it wasn?t anywhere near as exhilarating as the bank jobs they did on the side. Cooper gets more excitement than he bargained for when Cassie walks into his life. Cassie likes poetry, guns and money, but more importantly she likes Cooper, and nothing and nobody is going to stand in the way of her getting what she wants. Just as with his acclaimed debut, Rilke on Black, Ken Bruen takes the reader on a one-way ride ? straight to the bitter end.

Beat the Reaper


Josh Bazell - 2009
    Peter Brown is an intern at Manhattan's worst hospital, with a talent for medicine, a shift from hell, and a past he'd prefer to keep hidden. Whether it's a blocked circumflex artery or a plan to land a massive malpractice suit, he knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men.Pietro "Bearclaw" Brnwna is a hitman for the mob, with a genius for violence, a well-earned fear of sharks, and an overly close relationship with the Federal Witness Relocation Program. More likely to leave a trail of dead gangsters than a molecule of evidence, he's the last person you want to see in your hospital room.Nicholas LoBrutto, aka Eddy Squillante, is Dr. Brown's new patient, with three months to live and a very strange idea: that Peter Brown and Pietro Brnwa might-just might-be the same person ...Now, with the mob, the government, and death itself descending on the hospital, Peter has to buy time and do whatever it takes to keep his patients, himself, and his last shot at redemption alive. To get through the next eight hours-and somehow beat the reaper.Spattered in adrenaline-fueled action and bone-saw-sharp dialogue, BEAT THE REAPER is a debut thriller so utterly original you won't be able to guess what happens next, and so shockingly entertaining you won't be able to put it down.

Brighton


Michael Harvey - 2016
    Thing is, you gotta kill it first.”Kevin Pearce—baseball star, honor student, the pride of Brighton—was fifteen when he left town in the back of his uncle’s cab. He and his buddy, Bobby Scales, just committed a heinous act of violence for what they thought were the best of reasons. Kevin didn’t want a pass, but he was getting it anyway. Bobby would stay and face the music; Kevin’s future would remain as bright as ever. At least that was the way things were supposed to work. Except in Brighton, things never work the way they’re supposed to. Twenty-seven years later, Kevin is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for the Boston Globe. He’s never been back to his old block, having avoided his family and, especially, Bobby Scales. Then he learns his old friend is the prime suspect in a string of local murders. All of the sudden Kevin’s headed home—to protect a friend and the secret they share. To report this story to the end and protect those he loves, he must navigate not only an elusive, slippery killer, but his own corrupted conscience.A powerhouse of a thriller, Brighton is a riveting and elegiac exploration of promises broken, debts owed, and old wrongs made right . . . no matter what the cost.

Murder Can Be Fun


Fredric Brown - 1948
    Things get dicey when killings happen, using our heroe's unpublished scripts as a template. With its chess-playing and references to Alice in Wonderland, one suspects a Spanish admirer for Mr. Brown, as the great Arturo Perez-Reverte also wrote a book about chess-playing, before taking it to new heights with a Dumas-inspired mystery. This book was also published as "A Plot for Murder."

The Chinese Agent


Michael Moorcock - 1970
    

The Night Gardener


George Pelecanos - 2006
    C. Cook, a legendary, now retired detective, and Dan "Doc" Holiday, his former partner who left the force under a cloud of suspicion.

Black Friday and Selected Stories


David Goodis - 1954
    January cold coming in off two rivers. Hart is broke, freezing, looking for a place to lay low from the cops. If he can't find somewhere soon he might do something rash - like steal an overcoat and accept a wallet containing $11,000 from a man dying from gunshot wounds in the street. Whoever killed him might have a bed, though, even if that means hanging out with a bunch of thieves and drifters while the heat blows over. Lucky for Hart he's handy with his fists. And if he can use his looks and smarts to get in with the gang, maybe he can ride this out and score big on his own. Originally published in 1954, Black Friday is one of David Goodis's leanest, meanest melancholy thrillers. In the character of Hart, it features one of his classic, tortured romantic heroes, a man who becomes mired in circumstances from which there is no escape. In this edition, Black Friday is combined with short stories, unpublished since they were first written for pulp magazines in America over 50 years ago.

If You Can't Stand the Heat


Lawrence Block - 2013
    

L.A. Times


Stuart Woods - 1993
    Arriving on the West Coast with a new identity and some ill gotten gains, Vinnie discovers that his sociopathic nature is just the ticket for handling the intrigues of tinseltown. He employs his old techniques of deceit, coercion, sexual conquest – even murder – to carve out a place at the top of the film industry.But Vinnie’s old neighborhood friends have excellent memories and a long reach, and soon his fast track career is facing derailment – or even worse, a new driver at the controls.

Hand Me a Fig Leaf


James Hadley Chase - 1981
    As they prove to be uninterested, he turns instead to Colonel Parnell of the Parnell Detective Agency. It seems at first to be a simple case of a missing person but they soon find themselves in the middle of a complicated web of deceit, intrigue and murder.

The Crow Road


Iain Banks - 1992
    I sat in the crematorium, listening to my Uncle Hamish quietly snoring in harmont to bach's Mass in B Minor, and I reflected that it always seemed to be death that drew me back to Gallanach." Prentice McHoan has returned to the bosom of his complex but enduring Scottish family. Full of questions about the McHoan past, present and future, he is also deeply preoccupied: mainly with death, sex, drink, God and illegal substances...

Divine Justice


David Baldacci - 2008
    Men in the highest circles of power want him dead, and quickly, because he knows too many of their deepest secrets. On the other hand, the members of the secretive Camel Club not only want Stone alive, but they are willing to risk their own lives to save their leader and friend. Get ready for a David Baldacci thriller with relentless intensity, a perfect follow-up to his acclaimed "Stone Cold" - Camel Club #3.We begin with Oliver Stone taking drastic action to deal with individuals who have imposed injustices on him in his past life. He soon resorts to necessary flight and lands accidently in Divine, Virginia with a new young friend, Danny Riker. It's a strange place, fraught with secrets, criminal activities, and so much danger for Stone.Librarian's note: this is one of five volumes in the author's Camel Club series.