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Metro
by Stephen RomanoThe acclaimed author of Resurrection Express breaks all the rules in this non-stop suspense thriller packed with killers, comic books, drug lords, and film nerds.For the last five years, Jollie, Andy, and Mark have lived together in a crazy bohemian crash pad in Austin, Texas, immersed in an endless summer of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. But one of them is not what they seem to be. And when that person finally blows a decades-long cover during a violent attack on a powerful Austin dope dealer, all hell breaks loose in the bloody, bullet-riddled aftermath. As the façade of the normal world sizzles away, revealing an ominous shadow league of endemic spies and assassins known only as METRO, Jollie, Andy, and Mark must run like hell into a very dark night, where love and friendship will bind them, a terrifying hatchet man will close in to kill them, and the pitch black truth about everything will be revealed, again and again...
Metro Girl
by Janet EvanovichAlexandra (Barney) Barnaby roars onto the Miami Beach scene in hot pursuit of her missing baby brother, "Wild" Bill. Leave it to the maverick of the family to get Barney involved with high-speed car chases, a search for sunken treasure, and Sam Hooker, a NASCAR driver who's good at revving a woman's engine.Engaged in a deadly race, Bill has "borrowed" Hooker's sixty-five-foot Hatteras and sailed off into the sunset...just when Hooker has plans for the boat. Hooker figures he'll attach himself to Barney and maybe run into scumbag Bill. And better yet, maybe he'll get lucky in love with Bill's sweetie pie sister.The pedal will have to go to metal if Barney and Hooker want to be the first to cross the finish line, save Bill, Hooker's boat...and maybe the world.
Metro Girl
by Janet EvanovichAlexandra (Barney) Barnaby roars onto the Miami Beach scene in hot pursuit of her missing baby brother, "Wild" Bill. Leave it to the maverick of the family to get Barney involved with high-speed car chases, a search for sunken treasure, and Sam Hooker, a NASCAR driver who's good at revving a woman's engine. Engaged in a deadly race, Bill has "borrowed" Hooker's sixty-five-foot Hatteras and sailed off into the sunset...just when Hooker has plans for the boat. Hooker figures he'll attach himself to Barney and maybe run into scumbag Bill. And better yet, maybe he'll get lucky in love with Bill's sweetie pie sister. The pedal will have to go to metal if Barney and Hooker want to be the first to cross the finish line, save Bill, Hooker's boat...and maybe the world.
Metrophage
by Richard KadreyThe cult-classic dystopian cyberpunk tale from New York Times bestselling author Richard Kadrey, after twenty years, now back in print in a special signed, collectible editionWelcome to our future: L.A. in the late twenty-first century--a segregated city of haves and have-nots, where morality is dead and technology rules. Here, a small wealthy group secludes themselves in gilded cages. Beyond their high-security compounds, far from their pretty comforts, lies a lawless wasteland where the angry masses battle hunger, rampant disease, and their own despair in order to survive.Jonny was born into this Hobbesian paradise. A streetwise hustler who deals drugs on the black market--narcotics that heal the body and cool the mind--he looks out for nobody but himself. Until a terrifying plague sweeps through L.A., wreaking death and panic, and no one, not even a clever operator like Jonny, is safe.lude a Q & A with Cory Doctorow.
