The Warlord of Willow Ridge

The Warlord of Willow Ridge
Author: Gary Phillips
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
Total Pages: 318
Release: 2011-10-24
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0758278705

In A World Of Bikers, Meth, And Overdue Mortgages. . . All the miles. All the blood. All has led him here. Looking for a place to hole up, O'Conner--with nothing to his name but a failing motorcycle, a gun, and uncollected debts--lies low in the last place he thought he'd end up: the suburbs. But Willow Ridge, once an exclusive gated community, is now tarnished and crumbling. Ordinary citizens cling to their worthless homes while society's outcasts--and O'Conner is no exception--creep in to fill the gaps. One Man's Got Nothing Left To Lose. . . O'Conner's style has always been more shoot-and-run, but this time he stays, getting involved with the Ridge's residents--discovering criminal behavior can happen anywhere. Homeowners dangle at the ends of their financial rope, gangs clash over Willow Ridge territory, housewives set their sights on him, and O'Conner is thrust into an inescapable tangle of passion, betrayal, and violence. When all-out war breaks out between the Mas Trece and Vandal Vikings gangs, fueled by treachery shockingly close to home, O'Conner is forced to make life-or-death decisions about his newfound neighbors. The American Dream is in flames. . .and he wonders if he'll still be standing when the smoke clears. "Gary Phillips is my kind of crime writer." --Sara Paretsky, New York Times bestselling author Praise For Gary Phillips "Honesty, distinctive characters, absurdity and good writing--are here in Phillips's work." --The Washington Post "Gary Phillips writes tough and gritty parables about life and death on the mean streets. . ." --Michael Connelly

Willow Creek

Willow Creek
Author: Katharine Yirsa Reynolds
Publisher:
Total Pages: 340
Release: 1924
Genre:
ISBN:

A Willow Creek Christmas

A Willow Creek Christmas
Author: Lily Graison
Publisher: Lily Graison
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2013-11-18
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

Running from a life she no longer wanted… Widowed with two young children, Keri Hilam is desperate to escape her abusive brother in law, going so far as sneaking away in the dead of night in hopes of finding a better life. She never regrets leaving, not even when they find themselves stranded, starving, and alone. Fate brings them to Willow Creek, Montana, where they're rescued by an unlikely hero, an ex-confederate soldier who seems more monster than man. Hiding from a past he can't seem to forget… The war leaves Noah Lloyd scarred and bitter. When the girl he left behind broke his heart, he turned his back on the life he used to know, and sought refuge in a dusty little town that afforded him the solitude he wanted. Finding a woman and her kids hunkered down in an abandoned line shack in the middle of a blizzard is the last thing he needs. They're ragged, half starved and vulnerable, but he's determined to leave the trio in the care of the town marshal. Can a future together erase all the pain… But the innocence of a child at Christmas breaks through Noah's hard exterior and Keri's tender care allows him to see that life may be worth living. All he has to do is let go of his past and let this unlikely family love him.

The Highway Kind: Tales of Fast Cars, Desperate Drivers, and Dark Roads

The Highway Kind: Tales of Fast Cars, Desperate Drivers, and Dark Roads
Author: Patrick Millikin
Publisher: Mulholland Books
Total Pages: 283
Release: 2016-10-18
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0316394858

Thrilling crime stories about cars, driving, and the road from the world's bestselling and critically acclaimed writers. Like fiction, cars take us into a different world: from the tony enclaves of upper crust society to the lowliest barrio; from muscle car-driving con men to hardscrabble kids on the road during the Great Depression; from a psychotic traveling salesman to a Mexican drug lord who drives a tricked-out VW Bus. We all share the roads, and our cars link us together. Including entirely new stories from Michael Connelly, C.J. Box, George Pelecanos, Diana Gabaldon, James Sallis, Ace Atkins, Luis Alberto Urrea, Sara Gran, Ben H. Winters, and Joe Lansdale, The Highway Kind is a street-level look at modern America, as seen through one of its national obsessions.

