Warren Adler is the acclaimed author of 25 novels, published in 30 languages. Two of his books, "The War of the Roses" and "Random Hearts" were made into major motion pictures. He lives in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and New York City. During a reunion at their ancestral castle, the famed Von Kassel family - arm dealers for over a hundred years - suddenly find themselves in possession of stolen plutonium capable of creating the most destructive weapon on earth. The family is soon torn apart by the deadly potential of their recent acquisition. Through fascinating and brilliantly explored familial relationships, this penetrating novel draws the reader into the frightening web of power and intrigue that motivates people who believe they are above moral or ethical considerations. "A truly riveting tale of suspense and intrigue." .King Features Syndicate "Another superb mystery by author Warren Adler." .Virginia Daily Press

When Frank Behr’s friend and mentor is murdered without any apparent motive, he thirsts for answers and retaliation. But before he can make headway in the dead-end investigation, a private firm approaches him with a delicate proposition: two of its detectives have gone missing, and the firm wants Behr to find out what happened to them. The search for the missing detectives takes Behr into the recesses of Indianapolis’s underworld, a place rife with brutality and vice where Behr uncovers a shocking thread connecting the missing detectives to his friend’s brutal murder, and, in the process, an ominous, deadly new breed of crime family.

Conflict in the City is a fast-paced, lively, "can't wait to keep reading" novel in the tradition of Donald Westlake's Parker novels by wayof Roddy Doyle's The Commitments.Mixing and blending the genres of detective noir and music, Conflict in the City takes place in greater Los Angeles, home to both classic and modern fictional L.A. detectives like Raymond Chandler's Phillip Marlowe and Michael Connolly's Harry Bosch. Los Angeles is also the center of the music universe, where the Doors, Van Halen, and N.W.A., among so many others, got their starts.It's in this world that we find Johnny "Whoops" Watson and Billy Bates, young guitarists/singers and their band, Conflict, playing clubs in modern LA, where the days of rock's zenith and ascendance in the 1960s and 1970s has faded but the hopes and dreams of aspiring musicians haven't. Conflict is struggling and chaos ensues when someone linked closely to the band is killed. Billy and Johnny become swept up in the mystery, ill-prepared as they are to confront it. The novel is the first in a series.

After serving his Brooklyn district for years, Congressman Sullivan discovers that his once comfortable Irish-American majority has given way to a diverse district of blacks and Hispanics. Challenged by a more liberal opponent, he tries everything possible to maintain his seat only to painfully learn that he and his views are outdated and irrelevant to today's world. But he doesn't bow out of the race gracefully, and the fierce ensuing campaign brings new insights to the meaning of democracy and the terrors of a swiftly changing world. If, as it is said, all politics are local, this compelling story transcends politics and puts a human face on how the American democratic system really operates. Unforgettable characters and a powerful plot offer a remarkable and tense story of how tragic endings affect new beginnings.

Frederick Busch has built a reputation as a master storyteller, a magician with words, and a writer who deserves to be a household name. In his new novel, Girls, he once again treats readers to the "ice-clear, dagger-sharp" (Seattle Times) writing he's become known for and a story that's deeply affecting, terrifying, and tragic. Jack is a security officer at an upstate New York college. When 14-year-old Janice Tanner vanishes from a neighboring town, he reluctantly becomes involved in the search as a favor to a friend of the girl's parents. A suicidal young woman, a teenage runaway, and two more missing girls make it impossible for Jack to drive resurfacing memories of his own daughter's death from his mind. In the course of the investigation, as he comes to confront Janice's murderer, Jack comes to realize just how dangerous it is to be a girl: "I wondered if girls had been kidnapped, murdered, preyed upon for years. Maybe it was the times, and therefore everything human and otherwise from when we began might not be at fault." Girls is a novel that is both a thriller and a stylistic wonder, and, like its protagonist, is tender and tough at the same time.

An unidentifiable body is found in an Indianapolis park, deliberately arranged so that police know it's not just a random crime. Former cop Frank Behr, now a P.I. with no cases, no money and no options, finds himself chasing down the disappearance of a wayward young woman who's been missing for months in a futile attempt to collect a reward. With assistance from his few remaining contacts on the force, Behr follows the tenuous thread of his case into the world of small-time prostitution-and discovers a possible connection to the body in the park. When another murder victim turns up, it's clear there's a serial killer at work, but this predator seems to be invisible, camouflaged by his perfectly normal-looking life. Behr's relentless quest for the missing girl and his parallel pursuit of the killer become entangled with the official police investigation. Ultimately, Behr's obsession with the truth will lead him into the darkest places, and force him to make an unavoidable and devastating decision.

Jack Faith, world-renowned superstar entertainer, would stoop to anything—even murder—to prevent an unauthorized biography about him and his adulterous romantic escapades with countless beautiful Hollywood starlets (sometimes underaged) from being published. How he gets caught by his own nefarious schemes and exposed as the charlatan he is, is the story of not only his life, but at the same time gives the reader an inside peek at what the real Hollywood is like.