Metropolis: A Bernie Gunther Novel (A Bernie Gunther Novel #14)
by Philip Kerr<P><P>New York Times-bestselling author Philip Kerr treats readers to his beloved hero's origins, exploring Bernie Gunther's first weeks on Berlin's Murder Squad. <P><P>Summer, 1928. Berlin, a city where nothing is verboten. In the night streets, political gangs wander, looking for fights. Daylight reveals a beleaguered populace barely recovering from the postwar inflation, often jobless, reeling from the reparations imposed by the victors. <P><P>At central police HQ, the Murder Commission has its hands full. A killer is on the loose and though he scatters many clues, each is a dead end. It's almost as if he is taunting the cops. Meanwhile, the press is having a field day. This is what Bernie Gunther finds on his first day with the Murder Commisson. He's been taken on beacuse the people at the top have noticed him--they think he has the makings of a first-rate detective. But not just yet. <P><P>Right now, he has to listen and learn. Metropolis, completed just before Philip Kerr's untimely death, is the capstone of a fourteen-book journey through the life of Kerr's signature character, Bernhard Genther, a sardonic and wisecracking homicide detective caught up in an increasingly Nazified Berlin police department. In many ways, it is Bernie's origin story and, as Kerr's last novel, it is also, alas, his end. <P><P>Metropolis is also a tour of a city in chaos: of its seedy sideshows and sex clubs, of the underground gangs that run its rackets, and its bewildered citizens--the lost, the homeless, the abandoned. It is Berlin as it edges toward the new world order that Hitler will soo usher in. <P><P>And Bernie? He's a quick study and he's learning a lot. Including, to his chagrin, that when push comes to shove, he isn't much better than the gangsters in doing whatever her must to get what he wants. <P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
Metropolis: the global bestseller - an unputdownable historical thriller (Bernie Gunther)
by Philip KerrBerlin detective Bernie Gunther bows out at last in the 14th and final book of the Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling series. With an introduction by Ian Rankin.'One of the greatest anti-heroes ever written' LEE CHILD'One of the greatest master story-tellers in English' ALAN FURSTBerlin, 1928, the dying days of the Weimar Republic shortly before Hitler and the Nazis came to power. It was a period of decadence and excess as Berliners - after the terrible slaughter of WWI and the hardships that followed - are enjoying their own version of Babylon. Bernie is a young detective working in Vice when he gets a summons from Bernard Weiss, Chief of Berlin's Criminal Police. He invites Bernie to join KIA - Criminal Inspection A - the supervisory body for all homicide investigation in Kripo. Bernie's first task is to investigate the Silesian Station killings - four prostitutes murdered in as many weeks. All of them have been hit over the head with a hammer and then scalped with a sharp knife. Bernie hardly has time to acquaint himself with the case files before another prostitute is murdered. Until now, no one has shown much interest in these victims - there are plenty in Berlin who'd like the streets washed clean of such degenerates. But this time the girl's father runs Berlin's foremost criminal ring, and he's prepared to go to extreme lengths to find his daughter's killer. Then a second series of murders begins - of crippled wartime veterans who beg in the city's streets. It seems that someone is determined to clean up Berlin of anyone less than perfect. The voice of Nazism is becoming a roar that threatens to drown out all others. But not Bernie Gunther's ...
Metropolis: Bernie Gunther 14 (Bernie Gunther #14)
by Philip KerrBerlin detective Bernie Gunther bows out at last in the 14th and final book of the Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling series. With an introduction by Ian Rankin.'One of the greatest anti-heroes ever written' LEE CHILD'One of the greatest master story-tellers in English' ALAN FURSTBerlin, 1928, the height of the Weimar Republic. Bernie is a young detective working in Vice when he asked to investigate the Silesian Station killings: four prostitutes murdered in as many weeks, and in the same gruesome manner. Bernie hardly has time to acquaint himself with the case files before another murder occurs. Until now, no one has shown much interest in these victims - there are plenty in Berlin who'd like the streets washed clean of such degenerates. But this time the girl's father runs Berlin's foremost criminal ring, and he's prepared to go to extreme lengths to find his daughter's killer. It seems that someone is determined to rid Berlin of anyone less than perfect. The voice of Nazism is becoming a roar that threatens to drown out all others. But not Bernie Gunther's...(P) 2022 Quercus Editions Ltd
Metropolis: A Novel
by B. A. ShapiroThe New York Times bestselling author of The Art Forger delivers a spellbinding and moving novel about what we hang on to, what we might need to let go, and how unexpected events can lead us to deeper truths. Six people, six secrets, six different backgrounds. They would never have met if not for their connection to the Metropolis Storage Warehouse in Cambridge, Massachusetts. When someone falls down an elevator shaft at the facility, each becomes caught up in an intensifying chain of events. We meet Serge, an unstable but brilliant street photographer who lives in his storage unit, which overflows with thousands of undeveloped pictures; Marta, an undocumented immigrant finishing her dissertation and hiding from ICE; Liddy, an abused wife and mother, who recreates her children&’s bedroom in her unit; Jason, a former corporate lawyer now practicing in the facility; Rose, the office manager, who takes illegal kickbacks to let renters live in the building; and Zach, the building&’s owner and an ex-drug dealer, who scans Serge&’s photos as he searches for clues to the accident. But was it an accident? A murder attempt? Suicide? As her characters dip in and out of one another&’s lives trying to find answers and battling societal forces beyond their control, B. A. Shapiro both questions the myth of the American dream and builds tension to an exhilarating climax. Taut and emotional, Metropolis is impossible to put down and impossible to forget.