In Pursuit of Spenser

In Pursuit of Spenser
Author: Otto Penzler
Publisher: BenBella Books, Inc.
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2012-04-24
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1936661195

When Robert B. Parker passed in early 2010, the world lost two great men: Parker himself, iconic American crime writer whose books have sold more than 6 million copies worldwide, and his best-known creation, Spenser. Parker's Spenser series not only influenced the work of countless of today's writers, but is also credited with reviving and forever changing the genre. In Pursuit of Spenser offers a look at Parker and to Spenser through the eyes of the writers he influenced. Editor Otto Penzler-- proprietor of one of the oldest and largest mystery specialist bookstores in the country, New York's The Mysterious Bookshop, and renowned mystery fiction editor whose credits include series editor for the Best American Crime Writing and Best American Mystery Stories, among many others (and about whom Parker himself once wrote, "Otto Penzler knows more about crime fiction than most people know about anything")-- collects some of today's bestselling mystery authors to discuss Parker, his characters, the series, and their impact on the world. From Hawk to Susan Silverman to Jesse Stone and Sunny Randall, from the series' Boston milieu to Parker's own take on his character, In Pursuit of Spenser pays tribute to Spenser, and Parker, with affection, humor, and a deep appreciation for what both have left behind.

3 the Hard Way

3 the Hard Way
Author: Gary Phillips
Publisher: Down & Out Books
Total Pages: 219
Release:
Genre:
ISBN:

Malcolm Cavanaugh Bleekston, MC Bleak, McBleak, enjoys hobnobbing with the one percenters and stealing from them. In The Extractors, he puts his life on the line to take a greedy man’s gain while wondering if his girlfriend sees through his façade. Ned “Noc” Brenner is a drifter with an unusual skill set — he’s an extreme athlete good at whatever he does be it MMA fighting to riding a motorcycle off a mountaintop. After winning in an all-night poker game, this sets in motion a series of events in The Anti-Gravity Steal where Noc must use all his abilities to prevent wholesale destruction. Part Shaft and part Batman sans the cowl, Luke Warfield, a philanthropist with a black ops background, the Essex Man, goes on the trail in 10 Seconds to Death of the villain who killed his foster father and uncovers not only ghosts from his past, but must stop a deadly plan of mass slaughter in his own backyard. Includes a bonus Essex Man short story, “Murder by Remote Control.” Praise for 3 THE HARD WAY … 10 Seconds to Death: ” … it’s filled with more sex and violence than novels tenfold the length. Author Gary Phillips knows how to pile on the action. This is definitely a homage to the spin rack novels of the 1970s.” — Timothy Mayer, Z7’s Headquarters The Anti-Gravity Steal: “Mr. Phillips has taken the men’s action adventure pulp genre of the thirties adding 21st century sensibilities and amping the energy level to 11. Doc Savage is the template for Ned “Noc” Brenner.” — Amazon customer review

One-Shot Harry

One-Shot Harry
Author: Gary Phillips
Publisher: Soho Press
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2022-04-12
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1641292911

Race and civil rights in 1963 Los Angeles provide a powerful backdrop in Gary Phillips’s riveting mystery about an African American crime scene photographer seeking justice for a friend—perfect for fans of Walter Mosley, James Ellroy, and George Pelecanos. LOS ANGELES, 1963: Korean War veteran Harry Ingram earns a living as a news photographer and occasional process server: chasing police radio calls and dodging baseball bats. With racial tensions running high on the eve of Martin Luther King’s Freedom Rally, Ingram risks becoming a victim at every crime scene he photographs. When Ingram hears about a deadly automobile accident on his police scanner, he recognizes the vehicle described as belonging to his good friend and old army buddy, a white jazz trumpeter. The LAPD declares the car crash an accident, but when Ingram develops his photos, he sees signs of foul play. Ingram feels compelled to play detective, even if it means putting his own life on the line. Armed with his wits, his camera, and occasionally his Colt .45, “One-Shot” Harry plunges headfirst into the seamy underbelly of LA society, tangling with racists, leftists, gangsters, zealots, and lovers as he attempts to solve the mystery. Master storyteller and crime fiction legend Gary Phillips has filled the pages of One-Shot Harry with fascinating historical cameos, wise-cracks, tenderness, and an edge-of-your-seat thrill ride of a plot with consequences far beyond one dead body.

