Bücher veröffentlicht von Down & Out Books

The "black car" has appeared both conspicuously and inconspicuously throughout the annals of fiction-its presence both mysterious and menacing, its appearance enough to pause your heart. It's the sedan just within sight that seems to be mimicking your speed and movements as you walk down the dark deserted street late at night. As the hairs rise on the back of your neck you wonder, Who is behind the wheel and what is the driver's intent? It's The Black Car Business and its presence means your life is about to abruptly change. You try to assure yourself there's nothing wrong, but your pace quickens nonetheless, and soon you're running, desperate for that narrow sliver between two buildings to slip through, the one too narrow for the black car to pass through. It's that car parked just down the block that sends chills down your spine and keeps you awake throughout the night. It's the sanctuary you race toward when you're being chased, only to explode when you turn the key. It's the one that skids off the icy mountain overpass and plunges into the cavernous grotto. It's where Clemenza garrotes Carlo just as he's about to be driven to the airport. It's The Black Car Business. If The Black Car Business Volume 1 made you nervous Volume 2 will have you climbing the walls. Here are eleven fresh takes on that ominous black whip coming out of nowhere to stun and lay waste to your psyche. You may lose a few nights sleep but we promise it will be worth it. Contributors: Jonathan Ashley, Brett Battles, Kathy Bennett, Austin Camacho, Tim Ellis, Ty Hutchinson, Rick Murcer, Richie Narvaez, Gary Ponzo, Jeff Soloway, and Frank Zafiro.

Gentrification is moving in hard and fast in Montreal's South-Western districts. D'Arcy Kennedy finds himself out of breath, out of a job and raising a kid in a small home meant for another era. As the bulldozers take away entire chapters of his life, he turns to old acquaintances for work, leaning in on his hard-earned reputation as a good PI to find employment with the Irish mafia. But even organized crime is struggling to keep up with the changing landscape of the City. Weed is going legal, trust funds are pushing realtors and people who would have not dared cross the Irish not so long ago now defy them carelessly. Navigating his past and staking his future on this new life, D'Arcy Kennedy will have to thread a razor thin line between the law, loyalty and his own family if he wants a place for him and his own at the end of it all. Praise for DOWN WITH THE UNDERDOGS: "A working class family man strikes a deal with the devil in Ian Truman's fast-paced, volatile Down with the Underdogs. The result is class warfare on the streets of Montreal. Truman offers an unflinching portrait of a city caught in the throes of gentrification, and one person's struggle to fight back. An excellent read." -Sam Wiebe, author of the Wakeland novels. "Truman captures life on the edges-of culture, of language, of the legal and illegal, of the sane and the mad. And he tells a great story in the process." -Warren Moore, author of Broken Glass Waltzes

