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 under wraps.The pair races to expose the illegal operations poisoning the town and bring Kemco to justice—before either of them becomes the latest in the growing list of “suicides.”

    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.

    Two stories from this collection have been adapted into the films Viscosity and A F*ckload of Scotch Tape.

    They're back in the fifth adventure in the beloved and acclaimed series that influenced generations of crime writers. Retired pro football star Ed Cross did most of his scoring between bed posts with other player's women, including Hump's ex-girlfriend. That was bad enough. But, just to rub it in, Cross sends Hump an x-rated birthday skin flick of him celebrating in bed with two women. Hump goes looking for blood... and finds it. Cross is murdered and Hump becomes the prime suspect. Hardman works to clear Hump and discovers there's plenty of murderous hate for Cross out there...from the top of the sports world to the pits of Atlanta's illegal gambling scene... and revealing it could get them both killed. This new edition includes an Afterword from Ben Jones, the Dukes of Hazzard actor and former U.S. Congressman from Georgia. PRAISE FOR THE HARDMAN NOVELS "Like Chandler and Hammett before him, Dennis was trying to do something different with what was thought of as throwaway literature.” Joe R. Lansdale, New York Times bestselling author of the Hap & Leonard series “The Hardman books are by far the best of the men’s action-adventure series.” Mother Jones Magazine “Among the best series books around.” Philadelphia Daily News

    Then someone tries to make it look like he's killed again. A neat frame up. But Duke's still got some aces in his hand. Aces, and a gun.

    So when Byron is found dead, they’re shocked. They’re even more shocked when they learn that nothing is what they originally thought, and they’re being held accountable in the man's death.With Junior called in for questioning, Boo is determined to clear their names by finding Byron’s true killer. It’s a quest in which Boo will have to face down crooked cops, crazed guard dogs, a rival security crew, the Irish mob and—worst of all—his own ingrained prejudices.Action-packed, outrageously funny, and brutally honest, Rough Trade brings back crime fiction’s favorite bouncers and takes them well out of their comfort zone in a novel that’s whip-smart, hilarious, gritty and above all human, proving that Todd Robinson is one of the most important voices in crime fiction.

    After a hushed-up scandal over his Olympics win and the death of his wife in a car accident five years ago, Ethan wants nothing more than to forget his past. Skip is not only the light of Ethan's life--she is his life. Then, Skip is kidnapped. A series of bizarre ransom demands start coming in that stretch Ethan's athletic prowess to its limits, and he realizes with growing horror that they are modern versions of the Twelve Labors of Hercules, demanded in tricky, rhyming clues by someone who seems to have followed every step of Ethan's career.

    This collection features new stories from all the Zelmer Pulp regulars as well as stunning noir photography from Mark Krajnak and an introduction by Brit Grit Godfather Paul D. Brazill.Zelmer Pulp arrives with both guns out in this Volume 1 noir collection.

    not a word is wasted." -- Ian RankinAn Amazon top ten bestseller with sales of over 50,000 copies, BYE BYE BABY is a short novella that packs a big punch.When a seven-year-old boy disappears after school, the case is handed to Detective Frank Collins. He's been looking to lead a high-profile case for a while, and sets out determined to prove his worth. But the missing schoolboy is only a trigger for another crime. Someone is intent on exploiting the boy's grief-stricken mother. And they have plans for Frank Collins too.Praise for BYE BYE BABY"A terrific read and a great premise from an excellent writer." -- Stuart MacBride"The approach is so fresh that it makes the whole thing feel like the first time I've read a police story." -- Do Some Damage"a purely original, funny, sharp piece of writing. It has a plot that develops in an unorthodox, non-linear fashion -- hardly resembling many of the police procedurals I've read. It's often noted that Guthrie is one of the top working mystery writers, and he certainly lives up to that reputation ..." -- Death By Killing"A story that moves quickly, in short chapters of crisp prose, with plenty of plot turns to hold the attention, and characters you can love and others you can hate... Like Guthrie's full-length novels, Bye Bye Baby is sly, noir as all hell (more noir than some, actually), and it just might bring a tear of pity to your eyes. It's a police procedural filled with incident and back story, and man, what an ending." -- Detectives Beyond Borders"a dark, clever, funny and sad story which races along to reach a smart conclusion. A tough and lovely slice of the hard side of life." -- You Would Say That, Wouldn't You?Praise for SLAMMER"SLAMMER is the most relentlessly page-turning novel this reviewer has come across in a long, long time, but Guthrie does so much more than just throw visceral action and sharp banter at the reader, teasing and cajoling us with red herrings and subtle foreshadowing, delving deep inside a mind that is quickly unravelling into psychotic madness. At SLAMMER's core is a surprisingly subtle examination of what it means to be good or evil, and how easily that distinction can become blurred. Guthrie creates empathy for all his characters -- there are no faceless monsters here -- and in portraying the prisoners and their guards as two sides of the same human coin, he nails a universal truth about the nature of life and about the way we differentiate good and bad, sanity and madness." -- The Scotsman"This is Guthrie's masterpiece to date, grim and brutal in tone, cunning in design and flawless in the telling. Guthrie keeps the numerous plot turns both exciting and believable. There is a surprise twist in the middle of the novel that stuns the reader and makes the pace even faster ... SLAMMER is not only artful, it's real art." -- Bookgasm"an absolute masterpiece, really should be at the top of everyone's "must-read" list" -- Eurocrime"Guthrie's prose is a series of short, sharp shocks, reeking of the visceral brutality of the toughest contemporary noir ... those who enjoy the darker side of the genre are in for some serious thrills." -- The GuardianABOUT THE AUTHORAllan Guthrie is an award-winning Scottish crime writer. His debut novel, TWO-WAY SPLIT, was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger award and went on to win the Theakston's Crime Novel Of The Year.