Dive into the heart-pounding mystery by the renowned and provocative writer Warren Adler, famed for his blockbuster "The War of the Roses." In the shadowy corners of upper Michigan, Josh and Emily Flanagan, escapees from the high-pressure world of Manhattan's elite, launch an eccentric antique store. Emily, with her keen eye honed in the cutthroat antique appraisal scene, and Josh, a shrewd art and antique insurance adjuster, find their quiet life shattered when a mysterious man arrives, desperate for an antique doll for his sick grandchild. This innocuous request spirals into a whirlwind of dark family secrets, betrayal, and a chilling murder. The Flanagans are thrust into a perilous game of cat and mouse, using their astute investigative skills and creative thinking to uncover clues and untangle a web of deception. At the heart of this suspenseful novel lies a profound mystery. It promises to keep readers on the edge of their seats until the shocking truth is revealed. Readers are hooked on Flanagan's Dolls: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "This story has a bit of Holmes, Christie and Fletcher. Loads of characters to choose from." - Goodreads Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "This is a book of luxurious enjoyment for anyone who loves a good mystery, or comedy, or sparkling good characterization. It has all three and much more." - Goodreads Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Quite different from most of Adler's books, but still a great cozy!" - Goodreads Review

Jack Cooper is an unhappy man-mind, body, and spirit. He has lost his longstanding job to the economy, his mother to illness, and his wife to her secret lover. All in the blink of an eye. Beaten, broken and crippled by tragedy, Jack withdraws into total isolation, narrowing his life down to the simplest routines to block out the pain. His day begins with a strenuous workout at the Bethesda Health Club, his oasis. There, his mind and body can be free. His day ends in his tiny apartment, where he escapes from reality with his books until he can lose himself in sleep. Rinse and repeat. That is until he meets the enigmatic Mike Parrish. Parrish has no official identification. He was stolen from the hospital as a newborn and passed around from household to household. To the government and the world at large, he does not exist. He is an anonymous drifter but also the first person who breaks through Cooper's emotional confinement. Cooper finds solace in his friendship with Parrish, a man who understands his plight and is sympathetic to his pain. But then Parrish suddenly disappears, leaving Cooper to search for a virtually invisible man. As he looks for clues as intangible as ghosts and chases down leads as fleeting as shadows, his search leads him back to the one place he called his refuge: the Bethesda Health Club. How much can be taken from a man before he has nothing to lose?

"Friday, October 31, 9:37 p.m., 100 block of South Martel. A vandal threw a pumpkin through the front window of a house and several eggs at the front door." "The police report read like just another Halloween prank - a nasty, petty act. But the attack is one in a recent spate of increasingly violent vandalisms targeting residents who have paid millions of dollars for their dream homes in the ritziest enclaves of Los Angeles." "Residents are already seething, hotly divided about the growing number of Historical Architectural Restoration and Preservation (HARP) boards that prevent homeowners from remodeling their expensive real estate, forcing them to preserve the traditional integrity of neighborhoods where Hollywood legends once lived. So impassioned are pro- and anti-HARP forces that Crime Sheet columnist Molly Blume suspects that members from both sides of the debate may be perpetrating the vandalism that claims new victims almost daily." "But the arson that destroys a house on Fuller Street doesn't fit the pattern. This beautiful property belongs to Margaret Reston and her husband, Hank; and the sick old man who dies when it burns is Margaret's father. Margaret herself has disappeared. She was last seen working in her garden five months ago - and although traces of her blood were found in her car, the police have no idea what has happened to the missing woman." "This intrigue all makes good copy for hard-hitting newshound Molly. Almost in love again with the high-school sweetheart who dumped her and is now a rabbi, Molly can't stop thinking about Margaret and Hank Reston and the old man whose life was tragically, though accidently, cut short. But was it an accident? What has happened to Margaret Reston? Where does malice end and evil begin?"--BOOK JACKET.

With the legal-behind-the-scenes finesse and courtroom drama of Presumed Inocent, Trial is a taut and exciting novel of a lawyer caught between two clients. He struggles to wrest justice from the complexity, subtlety and bald simplicity of the law, but gripping and surprising events will throw him more than a curve or two. Condensed in Reader's Digest.

Surrender is in the tradition of best-selling psychological thrillers and cozy novels. It promises to engage your mind with its plot twists and turns; ignite your sense of humor with the realities of life that make you laugh; and tug at your heart with a hope filled spiritual thread. Psychiatrist Morgan Jane Winters moved back south to her beloved hometown of New Orleans to help those in need of mental and emotional care. Never in Morgan's wildest dreams could she have imagined that helping those in need would lead to being asked to aid in solving crimes with the New Orleans Police Department, but it did. When Commander Jackson Slade, Head of Special Investigations, calls on Morgan to lend a hand in solving the murders of four people, the darkest and deadliest of secrets within the political elite of New Orleans become unearthed. As they sift through what seems to be a massive cover up, they are led down a complex and dangerously lurid path of deception, intrigue, passion, murder, and redemption.