The Metropolitan Opera Murders (Library of Congress Crime Classics)
by Helen TraubelWhen the prompter falls dead during the second act of Richard Wagner's Die Walküre during a matinee performance at the Metropolitan Opera, as one can imagine, it causes quite a stir, especially when it is discovered that the deceased, a one time world famous Heldentenor has been poisoned. The detective assigned to the case, Lt. Quentin, finds himself immersed in the back stage drama of professional opera. His task is made more difficult when he decides that it had really been the star soprano who had been the intended victim, and not the prompter. Will he be able to solve the case before there is another Metropolitan Opera Murder?
Metzger's Dog: A Novel
by Thomas PerryThe much-loved comic thriller by the author of the Edgar Award-winningThe Butcher's Boyis now, by popular demand, back in print, featuring a new Introduction by bestselling author Carl Hiaasen. When Leroy "Chinese" Gordon breaks into a professor's lab at the University of Los Angeles, he's after some pharmaceutical cocaine, worth plenty of money. Instead, he finds the papers the professor has compiled for the CIA, which include a blueprint for throwing a large city into chaos. But how is the CIA to b...
Metzger’s Dog
by Thomas PerryWhen Leroy Chinese Gordon breaks into a professor's lab at the University of Los Angeles, he's after some pharmaceutical cocaine, worth plenty of money. Instead, he finds the papers the professor has compiled for the CIA, which include a blueprint for throwing a large city into chaos. But how is the CIA to be persuaded to pay a suitable ransom, unless of course someone actually uses the plan to throw a large city into chaos - Los Angeles, for instance? Assigned to cope with the crisis and restore the peace, veteran agent Ben Porterfield steps onto the scene to remind us that the CIA's middle name is, after all, Intelligence. Enlivening the mix are Gordon's beautiful girlfriend, Margaret, his temperamental cat, Dr. Henry Metzger, and Metzger's friend, an enormous half-wild dog with huge teeth.
Meu Anjo (A série completa)
by Violet Haze Andrea MoreiraDanita está desesperada... Guardando segredos e uma dor tão profunda que ela tem certeza que nunca vai embora, a única coisa que Danita quer é morrer em paz. Mas com em uma decisão bêbada, a única pessoa que ela nunca quis enfrentar está de volta em sua vida exigindo respostas que ela não tem certeza se está pronta para lhe dar. Ryker pode ser sua última esperança... Mesmo depois de quinze anos, Ryker fica feliz em ver que seu anjo está tão linda como sempre...mas não está feliz, e parece tão perdida como nunca. Quando ela vai parar no hospital, ele entra em um dos seus segredos, e fará qualquer coisa para conseguir que ela lhe conte tudo, dando lhe dê a chance de salvá-la como se ele não fez todos aqueles anos atrás. Será que a verdade finalmente os libertará...ou é tarde demais?
Meurtre au Magic Cakes Café
by Rosie ReedQuand Evelyn Eldritch est frappée par la foudre, elle reçoit plus qu’une décharge électrique : elle hérite des pouvoirs magiques d’une sorcière ! Comme si ça ne suffisait pas, elle apprend la nouvelle choquant de l’assassinat de sa mère biologique. Avec son meilleur ami à ses côtés, Evelyn se rend au village pittoresque de Maiden-Upon-Avon, où elle découvre une communauté de loups-garous, de sorcières et de vampires ! La cerise sur le gâteau ? Sa rencontre avec un beau policier bourru qui fait chavirer son cœur. Entre le café de sa mère, les habitants étranges de ce village et son apprentissage de la magie, Evelyn est débordée. Les choses empirent quand une autre victime est retrouvée pendant une rencontre locale de cricket. Avec une liste grandissante de suspects et une suite d’incidents surnaturels, la jeune femme s’embarque dans des aventures… ensorcelées ! Avec ses touches de nostalgie rétro et d’humour, Meurtre au Magic Cakes Café vous propose d’explorer une Angleterre magique où les rebondissements s’enchaînent. Préparez-vous une tasse de thé, installez-vous confortablement et découvrez cette histoire électrisante !
