In the tradition of "Lonesome Dove" and "Little Big Man" comes an exciting debut novel that blends Western history, humor, and rousing adventure. Rough cowboys tell how they survived their share of hard times in the winter of 1887. Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Olen Butler calls West "a writer of extraordinary originality and promise."

What are the ingredients of a hard-boiled detective story? "Savagery, style, sophistication, sleuthing and sex," said Ellery Queen. Often a desperate blond, a jealous husband, and, of course, a tough-but-tender P.I. the likes of Sam Spade or Philop Marlowe. Perhaps Raymond Chandler summed it up best in his description of Dashiell Hammett's style: "Hammett gave murder back to the kind of people that commit it....He put these people down on paper as they were, and he made them talk and think in the language they customarily used for these purposes." Hard-Boiled: An Anthology of American Crime Stories is the largest and most comprehensive collection of its kind, with over half of the stories never published before in book form. Included are thirty-six sublimely suspenseful stories that chronicle the evolutiuon of this quintessentially American art form, from its earliest beginnings during the Golden Age of the legendary pulp magazine Black Mask in the 1920s, to the arrival of the tough digest Manhunt in the 1950s, and finally leading up to present-day hard-boiled stories by such writers as James Ellroy. Here are eight decades worth of the best writing about betrayal, murder, and mayhem: from Hammett's 1925 tour de force "The Scorched Face," in which the disappearance of two sisters leads Hammett's never-named detective, the Continental Op, straight into a web of sexual blackmail amidst the West Coast elite, to Ed Gorman's 1992 "The Long Silence After," a gripping and powerful rendezvous involving a middle class insurance executive, a Chicago streetwalker, and a loaded .38. Other delectable contributions include "Brush Fire" by James M. Cain, author of The Postman Always Rings Twice, Raymond Chandler's "I'll Be Waiting," where, for once, the femme fatale is not blond but a redhead, a Ross Macdonald mystery starring Macdonald's most famous creation, the cryptic Lew Archer, and "The Screen Test of Mike Hammer" by the one and only Micky Spillane. The hard-boiled cult has more in common with the legendary lawmen of the Wild West than with the gentleman and lady sleuths of traditional drawing room mysteries, and this direct line of descent is on brilliant display in two of the most subtle and tautly written stories in the collection, Elmore Leonard's "3:10 to Yuma" and John D. MacDonald's "Nor Iron Bars." Other contributors include Evan Hunter (better known as Ed McBain), Jim Thompson, Helen Nielsen, Margaret Maron, Andrew Vachss, Faye Kellerman, and Lawrence Block. Compellingly and compulsively readable, Hard-Boiled: An Anthology of American Crime Stories is a page-turner no mystery lover will want to be without. Containing many notable rarities, it celebrates a genre that has profoundly shaped not only American literature and film, but how we see our heroes and oursleves.

"Life's Rhythms" pierces straight through the senses of the reader, with its heartfelt, wordful passion and art." -SisterÊs United Book Club

A call to the Chicago Police Department Missing Person Unit a boy name Michael James is missing. Officers suspect that the boy may have met with foul play. The case is assigned to Jacelynn Dacey and Willie J Islay our two detectives. The detectives begin their investigation; a lead brings them to a man named Pervis Jonas. They believe that the case will conclude once they bring him in. Instead of finding, Pervis Jacelynn and Willie find intrigue. Michael James' disappearance is much more than a missing person case. They uncover a massive web of crime. They will come face to face with a killer and bring him and a great evil he has wrought down. You will find everything in "Black in Blue" deception, treachery, sex, drugs, and murder. "Buckle up this is going to be a bumpy ride." (All About Eve Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz 1950).

Cory is a young tooth fairy in training who wants to be anything but that, except there's no way the Tooth Fairy Guild or her mother will let that happen. After yet another bad night on the job, Cory quits to explore other things--like babysitting an adventurous Humpty Dumpty, helping Suzy organize seashells by the seashore, and attempting to finally rid the spiders that plague Marjorie Muffet. But it isn't until Marjorie asks Cory to help set her up with a boy that Cory taps into a power s he never knew she had. As she tries to understand her new-found romantic visions, will Cory finally discover her own true path? Just as she did with her Wide-Awake Princess series, E.D. Baker spins a tale that is poised to launch her to the top of the fairy tale canon with a new series that fans of Gail Carson Levine and Diana Wynne Jones.

