“Sex and murder, sunny places and shady people—Miami Purity is a modern noir masterpiece.”—Michael Connelly “Miami Purity is the toughest, sexiest, most original debut noir novel ever written. . . . Gripping, super-sexy, and unforgettably raw.”—Lauren Henderson “Vicki Hendricks has been called the ‘Queen of Noir,’ and after reading Miami Purity you’ll know why.”—Timothy Lockhart, The Virginian-Pilot A modern, feminist take on James M. Cain’s The Postman Always Rings Twice. Vicki Hendricks is the Edgar Award–nominated author of Cruel Poetry (Serpent’s Tail). She lives in Florida.

The chance discovery of a 30-year-old porn film leads back to the film's maker, Tim Purdom, and the London of the late 50s and early 60s. Purdom was a pioneer of the British blue movie as well as a figure on the periphery of the Profumo sex scandal. He directed 8 films--but who was directing him, and what was their hidden agenda? And where is Tim now? London Blues is a provocative, totally original crime novel. For more than two decades, Anthony Frewin was assistant film director to Stanley Kubrick.

"I loved this book. It's a private ticket into a secret world of desire and sex and the raw edge between them . . . I read it with the fever of the addicted."--Michael Connelly "I never miss a book by Vicki Hendricks. No one on the current scene is writing super-charged, erotic, real noir novels like these."--George P. Pelecanos Renata is young, beautiful, and has sex for money and kicks. Few are immune to her intoxicating allure--even her pet Burmese python, Pepe, seems captive to her charm. Richard is one of her clients, a poetry professor with a wife and two sons, whose erotic fascination with Rennie is threatening his home and job. Meanwhile, Julie, a shy wannabe novelist, spies on Rennie from her room next door in between bouts of frustrated writing. Both would do anything to save Rennie from her dangerous occupation and become her one true love. Set in Miami's gaudy vacationland and the haunting atmosphere of the Everglades, Cruel Poetry is a gripping story of fatal attraction that captures the Florida behind the postcards. As the lives of Richard and Julie unravel amidst drugs and murder, Hendricks amps the adrenaline jolts and sweeps us to a bittersweet climax. Vicki Hendricks lives in Hollywood, Florida, where she teaches English and creative writing. A fan of dangerous sports, she has completed 550 skydives, learned to dog sled in Finland, and has been birding in the jungles of Costa Rica.

Gothic, in the sense of Southern Gothic, these eleven stories emphasize the "grotesque" and take place in various Florida environments. Some involve crime and violence, most involve sex; and animals are often central to the plot. "Stormy, Mon Amour" is about a woman who has given birth to a mermaid and seeks to reunite with her dolphin lover. "ReBecca" is the story of conjoined twins and their first sexual experience. "Boozanne, Lemme Be," from the viewpoint of a petty thief, focuses on his secret life in a couple's home when they are at work. "Must Bite " is a grizzly tale of greed, murder, and ape behavior. Eight other stories contain similarly original plots and off-kilter characters. Megan Abbott provides the Introduction and Michael Connelly the Afterword.

Addicted to thrill-seeking and adventure, Ramona feeds her obsession through scuba and body building, taking control of her life and training to the point where she is stronger than most men and desired by many. But life is worthless without challenge, and she finds the man that she cannot dominate or conquer, too much like her, and her reptilian heart feels the burn. Sex and violence spark the fast pace in this story of obsession, drugs, and murder. Published by Serpent's Tail, UK, and St. Martin's Press, US, 1999.

Provides incisive reviews of more than 300 recommended novels and short-story collections set in Florida. Numerous Florida fiction writers, past and present, are represented in the book, including such diverse talents as Edna Buchanan, Harry Crews, Connie May Fowler, and others.--Excerpted from book cover.

Everyone else in the tiny town of Enfield, Texas, calls fall football season, but for the forty-three members of the Fighting Enfield Marching Band, it’s contest season. And for new saxophonist Anna James, it’s her first chance to prove herself as the great musician she’s trying hard to be. When she’s assigned a duet with mellophone player Weston Ryan, the boy her small-minded town thinks of as nothing but trouble, she’s equal parts thrilled and intimidated. But as he helps her with the duet, and she sees the smile he seems to save just for her, she can’t help but feel like she’s helping him with something too. When her strict parents find out she’s been secretly seeing him and keep them apart, Anna and Weston learn what it truly means to fight for something they love. With the marching contest nearing and the two falling hard for one another, the unthinkable happens, and Anna is left grappling for a way forward without Weston. Ashley Schumacher’s Full Flight is about how first love shapes us—even after it’s gone.