Meurtre en montagne
by Jamie Fessenden Laura BrohanLorsque Jesse Morales, un jeune diplômé de l'université qui aspire à devenir auteur de polars, se porte volontaire pour travailler au sommet du Mont Washington pendant une semaine, il s'attend à travailler dur. Par contre, il ne s'attend pas à trouver un corps en plein milieu du brouillard, gisant parmi les rochers, le crâne brisé. Le corps est celui d'un jeune touriste nommé Stuart Warren, qui s'est séparé de ses amis pendant qu'ils visitaient la montagne. Kyle Dubois, un détective de la police d'État veuf, est appelé à se rendre sur la scène du crime en plein milieu de la nuit, ainsi que son coéquipier Wesley Roberts. Kyle et Jesse sont instantanément attirés l'un par l'autre, sauf que la fascination de Jesse pour les affaires de meurtres rend cela difficile pour Kyle de prendre le jeune homme au sérieux. Mais Jesse trouve un moyen d'apporter une aide précieuse au détective en prenant une chambre dans l'hôtel où les amis et la famille de la victime résident et en s'introduisant dans leur cercle. Très vite, il commence à apprendre des choses qui pourraient les aider à résoudre l'affaire... ou l'amener à se faire tuer.
Meurtre et complications: Murder and Mayhem bundle FR (Meurtre et complications)
by Rhys FordL'ancien cambrioleur Rook Stevens a dérobé beaucoup de choses inestimables, mais il n'a jamais pris une vie. C'est une chose de retrouver une ancienne associée dans sa boutique de souvenirs de la culture pop, c'en est une autre de tomber sur son cadavre.Lorsque l&’inspecteur Dante Montoya s'attaque à un suspect de meurtre en fuite, il est choqué de découvrir que l'homme couvert de sang n'est autre que Rook, le voleur qu'il a eu du mal à mettre en prison - l'homme qui a toujours fait vibrer son sang.Rook est déterminé à se laver de l'accusation de meurtre. Mais d'autres escrocs trouvent bientôt la mort à la suite du premier, et alors que les corps s'accumulent, Rook est obligé de se tourner vers le dernier homme qu'il s'attendrait à voir croire en son innocence.Prendre sa retraite de voleur de trésors semblait être un moyen sûr pour Rook de rester du bon côté de la loi. Le seul flic dans sa vie aurait dû être son probable petit ami, Dante. Au lieu de cela, il se retrouve non seulement debout dans une flaque de sang appartenant à son cousin Harold, mais accusé du meurtre de ce dernier.Pour Dante, aimer un ancien voleur signifie que sa vie autrefois normale est maintenant une mer de chaos. Lorsqu'un inspecteur à la pointe du progrès désigne Rook comme suspect de meurtre, Dante intervient pour sortir son amant de ce bourbier.Mais l'enquête se retourne contre eux, et les morts s'accumulent. S'ils ne trouvent pas le tueur rapidement, Dante rendra visite à Rook dans sa cellule de prison - ou sur sa tombe.
Meurtre et complications (Murder and Mayhem #1)
by Rhys Ford Anne SoloSeuls les cadavres ne parlent pas. Cambrioleur réformé, Rook Stevens a jadis volé d'innombrables objets de valeur inestimable, mais jamais il n'avait encore été accusé de meurtre - jusqu'à aujourd'hui. Déjà surpris de découvrir une de ses anciennes complices à Potter's Field, sa boutique dédiée aux collectionneurs et fans du cinéma, Rook l'est encore plus de constater qu'elle a été assassinée. L'inspecteur Dante Montoya pensait ne jamais revoir Rook Stevens - surtout après une douteuse affaire de falsification de preuve commise par son ancien partenaire pour piéger le voleur. Aussi, quand il intercepte un suspect couvert de sang fuyant la scène d'un crime, est-il choqué de reconnaître celui qu'il avait tant voulu mettre en prison quelques années plus tôt. Et comme autrefois, Rook Stevens lui enflamme le sang. Rook, malgré son attirance inexplicable pour l'inspecteur cubano-mexicain qui vient de l'arrêter, est déterminé à se disculper. Malheureusement, les cadavres ne cessent de s'accumuler autour de lui. Quand sa vie est menacée, Rook est obligé d'accepter l'aide d'un flic qu'il n'aurait jamais cru capable de croire à son innocence : Dante, le seul homme qu'il ait dans la peau.
Meurtres à l'abbaye
by Brian L. PorterQuand un moine est retrouvé mort au Prieuré de Sainte Emma, le chef de la police, ami du Prieur, insiste pour que l'enquête soit menée par Andy Ross et son équipe. L'affaire s'avère être plus compliquée qu'ils ne avaient imaginé. Lorsqu'une deuxième victime est découverte, le corps transpercé par une fourche, Ross doit se rendre à l'évidence: il se voit dans l'obligation de rouvrir un dossier classé non élucidé et de se pencher sur une affaire qui remonte à quelques années. Mais quand les meurtres se trouvent liés à l'ancienne police secrète est-allemande, la Stasi, Ross comprend que l'enquête sur les meurtres de l'abbaye ne ressemble pas du tout pas à ses enquêtes précédentes...