Life has never been easy. Life has never been kind. It is always hungry. It is never full. Enter the struggles within the pages of The Big Machine Eats. Where fathers clash with sons, cannibals turn on cannibals, and sometimes sandwich meat is far from the worst choice a person can make. These stories, along with the continuing adventures of Bishop Rider, make up the bulk of this collection. They are not for the faint of heart. They are not for those who fail to believe one should get what one deserves. We must help ourselves. We must help those who find themselves unable. If not, it's as the sign says: The Big Machine Will Eat. Praise for THE BIG MACHINE EATS: "Beau Johnson has put together a collection of stories so compelling that you will want to set aside a few hours each time you come to it. One just isn't enough, and the next thing you know you'll be grumpy at work because you stayed up way past your bedtime." -Paul Heatley, author of Fatboy "Beau Johnson takes you to dark places and shines a light on the ugly things that happen there. His perfectly created, bigger-than-life Bishop Rider is a modern-day anti-hero and Johnson writes the surrounding stories with savage suspense. The Big Machine Eats is the perfect follow-up to his debut A Better Kind of Hate." -Marietta Miles, author of Route 12 and May "These deliciously dark stories will stay with you long after you've read them. Johnson is a natural storyteller-insightful, empathic, and, above all, brutally honest. He takes readers places they really don't want to go, drawing them into a grubby underworld of bad guys doing very bad things to very bad people. Retribution is a common theme, and Johnson never shirks from the grisly details as his characters come up with even more inventive ways to settle old scores. Revenge, here, isn't just served cold-it's delivered on ice, and then some. The Big Machine Eats is a gripping collection from a writer at the top of his game." -Gary Duncan, author of You're Not Supposed To Cry "An extremely entertaining and clever collection of stories from one of the biggest names in the game. He invites readers along for a wild ride through the seediest neighborhoods of his twisted mind in this fantastic follow up to A Better Kind of Hate. Let him help you see the demons that walk among us and shine some light through the darkness. Clearly the best collection you will read this year." -Kevin Berg, author of Daddy Monster and Indifference "Beau Johnson has a way of luring you in with his sharp wit, discerning eye, and conversational voice. You'd follow him anywhere, even after you careen off a cliff and plunge into the darkest depths of the human psyche-and sometimes not so human. A helluva brutal collection from a ferociously twisted mind." -Sarah M. Chen, author of Cleaning Up Finn "Beau is back, once again proving he is the alchemist of conflict as he continues to peel back the fingernails of human frailty and forces us to stare into the darkness found there." -Tom Pitts, author of American Static and 101 "Beau Johnson excels at the base, those twisted places we don't want to go. Whether that is sexually motivated, or fueled by revenge or something more sinister (if not all three at once), Johnson puts his subjects beneath the microscope. What we get is, yes, the truth, but more than that: we get an extreme close-up of the horrifically beautiful." -Joe Clifford, author of The

The Origins Game Fair is proud and pleased to present Mystery! , our 2018 fiction anthology. The collection features stories by authors in the convention's Library program. This collection brings together fifteen tales of mystery set across genres, in a legion of times and places. Each author has provided a story which will give you an excellent opportunity to sample their skill and imagination.

The '80s hair-metal band Savage Night is living the rock star fantasy. They trash hotel rooms, run through groupies, and flaunt their goods in music videos with bloated budgets. All that changes while on tour in Japan, when the band learns they owe more money than they have. They discuss their options: add a keyboardist, release a live album, and tour for six straight years in hopes of breaking even. The Drummer chooses a different path. He shaves his head, takes the next flight back, torches the mansion that his stripper ex-girlfriend designed, and fakes his own death. Fifteen years after their collapse, the Singer of Savage Night has tracked down the Drummer in hopes of convincing him to come out of hiding for a reunion tour and second shot at glory. The chase is on, as the press, the Feds, and former bandmates hunt the Drummer down the streets of New Orleans. A novel soaked in sex, drugs, and tequila, The Drummer is a still cocktail of crotch-grabbing hair-metal and New Orleans noir. Praise for THE DRUMMER: "A fun read about drugs, rock and roll, brawls, and banging (drums, groupies, and otherwise)." -Publishers Weekly "If you had any connection with-or nostalgia for-the '80s heavy-metal rock scene, Anthony Neil Smith's The Drummer should be right up your dark alley. Smith writes with force and clarity." -Dick Adler, Chicago Tribune

Who hasn't dreamed it? Lost in today's siren-scream world, coming apart at the seams, the chance to ditch the pressure and find...yourself. For the fragmenting Metcalfs-long-adrift Ben, world-class sailor Kate, coming-of-age Shay-a friend's sailboat, warm breezes, and tropical waters is a dream come true. Until the nightmare finds them... The reviews are in: Award-winning author Richard Barre rocks. Praise for Echo Bay: "A new Richard Barre novel is reason to break out the champagne. He is... one of the true blue masters of crime fiction." -Dennis Lehane, bestselling author "In addition to building suspense and evoking a setting with both warmth and terror, Echo Bay displays Barre's writing talents. His voice is unique, his words and images powerful, his thoughts on the human condition heartbreaking. Echo Bay is a stunning novel of betrayal and redemption." -Les Roberts, Cleveland Plain Dealer Praise for Burning Moon: "The sheer beauty and strength of Barre's writing gives a glow of redemption that is extremely rare in any kind of fiction." -Dick Adler, Chicago Tribune Praise for Christmas Stories In the Tradition of Rod Serling: The Complete Collection: "There is a spooky polish rubbed over all of this, onto every surface until it shines. Barre knows what he is doing and this story shows it. Edgar [Allen Poe] would be proud because it ripples with the muscle of less being more." -Michael Connelly, bestselling author "Richard Barre touches the soul. He is simply one of the best." -Harlan Coben, bestselling author