In this follow-up to his acclaimed "Me and Johnny Blue, " master storyteller West continues the brilliantly comedic adventures of two of the most unique characters in Western fiction. Original.

Reeling from a tragic ending to a serial murder case (Beyond Evil) in San Antonio, Texas, Frank McLaughlin, a worldly and highly skilled private investigator relocates to Dallas. He settles in by building a new life with new friends until he takes on a missing person case. The client, Johnny Blue Feather, is a wealthy avionics entrepreneur of Native-American descent (Navajo) who wants to find and reunite his missing sister, Carol, with her two children. She had dropped her children off with an aunt more than a decade ago and ran away to live among the homeless in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The case leads Frank on an odyssey along nostalgic Route 66 and deep into the Navajo Reservation where he is forced to confront Native-American culture, religion and history. His subject, Carol, is a proud survivor harboring a murderous secrete that is oddly linked to a vile skin-walker. Franks obsession to learn her secrete takes him down a deadly path filled with intrigue and suspense. A street-wise prostitute (Tina) becomes his strongest ally while she desperately tries to turn her own life around.

Everything can change – In Just One Day Flora has always adored her brother Billy. Born just eighteen months apart, their childhood was spent like two peas in a pod – no one could separate them. Now, as adults, they remain the best of friends. And as Flora is immersed in family life, Billy is always there to lend a hand. But, in just one day, everything changes. In just one day, Flora’s life falls apart. In just one day, Flora has to learn how to live again. From the nostalgia of seaside Britain to the breath-taking beauty of Venice, in tears and laughter, join Helen McGinn for this emotional, uplifting and joyful story about love in all its guises. But above all, this is an unforgettable story of one little girl and the brother she adored. Helen McGinn has written a novel to recommend to all your friends, perfect for fans of Elizabeth Noble, Cathy Kelly and JoJo Moyes. Praise for Helen McGinn: 'Escapist, warm, witty and wise' Daily Mail 'This is a lovely uplifting book that transported me away, firstly to the beautiful city of Rome and then to gorgeous Cornwall. It’s a moving and emotional story of families in all their messy wonderfulness, of people losing one another, and then coming together again - sometimes in unexpected ways. A hugely enjoyable family tale,it was exactly what I wanted to read at this time.' Louise Douglas ‘This Changes Everything is the perfect tonic. An uplifting, forget-about-everything-else read that I couldn’t put down. Romantic, emotional and page-turning, Helen McGinn’s debut novel can’t fail to cheer you up!' Zoe Folbigg 'I loved reading this book. I needed escapism - don't we all need escapism right now - and it gave me Rome, Cornwall and a family who immediately felt like old friends. I took it to the bath, to bed and had finished it within 24 hours. It was the perfect antidote to tough times.' Victoria Moore The Daily Telegraph

Moe Love has accomplished, in his second book, what is sure to become an urban classic. Tone’s compelling saga continues as he overcomes one heartbreaking betrayal after another during his quest to become Newport’s wealthiest drug lord. He was betrayed by his partners, family members, as well as his beloved mentor, but Tone was far too driven for heartbreak or betrayal to derail his intended goal of doing more than merely surviving. His ambition and desire to take care of his family were enough to propel him to the top of the food chain and produce one of the most prolific drug dealers of our time.

"This is the kaleidoscopic drama of a young boy of the slums from the moment of his birth in a charity hospital, until his tragic death. In an effort to find something besides 'hardness and hitting out, and twisted people all afraid', Tommy turns to narcotics, and thus creates his own world: one in which he is not constantly gnawed by an acute awareness of the meaninglessness of what is going on around him. He meets Alice, in whom he sees his life-long search for beauty: the rose behind the hard brick city. He knows that he has only touched this beauty for an instant, and he sees it moving farther away from him. At last, in a final escape from the squalor around him, he takes an overdose of narcotics, and ends his search."--From publisher's website.