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Hard as Nails (Liberty Chapman #4)
by Helen Black'Gripping and gritty, this book will keep you hooked from the first page to the last' Roberta Kray'The Leeds setting is every bit as gritty as Kray's East End . . . hard as nails!' Peterborough TelegraphFour months have passed since the shocking death of Frankie Greenwood, but Liberty Greenwood has managed to keep the rest of her family safe and expand their criminal empire.But when Liberty and Jay set out to teach a protection racketeer a lesson things get out of hand and the Greenwoods soon find themselves under attack: the Black Cherry is fire bombed and Crystal is arrested.Liberty must hold her nerve, make alliances with old enemies and discover exactly who is trying to destroy her. But that's easier said than done with Sol back on the scene, Crystal's baby to care for and DI Angel holding enough information on Liberty to put her away for good. Is Liberty Greenwood hard enough?
Hard as Nails
by Helen Black'Gripping and gritty, this book will keep you hooked from the first page to the last' Roberta Kray'The Leeds setting is every bit as gritty as Kray's East End . . . hard as nails!' Peterborough TelegraphFour months have passed since the shocking death of Frankie Greenwood, but Liberty Greenwood has managed to keep the rest of her family safe and expand their criminal empire.But when Liberty and Jay set out to teach a protection racketeer a lesson things get out of hand and the Greenwoods soon find themselves under attack: the Black Cherry is fire bombed and Crystal is arrested.Liberty must hold her nerve, make alliances with old enemies and discover exactly who is trying to destroy her. But that's easier said than done with Sol back on the scene, Crystal's baby to care for and DI Angel holding enough information on Liberty to put her away for good. Is Liberty Greenwood hard enough?
Hard as Nails (Liberty Chapman #4)
by Helen Black'Gripping and gritty, this book will keep you hooked from the first page to the last' Roberta Kray'The Leeds setting is every bit as gritty as Kray's East End . . . hard as nails!' Peterborough TelegraphFour months have passed since the shocking death of Frankie Greenwood, but Liberty Greenwood has managed to keep the rest of her family safe and expand their criminal empire.But when Liberty and Jay set out to teach a protection racketeer a lesson things get out of hand and the Greenwoods soon find themselves under attack: the Black Cherry is fire bombed and Crystal is arrested.Liberty must hold her nerve, make alliances with old enemies and discover exactly who is trying to destroy her. But that's easier said than done with Sol back on the scene, Crystal's baby to care for and DI Angel holding enough information on Liberty to put her away for good. Is Liberty Greenwood hard enough?
Hard as Nails (Joe Kurtz #3)
by Dan Simmons"On the day he was shot in the head, things were going strangely well for Joe Kurtz. In fact, things had been going strangely well for weeks. Later, he told himself that he should have known that the universe was getting ready to readjust its balance of pain at his expense. And at much greater expense to the woman who was standing next to him when the shots were fired. He had a two p.m. appointment with his parole officer and he was there at the Civic Center on time. Because curb parking around the courthouse was almost impossible at that time of day, Kurtz used the parking garage under the combined civic, justice, and family court complex. The best thing about his parole officer was that she validated. ... She didn't wait long. He heard the clack of her heels a few paces behind him, heading to his right. "Wait!" cried Kurtz, turning toward her and raising his right hand. O'Toole froze, looked startled, and lifted her purse where, he knew, she usually carried the Sig Pro. The goddamned lights had been broken. When he'd come in less than half an hour earlier, there had been fluorescent lights every twenty-five feet or so, but half of those were out. The pools of darkness between the remaining lights were wide and black. "Back!" shouted Kurtz, pointing toward the door from which they'd just emerged. Looking at him as if he were crazy, but not visibly afraid, Peg O'Toole put her hand in her purse and started to pull the Sig Pro. The shooting started. When Kurtz awoke in the hospital, he knew at once that he'd been shot, but he couldn't remember when or where it happened, or who did it. He had the feeling that someone had been with him but he couldn't bring back any details and any attempt to do so hammered barbed spikes through his brain. Kurtz knew the varieties and vintages of pain the way some men knew wines, but this pain in his head was already beyond the judging stage and well into the realm where screaming was the only sane response."
Hard as Nails (The Kurtz Series #3)
by Dan SimmonsIf you're going to shoot Joe Kurtz, you'd better shoot to kill. Ex-PI Joe Kurtz's survival is on the line when an ambush leaves him badly wounded and his parole officer, Peg O'Toole, clinging to life. Their respective professions have ensured that neither suffers from a shortage of enemies, so narrowing down the suspects isn't easy. But Kurtz knows who's at the head of his list: Angelina Farino Ferrara, the lethal beauty who leads the Farino crime family, and her mob rival, Toma Gonzaga. The odd thing is, each would rather hire Joe Kurtz than fire at him. Someone's causing trouble beneath the gray skies of western New York, and it's drawn the notice of the mobs and the cops. Kurtz is caught in the middle along with the rest of them, and no one knows who's tightening the vise.