Meurtres au nom de l'église: Un thriller aux rebondissements meurtriers
by Luke ChristodoulouLE MAL EST DE RETOUR SOUS LE SOLEIL IMPLACABLE DES ILES GRECQUES Les pittoresques îles grecques sont de nouveau perturbées par la Mort ... Le Commissaire de la Police Hellénique Costa Papacosta et l’Inspectrice Ioli Cara sont de retour, affrontant quatre cas brutaux, tous bizarrement connectés à l’église grecque. Un journaliste enquêtant sur l’existence d’un évangile qui aurait été écrit par Jésus lui-même est retrouvé poignardé à mort sur l’île de Salamine, où un avocat et une petite fille sont aussi portés disparus. A Santorin, la plus belle des îles grecques, les corps s’accumulent. Meurtre après meurtre, laissant nos deux policiers perplexes. Toutes les preuves sont réunies mais qui est le tueur ? Sur les îles ioniennes, sept îles, sept victimes. Suicides ou assassinats ? Le manque de foi de Ioli est mis à l’épreuve devant les stigmates d’un petit garçon sur l’île de Céphalonie. Pourraient-ils être authentiques ? Le temps presse pour nos deux enquêteurs et des vies sont en jeu ... Joignez Papacosta et Cara sur ces montagnes russes d’émotions, de mort et de foi. Suivez le chemin du mystère entre les majestueuses îles grecques et essayez de résoudre l’énigme avant le choc final !
Meurtres dans la communauté gay (Une communauté ciblée #1)
by Kiéran Logan Laura Brohan John SimpsonUne communauté ciblée, tome 1Un tueur en série a pris pour cible la communauté homosexuelle, s’attaquant à eux dans les bars populaires et les parcs. Assigné à cette affaire, la nouvelle recrue Pat Saint James se sent un peu trop proche des victimes. Il est gay, mais aucun de ses collègues ne le sait. Le fait qu’on lui demande de réaliser une mission d’infiltration en se faisant passer pour un homoseuel ne manque pas d’ironie. Pat et son collègue, Hank, passent leurs soirées dans les bars afin d’obtenir des informations sur le tueur. Parallèlement, Pat est à la recherche de l’homme parfait et jongle entre trois hommes, espérant trouver le partenaire idéal. Il a rencontré Bill dans un bar, Dean est un ami de longue date… et autre ironie du sort : Hank, son partenaire, est également gay et sur la liste de ses prétendants. Comme le tueur continue à sévir, étranglant et violant ses victimes, Pat doit se concentrer sur son travail en espérant que sa vie personnelle survive à ce train de vie complètement dingue. Mais quand ses espoirs de trouver le bonheur et l’enquête se chevauchent, Pat pourrait bien foncer droit vers les problèmes.
Meurtres entre les épingles: Un thriller du passé...
by Anna Maria Stratta et Franca BoscoMeurtres entre les épingles par Anna Maria Stratta et Franca Bosco Un thriller du passé... Meurtres entre les épingles À Turin, immédiatement après la guerre, il y a une boutique de tailleur, une série de meurtres, un coupable à condamner, un couple d'enquêteurs qui enquêtent à la recherche de la vérité. Tout commence par un épais brouillard...
Meutre Dans la Cité Interdite: Un Mystère Historique
by Amanda RobertsQuand la soeur de Lady Li est assassinée dans la Cité Interdite, peut-elle faire confiance à l’homme ordonné pour résoudre le crime? Lorsqu’une des dames d’honneur de l’impératrice est tuée dans la Cité Interdite, elle ordonne à l’inspecteur Gong de trouver le tueur. Malheureusment, en tant qu’homme, il lui est interdit d’entrer dans la Cour Intérieure. Comment est-il supposé résoudre le meurtre quand il ne peut pas visiter la scène du crime où parler aux femmes de la vie de la victime? Il ne sera pas capable de résoudre le crime seul. La veuve Lady Li est dévastée lorsqu-elle découvre que le meurtier de sa belle-soeur, qui a servi comme dame d’honneur de l’impératrice. Elle est déterminée à découvrir qui l’a tuée, même si cela signifie assister l’inspecteur Gong impoli et odieux et se cachant dans la Cité Interdite. Ensemble, Lady Li et l’inspecteur Gong seront capable de découvrir le meurtrier avant qu’il – où qu’elle – frappent encore?