    

    With an iron-fisted police chief on his tail and a ruthless mob captain at his throat, he'll need his wits, his fists, and his father's trusty Vietnam war hatchet to hack his way through a toxic jungle of New Jersey corruption that makes the gator-filled swamps of home feel like the shallow end of the kiddie pool.

    Marcus Reznick watched the love of his life blow her brains out and then dove to the bottom of a bottle of vodka. Now he's living in Riverside Mobile Home Park and trying to pull his life together...until a powerful temptation comes his way. Steve Regent is an internet pornographer who has moved to Riverside Mobile Home Park to work on a new website-Trailer Park Girls. He's looking for beautiful women...but instead, he finds something very ugly. Sherry Manning is a drug addict living in the trailer park with her boyfriend, Andy Winchell, who's a dealer. When a friend of a friend ODs in their trailer and turns out to be the son of a powerful politician, the truth about his death is covered up in the media. But Sherry and Andy know that truth...and she fears what might be done to silence them. Anna Dunfy is trying to make ends meet by doing temp jobs and stripping at night to support her mentally handicapped daughter, Kendra...an astonishingly beautiful girl with a woman's body, a child's mind, and a dangerous urge to do something naughty. It's a run-down little trailer park in northern California, but it could be anywhere in the United States. It is unassuming, unremarkable and looks like a million other trailer parks. But don't let the sleepy appearance fool you. It's a nest of dark secrets, boiling lusts and murder waiting to happen.

    The moment Frank Limosin sees gorgeous eighteen-year-old Suki Flood sitting on the rear deck of the red Trans Am in the hot empty desert, he feels trouble in the air. The Trans Am has a flat tire. They're over ten miles from the nearest highway. And Suki, dressed in short shorts and a tiny halter top, doesn't know how to change a tire. Against Suki's will, Frank gives her a lesson in tire changing, then he thinks that's it, he'll never see her again. How wrong can one man be? Because Suki turns out to be fifty times more trouble than Frank ever dreamed possible. He saved her once. Now he has to save her again and again and again . . .

    Although these stories are not all mysteries, they all are suspenseful and very enjoyable. They already show the creative mind that devised later so many complex plots as well as Stout’s gift for creating characters with a few quick strokes. The stories, which are presented here in order of publication, are: “Excess Baggage,” “The Infernal Feminine,” “A Professional Recall,” “Pamfret and Peace,” “A Companion of Fortune,” “A White Precipitate,” “The Mother of Invention,” “Méthode Américaine,” “A Tyrant Abdicates,” “The Pay-Yeoman,” “Secrets,” “Rose Orchid,” “An Agacella Or,” “The Inevitable Third,” “The Lie,” “Target Practice,” “If He Be Married,” “Baba,” “Jonathan Stannard's Secret Vice,” “Sanétomo,” “The Strong Man,” “It's Science That Counts,” “The Rope Dance,” “An Officer and a Lady,” “Heels of Fate,” and “Annuncio's Violin.”