Get Up Offa That Thing

Get Up Offa That Thing
Author: Gary Phillips
Publisher: Down & Out Books
Total Pages: 151
Release: 2023-05-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

“Mr. Dynamite, “Soul Brother No. 1,” “The Godfather of Soul,” deadbeat dad, convicted spousal abuser… James Brown was all those things and so much more. Yet it can’t be denied his music impacted a generation of fans and influenced a grip of musicians who came after him—from David Bowie, Janelle Monae to Usher just to name three. In the tradition then of previous Down & Out Books anthologies such as Murder-A-Go-Go’s: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of the Go-Go’s and Trouble in the Heartland: Crime Fiction Based on the Songs of Bruce Springsteen, this all-original set of fourteen stories follows in that stead. The idea expressed to the writers was not literal interpretations of any given song by Mr. Brown. Rather to use that title or lyric and the ofttimes edginess behind such efforts as “King Heroin” and “The Payback,” or the fun in “Make it Funky,” as a prompt, a starting point for the story the contributor wanted to tell. Covers the Godfather of Soul did of others’ songs could have also been tapped. While the majority of stories in the collection are prose, there is a comics style one and more than one of the text versions have an illustration or two to accompany the story. The collection includes stories by six-time Bram Stoker Award winner Lisa Morton; Anthony, Barry and Macavity Awards winner James Ziskin; Jim Fusilli, former Rock & Pop critic for the Wall Street Journal; and HBO Max Doom Patrol staff writer and comics creator Ezra Claytan Daniels. Other contributors include Shamus Award winner Gar Anthony Haywood; Mysti Berry, five-time Derringer and Golden Derringer Award winner John M. Floyd; Lise McClendon, writer of the Bennett Sisters mysteries; cultural critic and short story writer Michael Gonzales; novelist and former Miami Vice showrunner and writer-producer on Hill Street Blues Robert Ward; Fabrice Sapolsky, comics creator of FairSquare Comics’ Intertwined and Marvel Comics’ Spider-Man Noir; filmmaker and pioneer of Hip Hop horror Jeff Carroll; crime fiction novelist and Dark Yonder editor Katy Munger; and hardboiled novelist and co-producer on Snowfall, Gary Phillips.

Ash Dark as Night

Ash Dark as Night
Author: Gary Phillips
Publisher: Soho Press
Total Pages: 313
Release: 2024-04-02
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1641294744

In the follow-up to One-Shot Harry, fearless crime photographer and occasional private eye Harry Ingram finds himself in the LAPD's crosshairs after capturing damning evidence of police brutality. An atmospheric dive into a city on the brink that's brimming with remarkable historical detail, Ash Dark as Night is perfect for fans of Walter Mosley and James Ellroy. Los Angeles, August 1965. Anger and pent-up frustrations boil over in the Watts neighborhood after a traffic stop of two Black motorists. As the Watts riots explode, crime photographer Harry Ingram snaps photos at the scene, including images of the police as they unleash batons, dogs, and water hoses on civilians. When he captures the image of an unarmed activist being shot down by the cops, he winds up in the hospital, beaten, his camera missing. Proof of the unjust killing seems lost—until Ingram’s girlfriend, Anita Claire, retrieves the hidden film in a daring rescue. The photo makes front-page news. A recuperating Ingram is approached by Betty Payton, a comrade of Anita’s mother, who wants Ingram’s help tracking down her business associate Moses “Mose” Tolbert, last seen during the riots. Ingram follows the investigation down a rabbit hole of burglary rings, bank robberies, looted cash, and clandestine agendas—all the while grappling with his newfound fame, which puts him in the sightlines of LAPD’s secretive intelligence division. Ash Dark as Night is a nail-biting ride-along through midcentury Los Angeles with a crime fiction legend in the driver’s seat.

By the Balls: The Complete Collection

By the Balls: The Complete Collection
Author: Jim Pascoe
Publisher: Akashic Books
Total Pages: 481
Release: 2013-04-02
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1617751596

These tales follow the exploits of Ben Drake, a detective with a passion for small cigars and big fights, a love of Old Grand Dad and a weakness for women in trouble. North of Las Vegas in the fictional town of Testacy City, Drake sniffs out killers, thieves, kidnappers, double crossers, crooked cops and number runners, all culminating in the bizarre murder of Gentleman Joe Biggs, a well loved bowling hero. As he continues to crack clues in the case, Drake is drawn deeper into a city wide criminal conspiracy.