After being kicked out of a Catholic orphanage when it is discovered that he is of Jewish descent, a confused and deeply distraught Frankie turns to a life of crime, the only life he knows, and he’s good at it. Frankie quickly makes a name for himself and becomes one of New York’s most dangerous men, ruling the city with an iron fist and indulging in his passion for sex, power and the best things life has to offer—regardless of whether they’re for sale.In Stiletto, Cesare Cardinale is an amoral, aristocratic Italian playboy—an entrepreneur and race car driver who wants for nothing—whether it’s fast cars, beautiful women, or orgies of debauchery. Cesare, however, has two dirty secrets: First, he has a penchant for violence that borders on the sadistic and sociopathic; second, he owes his extravagant life to a Sicilian Mafia don, creating a seemingly perfect relationship—as he leads a double life as a Mafia assassin.“Robbins’s books are packed with action, sustained by strong narrative drive, and are given vitality by his own colorful life.” —The Wall Street JournalThe Harold Robbins Organized Crime Double includes: Never Love A Stranger and Stiletto.

    Three page-turning action thrillers from Stephen Leather: THE CHINAMAN, THE DOUBLE TAP and THE LONG SHOT.

    As well as journalism, Wallace wrote screen plays, poetry, historical non-fiction, 18 stage plays, 957 short stories and over 170 novels, 12 in 1929 alone. More than 160 films have been made of Wallace's work.Table of Contents: The Secret of the Moat Farm (1924) The Murder on Yarmouth Sands (1924)The Great Bank of England Frauds (1924)The Trial of the Seddons (1924)Herbert Armstrong - Poisoner (1924)The Suburban Lothario (1928)Excerpt:"There is no more dangerous criminal than a small larcenist who has escaped the consequence of his offences, through, as he believes, his own dexterity and skill. Having this good opinion of himself, he progresses from crime to crime, until there comes a moment when he finds no other escape from the consequences of his meanness and folly than the destruction of a human life which, as he believes, stands between himself and freedom. And so confident is he in his own genius for evasion that he will plan the most diabolical of crimes, perfectly satisfied in his mind that the success which has attended the commission of minor offences will not desert his efforts to evade the penalty of his supreme villainy."

    But when he fled the country to escape prosecution and entrusted her with his hard-won empire, Gino realized that Lucky Santangelo is no different than him—Lucky is a woman who could seize the reins of power with all the cunning, drive, and strength of a true Santangelo. Poised, sensuous, hungry for pleasure, Lucky is in love with power—and determined to fight for it. From New York penthouses and the villas of Southern France to the casinos of Las Vegas and the bedrooms of Beverly Hills, here's the unforgettable story of a woman on top of a world of love, sex, and wealth—where power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.

     An innocent outing lands FBI Special Agent Katie Freeman and her partner, Michael Powell, on the trail of a kidnapper whose greatest pleasure is torturing women. When a college freshman is reported missing, everyone assumes she ran away. But when her body turns up in a cornfield not far from where she went missing, a different story begins to emerge. Kidnapped, tortured, and left for dead, she clings to life, and now it’s up to Katie and Michael to uncover who did this to her. When a second woman goes missing, the two agents begin a search that has a very different ending. Finding the man responsible will take a combination of new investigative methods and Katie’s unfailing ability to piece together a puzzle - one that is as twisted as the corn maze that has become this perpetrator's hunting grounds.

    

    After a spell in the FBI he now runs his own business. Then Myron is approached to find Greg Downing. He knows Greg from old - they were once rivals, not just in sport, but for a woman they both loved. Now Greg has vanished, and the team boss wants Myron to find him, before news of his disappearance is leaked to the press. In Greg's house Myron finds blood in the basement - lots of it. And when he discovers the body of a woman, he begins to unravel the strange, violent world of a national hero gone wrong, as he comes face-to-face with a past he can't re-live, and a present he may not survive.Back SpinThe boy was born and raised on the Main Line. But he vanished on Philadelphia's mean streets - last seen in a down-town cheater's hotel. For sports agent Myron Bolitar, his client, superstar Linda Coldren, comes first, and that means unravelling the mystery of her son's kidnapping. But when Myron goes after the missing boy, he crashes through a crowd of low-lifes, blue bloods and liars on both sides of the social divide. And when family skeletons start coming out of the closet, Myron is about to find out how deadly life can get...