Hopper Garland is good at finding lost girls. When his last target tries to taker her life upon being discovered, he begins to rethink his career as a private eye. However, a persuasive offer from a sexy woman has him back on the case, chasing a missing sixteen-year-old pregnant girl from the swampy ruins of post-Katrina New Orleans to the neon grime of Las Vegas. Along the way he'll have to contend with a rogue's gallery of henchmen, pornographers, and his own incestuous sister. After he makes a deal with a sociopathic murderer who believes he's found the secret to eternal life, Hopper will relearn that old saw: some things are better off left alone. Praise for XXX SHAMUS: "XXX Shamus is the most transgressive PI novel ever written. It's also one of the best." -Allan Guthrie, author of Two-Way Split "Okay, you tough readers. You like it so raw? Time to put up or shut up. Stick your face into the pages of XXX Shamus. Turn away before the last page and I'll kick your fucking teeth out. Take it. Take it all." -Victor Gischler, author and Marvel Comics writer "Danger. Keep your head and hands inside this ride at all times. Then wash them afterwards. Wish I woulda wrote it." -David James Keaton, author of Pig Iron "Five stars with the proviso that this is an extreme book, and definitely not for those readers of delicate sensibility." -Pearce Hansen, author of Street Raised

Being a bad guy isn't just a way of life. It's an art. Eddie Ballard is a hitman who loves his job. He is also inexperienced and enjoys making the kind of noise that just isn't professional. If Eddie wasn't so good at what he does, he could be the next one put onto a slab. Cecil Marzynski is a quiet, skinny man with eyes that have seen all there is to see in the St. Louis underworld. Cecil is also a hitman, but one that uses a vast network of contacts as his primary weapon. So many important people on both sides of the law owe him favors that some have taken to calling him Marker. Eddie enjoys fast cars, loud guns and louder music. Cecil has been circling the same woman for months, trying to find the perfect angle to approach her without tipping her off that he is wanted for murder in several states. Eddie thinks he knows how to be a tough guy. Cecil has forced some of the toughest criminals to give up everything they held dear. The figure at the top of St. Louis's biggest organized crime syndicate is known as Pyotr The Greek. Pyotr is the only man with enough power to convince Cecil to take Eddie under his wing and teach him about what it means to be a true professional. Along the way, perhaps Eddie can show Marker a thing or two about savoring the good things in a bad life. Unfortunately for both of them, there is a new threat coming to town that might hit The Greek hard enough to topple his entire family.

Jon Catlett and Paul Frank have turned their once-failing used bookstore into one of the most thriving businesses in the Highlands. But they paid in blood for their success, for Twice Told Books is not just another dusty thrift shop, but a front for the largest heroin distribution network ever based in Louisville. The two eccentric intellectuals-turned-gun thugs enlist the help of an unscrupulous narcotics cop nicknamed Mad Dog and a former marine importing dope through Fort Knox from Afghanistan purer than anything the city has ever seen. In between trading muzzle flashes with a corrupt and psychotic DEA agent and thwarting two crusading homicide detectives, Catlett and Frank plan to corner the market...or at least everything South of Cincinnati. Praise for SOUTH OF CINCINNATI: "If you only read one book this year, make it South of Cincinnati. Hits all the right notes in a narrative to have you renew your faith in the sheer joy of a great book." -Ken Bruen, bestselling author of the Jack Taylor series "Scumbag addicts, dirty cops, savage brutality, and the price of a broken heart. My kind of people. My kind of book. In his latest Jon Catlett novel, author Jonathan Ashley tackles the toughest question facing a junkie: what's harder to kick-the dope or the girl? South of Cincinnati is a thrilling head-first dive into the dirty drug underworld as we watch a hero trying not to drown in pursuit of his humanity." -Joe Clifford, author of Junkie Love and the Jay Porter thriller series "Jonathan Ashley is elbowing his way to the front of the crowd of crime writers with his crisp dialogue, edgy characters and relentlessly gritty action. South of Cincinnati is a razor-sharp slice through the mire of the Midwestern drug underworld, allowing us to peek from a safe distance." -Joe Ricker is the author of Walkin' After Midnight