Mew is for Murder (Theda Krakow Series #1)
by Clea Simon"Gentry's appealing heroine, who gets ample opportunity to display her resourcefulness and fortitude, and the intriguing milieu in which she operates, should ensure both a warm reception and a speedy encore."—Publishers WeeklyAnsel Phoenix draws dinosaurs for magazines, books, and museum displays. But one morning, digging with students out in the field, she unearths the body of colleague and ex-lover Nick Capos. Shocked and grieved over the murder, and not trusting the Big Toe police who've an axe to grind with her father, Ansel decides to investigate what Capos had been doing during the last few months of his life. She soon suspects he was working on a secret, possibly illegal project worth killing for. Her list of possible suspects grows by the hour as someone starts stalking her across the Montana landscape—a master predator who will stop at nothing. Why is Nick's fossil collection missing and why had he developed a recent interest in Baltic amber?Ansel must also deal with the challenges of her own half-Anglo, half-Blackfoot heritage; with her ranching family and the changes threatening their rural community; and with more than one Mesozoic mystery....
Mexican Hat: A Kevin Kerney Novel (Kevin Kerney Novels)
by Michael Mcgarrity"Michael McGarrity is the real deal." --Boston Globe With his dazzling debut, Tularosa, Michael McGarrity was hailed "a born storyteller" (Denver Post)--and introduced readers to a memorable new hero, ex-Santa Fe chief of detectives Kevin Kerney. Now, featuring his vivid feel for the southwest, McGarrity's second gripping novel hurls Kerney onto the toughest case of his life. Taking a job as a seasonal forest ranger in New Mexico's Gila Wilderness, Kevin Kerney is looking forward to a quiet summer high in the mountains. But the murder of a Mexican tourist, and the discovery of a disoriented old man in the wild, thrust Kerney into an investigation that will carry him back in time to a sixty-year-old feud between two land-rich brothers, Edgar and Eugene Cox. Enlisting young state game and fish officer Jim Stiles to help solve the crimes, Kerney slowly uncovers evidence connecting the ruthless Cox feud with another suspicious death--and the radical actions of New Mexico's present-day county militia. But new assistant district attorney Karen Cox--Edgar's alluring daughter--is torn between hiding her father's long-buried secret and helping Kerney find the truth. Now someone wants Kerney dead--and the deeper he investigates, the more he may be digging his own grave...
The Mexican Tree Duck
by James Crumley'A fantastic road trip. . . wild, wicked, sweet, painful, courageous, outrageous, and obscene' New York Times Never the most conventional of private detectives, C. W. Sughrue is called in to solve a far from traditional missing persons case. A beautiful woman has vanished, and Sughrue is set to be the next in a long line of people who have tried to find her: the FBI, her well-connected Republican husband, and âe" most worryingly âe" a group of South American drug dealers. And his only clue is a hollowed-out sculpture of a duck. From Montana to the Mexican border, Sughrue embarks on a wild ride, as he finds himself in and out of trouble âe" and the beds of one or two women. And, as he runs from his memories of Vietnam, he ponders the meaning of loyalty and revenge. This is a journey like no other from the pen of James Crumley, the master of a generation of crime writers.
Mexico: Stories
by Josh BarkanThe unforgettable characters in Josh Barkan’s astonishing and beautiful story collection—chef, architect, nurse, high school teacher, painter, beauty queen, classical bass player, plastic surgeon, businessman, mime—are simply trying to lead their lives and steer clear of violence. Yet, inevitably, crime has a way of intruding on their lives all the same. A surgeon finds himself forced into performing a risky procedure on a narco killer. A teacher struggles to protect lovestruck students whose forbidden romance has put them in mortal peril. A painter’s freewheeling ways land him in the back of a kidnapper’s car. Again and again, the walls between “ordinary life” and cartel violence are shown to be paper thin, and when they collapse the consequences are life-changing. These are stories about transformation and danger, passion and heartbreak, terror and triumph. They are funny, deeply moving, and stunningly well-crafted, and they tap into the most universal and enduring human experiences: love even in the face of danger and loss, the struggle to grow and keep faith amidst hardship and conflict, and the pursuit of authenticity and courage over apathy and oppression. With unflinching honesty and exquisite tenderness, Josh Barkan masterfully introduces us to characters that are full of life, marking the arrival of a new and essential voice in American fiction.From the Hardcover edition.