    Strangely pro-active, and keen to form friendships with the underlings and residents, he begins to uncover skeletons in the closet. At the same time, he's indulging his drink-ravaged landlady's desire for company. His intentions are good - too good to be true?Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was previously published in the collection In Between the Sheets.

    

    A misunderstood act of chivalry places Scott at the mercy of a town hiding a sinister secret.As they say, no good deed goes unpunished, and for Scott, that punishment could be his life. Sit back and enjoy this stay-up-all-night serial killer psychological thriller.Author Commentary‘Brother’s Keeper’ is my first psychological thriller, and it was simultaneously fun and challenging to write. It tells the story of Scott Sharp, a traveler whose train makes a stop at the tiny town of Burdensville. There he begins to unravel the goings-on, which pulls him into the dark secrets the town holds, and the secrets won’t let him go.Writing this story was fun for a variety of reasons. It was off the beaten path compared to most books I write. The monster in this book is not a vampire, witch, or zombie; instead, the monster is an unknown man.Scott walks into Burdensville without the slightest idea of what has been happening to this town. The whole place is off, and he can’t seem to put his finger on what is happening around him. I wanted people to really be in Burdensville while they read this. I also wanted readers to get a very specific feel for the town, Mayberry, without a shower. I did my best to convey the gloom of the constant shadows that seem to hang over the place, even when the sun was shining. That’s more or less what happens in small-town life and, evil or not, Burdensville is no different.

    

    

    Why would a man, married to an attractive young woman, want to sexually assault and murder innocent little girls?In the late 1960s, Cannock Chase in Staffordshire became the centre of the biggest murder hunt in Britain.The bodies of five year old Diane Tift, six year old Margaret Reynolds, and seven year old Christine Darby were found dumped there.The killer thought he was cleverer than the police and slipped through the net four times.He would have continued with the killings but he made a big mistake.Find out what happened and how the police eventually caught up with him.

     Garrett Walker is a warrior. For the last decade and a half he’s been continuously at war –combat rotation after combat rotation. He’s a veteran of the close fight. And he’s taken a great many lives. Yet, all that combat and all those deaths were in the service of his country. Now, that’s about to change. Since their college days, Garrett and his identical twin have been estranged. They were both in love with the same woman, and she chose Garrett’s brother. So Garrett chose the Navy SEALs. Then, following the death of their younger brother, also a Navy SEAL, yet another tragedy strikes the Walker family. The twin is caught in the web of a Russian Mafia organ-theft ring. He was just another business man in Las Vegas on just another business trip. Then drugged and alone, strange men enter his hotel room and crudely remove his kidneys. It’s a rare crime, but one that happens more than is reported. For those in the black-market organ trade, easy pickings right? But they didn’t count on the resiliency of the one twin, nor the rage of the warrior twin. Together, they embark on a mission. Together, they put all the rules to aside bring about the ultimate Act of Revenge. About the Author Dick Couch. Navy SEAL, Combat Veteran, CIA Case Officer, New York Times Best Selling Author–with eighteen books to his credit. During the Global War on Terror, Dick Couch alone has been allowed to embed with the component commands of the US Special Operations Command. Dick Couch alone has tracked the SEALs, Green Berets, Rangers, and Marine Special Operators as they trained for war–and written extensively about this training. Now after eight books of special-operations nonfiction, Act of Revenge marks his return to fiction.

    This study guide includes a detailed Plot Summary, Chapter Summaries & Analysis, Character Descritions, Objects/Places, Themes, Styles, Quotes, and Topics for Discussion on The Girl Who Kicked the Horne's Nest by Stieg Larsson.