Dark, gritty, disturbing. Those are the types of characters you'll encounter in the award winning stories within this collection. Tough people in a tough world. But also real people, struggling with difficult decisions when faced with unthinkable circumstances. What happens when you discover a dead body but can't go to the police because of your own dark past? Or your father's dark past? What might a woman resort to when her husband doesn't hold up his end of a bargain? What frightening surprises lie buried beneath the beaches of North Carolina? Or in the desolate hills of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains? Or in the swamps of the New Jersey Pine Barrens? These are stories that are as dark, gritty, and disturbing as the characters who inhabit them, yet there is a pervasive humanness which forces us to empathize. That asks us to understand why people sometimes do what they do. Perhaps that's the reason these stories have been chosen for the Best American Mystery series, honored by The Atlantic Monthly's Student Writing Contest, not to mention various other awards and honors. Perhaps that's why these stories will stick with you well after the reading has commenced. Always gnawing at you, unrelenting, asking, "What would you have done in that situation? Would you have behaved any differently?" Praise for SHOOTING CREEK AND OTHER STORIES: "This excellent collection transcends any genre label. Ultimately, these stories are mysteries of the human heart's darkest regions. Scott Sanders is the real deal and deserves a wide and appreciative readership." -Ron Rash, The New York Times bestselling author and winner of the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award. "Each story is a gem in this dark, atmospheric, treasure box of a collection. Scott Loring Sanders digs deep and peers unflinching into the frail, twisted human heart, revealing its many facets and glittering truths. A stellar collection!" -Lisa Unger, The New York Times bestselling author of The Red Hunter. "In Shooting Creek and Other Stories, you'll find ne'er-do-well husbands, drunken fathers, tough-as-nails women and mothers, and murderously unfaithful wives in a rogue's gallery of dangerous characters in bad situations. These are stories that will keep you up late reading and thinking, stories that mute the concerns of the everyday world while turning up the volume on thrills and excitement. This is a collection that will fire the imagination while raising moral and ethical issues, which is the true heart of Scott Sanders's fiction. If you're looking for something good to read, this is the book you want." -Ed Falco, author of The New York Times bestselling The Family Corleone. "Scott Loring Sanders's stories are always rich in atmosphere, and his characters are often presented with difficult moral dilemmas. He's an author who prefers a degree of ambiguity to an easy resolution, and that makes his work thought-provoking, as well as unpredictable. Readers in search of well-written, complex suspense tales won't go wrong with a Sanders collection!" -Janet Hutchings, Editor-in-Chief, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