Presents a classic example of the traditional detective story

Nathan Stein -- once an attractive, cultured lawyer -- has stipped into the dark world of his powerful father's corrupt practice. After one too many shady deals, he finds himself alone, sick in body and spirit. His career and life are careening out of control, and he's about to become the prime suspect in the murder of a young woman. As we follow him over a long day and night, Nathan encounters the friends, lovers, and family members he has betrayed. Lurching toward redemption, he must answer for his actions. Is he a murderer or the victim of an elaborate frame-up? Or do his sins go even deeper? A tale of chilling suspense that belies the elegance of its prose, Blood Acre is a compelling story of one man's harrowing search through the dark streets of the soul.

Once an accomplished plastic surgeon, Trevor Lucas started using his scalpel to do very bad things... Locked in a Boston psychiatric hospital, Lucas is holding the ward hostage-and performing grisly "operations" on his prisoners... Lucas, calling for forensic psychiatrist Frank Clevenger, is willing to strike a deal... What Lucas knows about Clevenger could ruin the psychiatrist. What Clevenger can find out about Lucas could save the hostages. And he's got 24 hours to do it... As Clevenger feverishly delves into Lucas' past, what he discovers is chilling, disturbing, and all too familiar. For Clevenger can't help but wonder if his proximity to killers and madmen in coincidence, or something much more complex: Projection.

"The Honorable Paul E. Devine is a Federal Districk Court judge in Chicago. His best friend is a fire department paramedic who augments his income by committing insurance-fraud arson. The two plaintiffs in Devine's latest case are in a unique position to help him settle anold score. If everything goes just right, the four of them will knock over the Federal Reserve vault for $100 million that will never be missed."--Jacket.

"An extravaganza . . . fertile invention and forceful style . . . Mr. Kersh's many admirers will undoubtedly devour this highly flavoured hotch-potch with avidity." - Julian Maclaren-Ross, Sunday Times "[F]irst-rate Kersh, richly peopled with the odd bit roles he sketches so well and written with style and individuality." - Anthony Boucher, New York Herald Tribune "Sometimes funny, sometimes nightmarish, always first-class entertainment." - Basil Davenport, New York Times Journalist George Oaks and his friend Albert Kemp, a mystery novelist, are on their way to meet their friend, the celebrated philosopher Dr. Monacelli. But when a clerical mix-up leads to their meeting the American gangster Monty Cello instead, Oaks and Kemp quickly find themselves caught up in a bizarre and dangerous plot involving a murdered reporter, a missing scientist, and a group of powerful madmen with a plan to destroy the world as we know it. It's a race against time as Oaks and Kemp must infiltrate the villains' stronghold and save humanity before it's too late! Equal parts hard-boiled crime novel and apocalyptic science fiction tale, The Great Wash (1953) is one of the most exciting novels by Gerald Kersh (1911-1968), who is best known for his classics Night and the City (1938) and Fowlers End (1957). Fowlers End and four volumes of Kersh's strange and brilliant short fiction are also available from Valancourt.

Octavius Gaye, founder and creator of the hugely successful magazine empire, Plain Man Enterprises, saw himself as the original 'plain man'. The truth however was rather different and Gaye was an unscrupulous tycoon with a strangely captivating nature who surrounded himself by a series of weak-willed puppets that he manipulated to his heart's content. One such puppet was Francie Lake and as the plot unfolds, Symons reveals how and why Francie simply had to die.

He was a tall, cleanly attractive young man, the kind you'd like to have for a neighbor. Press the wrong button and he'd mow you down with the ruthlessness of a Sherman tank. His name was Daniel Port. He was a gangster, the brain and spirit behind the machine that milked the dirty pennies from the city. Now Port wanted out. He had a bellyful of corruption, a one-way ticket to New York, and a dark, shining girl to go along with it. The problem was to get there alive, because the one way out for Daniel Port was over his own freshly dug grave...

Vera Caspary, the famed author of Laura , gives us another gripping crime drama, told through shifting points of view. John Ansell, young and idealistic editor of Truth and Crime magazine, wants to breathe new life into the stale and formulaic publication. Instead of rehashing a story that's already been proven popular elsewhere, he finds a fresh one: the murder of Warren G. Wilson, famed figurehead of a correspondence course. The murder itself isn't too remarkable--just a bullet in the back--but the victim is another case, as it becomes apparent that despite having a household name, nothing is known about him. Perhaps even more peculiar is how Ansell's boss absolutely refuses to run the story and, soon thereafter, Ansell is poisoned. Caspary masterfully allows the truth to slowly untangle in this incredibly woven mystery, finally available as an ebook.