The hit-and-run driver took everything-his wife, child and legs. Now a paraplegic, Dean Drayhart unleashes payback on suspected hit-and-runners in Los Angeles with helper-monkey Sid as his deadly assistant. Dean's gentle, doting nurse knows nothing about what he's up to and when Sid tears out the throat of a Mexican Mafia member, Marcie is kidnapped in order to force Dean's surrender. Armed with nothing but his wits, Sid, and a sympathetic streetwalker named Cinda, Dean manipulates drug-cartel carnales and the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department in a David-against-Goliath plot that twists and turns to a heart-pounding finale. HARD BITE is ideal reading for fans of Carl Hiaasen and Tim Dorsey. Praise for HARD BITE "...outlandish in every way-a crazed noir excursion into an unprecedented heart of darkness. Violent and sometimes funny, always entertaining." - T. Jefferson Parker, three-time Edgar Award winner "The best, most fiercely original crime novel I've read in a long time" -Ray Garton, World Horror Grand Master Award recipient "A carnival of nightmarish fun, HARD BITE had me gasping from one outlandishly terrifying act to the next, each scene involving The Grim Reaper in a wheelchair; a sharp-fanged, treacherous monkey; a SWAT-team posse of drugged Mexican killers; and/or more tough-but-lovable women with guns than a Mickey Spillane novel." -Jack Getze, Fiction Editor, Spinetingler Magazine "By the end, your heart aches a little for the narrator. That's the true goal of fiction, or it ought to be-to shift you on your foundations in the reading, leaving you off in a slightly different place from where you started." - Sophie Littlefield, A Bad Day For Sorry, A Bad Day For Pretty "The ride is electric...quality that other writers should aspire to achieve." -Joseph Patchen for Lurid Lit "Nasty, but a beating heart underneath ...very clever; lovely writing." -Patti Abbott, Derringer Award winner "Anonymous-9 is one of my favorite crime writers." -Nick Mamatas, Bram Stoker and International Horror Guild awards nominee

Two young hustlers, caught in an endless cycle of addiction and prostitution, decide to blackmail an elderly client of theirs. Donny and Big Rich want to film Gabriel Thaxton with their cell phones during a sexual act and put the video up on YouTube. Little do they know, the man they've chosen, a high-profile San Francisco defense attorney, is already being blackmailed by someone more sinister: an ex-client of the lawyer's. A murderous speed freak named Dustin has already permeated the attorney's life and Dustin has plans for the old man. The lawyer calls upon an old biker for help and they begin a violent race to suppress his deadly secret. ***Praise for HUSTLE*** "Tom Pitts' HUSTLE is the kind of in-your-face street level noir that American crime fiction hasn't seen in a long, long time. Frankly, not many writers have either the balls or the talent to pull it off. Pitts has both in spades. Bold, honest and daring." -Todd Robinson, The Hard Bounce "Tom Pitts is part of a rare and dying breed, a self-taught, instinctual writer whose tight, pitch-perfect prose was honed the old-fashioned way by reading and walking the seedy alleys of life. HUSTLE is quick-paced and dark, at once sad and funny as hell, with a Jim Thompson-esque cast of characters and echoes of Bukowski in its poetic sensitivity. Pitts' own experiences on the streets of San Francisco make HUSTLE a novel unlike any you've read before. I love this book." -Ro Cuzon, Under the Dixie Moon "What makes HUSTLE such a remarkable book-and Tom Pitts such a formidable writer-is the juxtaposition of literary tradition versus street ethos. HUSTLE pushes boundaries and challenges the peripheral but not at the expense of story, which zips along the dirty streets of San Francisco to tell a terrifying tale, the likes of which, I promise you, you've never heard before. This is in-the-trenches, first-hand, in-your-face reportage, from a who knows what it takes to survive those streets. Unflinching and without apology." -Joe Clifford, Junkie Love and Lamentation "HUSTLE is a smart and deceitful novel that can't wait for you to judge it. It presents itself with a raw, unadorned prose, but it's way more than meets the eye. Tom Pitts is a wicked storyteller. He barely arrived in the publishing game, but expect him to become one of these cult authors with a rabid fanbase." -Benoit Lelievre, DeadEndFollies.com "HUSTLE in an insane mind-fuck." -Liam Sweeny, Welcome Back Jack

In addition to writing seven Evan Horne mysteries and two stand-alone international thrillers, Bill Moody has written eight short stories, which appeared over the years in various anthologies, along with a brand new story. For the first time, Mood Swings collects all nine stories of murder and music."Moody is a fluent writer with a good ear for dialogue, a deft and ingratiating descriptive touch, a talent for characterization and a genuine feel for the jazz world."-New York Times"You don't have to be a huge jazz fan to enjoy the latest of Bill Moody's colorful, cross-genre riffs about piano man and sleuth Evan Horne."-Chicago Tribune"...you're in for a suspenseful read that will rivet you to your seat..."-Gayle Lynds, New York Times best selling author

Struggling actress Jane Innes is seduced by a handsome new arrival in her acting class. He makes a proposition. He admits he's a con man and needs Jane to pose as a rich, carefree heiress to fulfill her part in his intricate scam. Would you agree? Or run the other way? All goes as planned until Jane's true identity threatens to surface and their scheme begins to crack at the seams. It all leads to a tangled maze of deception, depravity and murder. THE SHILL is part one of a trilogy from Shamus Award winning author, John Shepphird.

BAD HABITS is an anthology of Keith Gilman's short stories. "The best fiction has this feeling that someone's just leaned close to whisper in our ear, 'I've something important to tell you.' Keith Gilman's debut novel has and sustains that quality from the first page. You know right away that you're in the hands of a natural and very fine storyteller. Authenticity, voice, the sense of lives beyond the page, all those things we crave as readers and for which we work so hard as writers, tossing the bones, hoping the magic will work--all are solidly, soundly in place." -James Sallis, author of Drive "Dark, gritty, and hauntingly lyrical, Keith Gilman writes Noir with the authenticity of a cop who has actually worked the mean streets." -Robin Burcell, author of Face of a Killer "...Grabbed me by the collar and wouldn't let go. Gilman's voice is a powerful new addition to the crime fiction community." -Reed Farrel Coleman, Shamus, Barry and Anthony Award-winning author of the Moe Prager series

The Coronavirus prediction?Matt Chance, an ex US Army Ranger living in Bangkok, finds himself drafted into the middle of a deadly plot involving right wing Japanese fanatics intent on punishing China for grievances going back to the end of WW II and the loss of Japan's prominent position as a global power.A leading American research scientist, investigating a mysterious viral outbreak in China, is found dead in unusual circumstances in the Northern jungles of Thailand. Matt is recruited by the U.S. Center for Disease Control, fronting for the CIA, to look into the death. The trail points to the involvement of a Japanese yakuza gang who immediately threaten Matt. Though Matt's initial suspicion is that the gang is involved in smuggling drugs, it becomes apparent that the substance they are dealing with is much more deadly. He continues to investigate and what he unravels is not only a threat to China but to the world.

From the Low Riders that nightly cruise the Sunset Strip, to the infamous Dead Man's Curve immortalized in song, Southern Californian's fascination with their cars has long been the fodder of legend and has defined a culture known for its fast-paced and sometimes reckless lifestyle. Now, sixteen tantalizing stories from L.A. authors takes us on a Joyride through the darker streets of Los Angeles. At the signpost, just ahead, your... LAST EXIT TO MURDER. Original stories by: Avril Adams, Lynn Allyson, Julie G. Beers, Laura Brennan, Stephen Buehler, Bonnie J. Cardone, Sally Carpenter, L.H. Dillman, Beverly Graf, Andrew Jetarski, Miko Johnston, Nena Jover Kelty, Paul D. Marks, Donna May, Laurie Stevens, Eric Stone

Lenny Archer had more than a fair share of tough times and hard knocks, but he had finally decided to stay in the game rather than cash in his chips. Then, two late-night intruders at the Private Investigation office of Archer and Pigeon violently take the choice of life over death out of Lenny's hands. Jimmy Pigeon is determined to discover who killed his friend and partner. He may have to learn what became of the actor who portrayed Charlie Chan in the thirties, and who assassinated a charismatic mobster in the late-forties, before he can identify Archer's killers. LAPD Lieutenant Ray Boyle is not anxious to get tied up in the Chinese fire drill that is the Archer murder case, but he is far less inclined to get anywhere near the question of where a former Heisman Trophy winning football player was on an infamous night in June 1994. Pigeon and Boyle become reluctant allies, sharing little in common besides a mutual hope that Major League Baseball can thwart a players' strike and the bad guys learn crime doesn't pay.