Hard As You Can
by Laura KayeFive dishonored soldiers.Former Special Forces.One last mission.These are the men of Hard Ink.Ever since hard-bodied, drop-dead-charming Shane McCallan strolled into the dance club where Crystal Dean works, he's shown a knack for getting beneath her defenses. For her little sister's sake, Crystal can't get too close. Until her job and Shane's mission intersect, and he reveals talents that go deeper than she could have guessed.Shane would never turn his back on a friend in need, especially a former Special Forces teammate running a dangerous, off-the-books operation. Nor can he walk away from Crystal. The gorgeous waitress is hiding secrets she doesn't want him to uncover. Too bad. He's exactly the man she needs to protect her sister, her life, and her heart. All he has to do is convince her that when something feels this good, you hold on as hard as you can--and never let go.
Hard Bargain: A Cat Marsala Mystery (Cat Marsala Mysteries Ser. #7)
by Barbara D'AmatoShe's an ace reporter. An amateur sleuth. And she's always clued in. But now Cat Marsala is faced with her toughest case, one that could put a friend's job--and life--on the line. A domestic-violence call turns into a case of murder-of one cop by another. The alleged killer is an officer in the unit of Cat's friend. Chief McCoo, and now his reputation is on the line. Department leaks begin to destroy his career--and dangerous incidents around the station soon follow. Now Cat must sift through the conspiracy to clear McCoo's name-before the unknown traitor resorts to murder... Look for the other 8 books in the Cat Marsala mystery series where you'll find loads of trivia, characters and laughs along with intricately plotted mysteries in the Bookshare Library including: #1 Hardball, #2 Hard Tack, #3 Hard Luck, #4 Hard Women, #5 Hard Case, #6 Hard Christmas, #8 Hard Evidence and #9 Hard Road.
A Hard Bargain (The Laura Di Palma Mysteries #3)
by Lia MateraA burned-out attorney investigates a strange small-town suicide in this mystery from the author of The Good Fight.Laura Di Palma&’s days as a high-profile San Francisco lawyer are behind her. Four hundred miles north of the city in her peaceful hometown, she now spends her days hiking in the woods and helping her lover cope with his war injuries. But their retreat is soon interrupted by a private detective—Laura&’s former flame—who&’s looking for help with his disturbing new case . . .Karen McGuin was a troubled woman. Her husband, Ted, claims that, after her first suicide attempt, he&’d leave a loaded gun in front of her every day to force her to choose life. But one day she finally chose the gun. Now Karen&’s family wants Ted charged with murder.As Laura examines Karen&’s past, she&’s forced to question the status of her own life. But self-reflection quickly takes a backseat after Ted almost dies in an explosion. Suspicious of foul play, Laura knows she must uncover the truth before a killer strikes again . . . &“Matera skillfully weaves Laura&’s dissatisfaction with her own circumstances into the investigation of Karen&’s death, taking a thought-provoking look at the dangers in relationships that grow too close.&” —Publishers Weekly &“[A] welcome respite from the mystery-by-formula crowd.&” —Kirkus Reviews
A Hard Bargain: A Maclin Investigations Mystery (Madeline Maclin Series #0)
by Jane TeshAfter solving her first big murder case in the small town of Celosia, North Carolina, Madeline Maclin hopes at last to be taken seriously as a private investigator. She's opened an office in the home of her best friend Jerry Fairweather, a man haunted by his past who enjoys running harmless scams. Jerry doesn't feel worthy of anyone's love—bad news for Madeline—although she thinks Jerry's sister Harriet knows more about the accident that killed their parents than she'll say.Madeline is hired to find Kirby Willet, an eccentric inventor who left boxes of his belongings, including one filled with money, at Frannie Thomas' house. Meanwhile Voltage Films director, Josh Gaskins, is in town and thinks Jerry's old house will be perfect for his horror film, "Curse of the Mantis Man," about Celosia's mythical beast. Is this monster actually real?Celosia is also hopping with the Pageantoids, rabid fans from Madeline's days as a beauty queen, who have come to Celosia to produce more pageants. And then there's Rick Rialto, one of Jerry's shady con artist friends. When Gaskins is murdered, Madeline uncovers several suspects and is forced to make—and investigate—some hard bargains. At least one of which is with Jerry.
Hard Bitten (Chicagoland Vampires #4)
by Chloe NeillTimes are hard for newly minted vampire Merit. Ever since shapeshifters announced their presence to the world, humans have been rallying against supernaturals -- and they're camping outside of Cadogan House with protest signs that could turn to pitchforks at any moment. Inside its doors, things between Merit and her Master, green-eyed heartbreaker Ethan Sullivan are...tense. But then the mayor of Chicago calls Merit and Ethan to a clandestine meeting and tells them about a violent vamp attack that has left three women missing. His message is simple: get your House in order. Or else. Merit needs to get to the bottom of this crime, but it doesn't help that she can't tell who's on her side. So she secretly calls in a favor from someone who's tall, dark, and part of underground vamp group that may have some deep intel on the attack. Merit soon finds herself in the heady, dark heart of Chicago's supernatural society-a world full of vampires who seem ready to fulfill the protesting human's worst fears, and a place where she'll learn that you can't be a vampire without getting a little blood on your hands...
Hard Bitten
by M. K. YorkRule number one: hands off the witnessAs a newbie public defender, Mark Eliades is stuck defending DUIs. But when his latest client gets charged with felony arson, the result is a career-making case he has to win. The last thing he needs is to fall for his key witness. Any hint of impropriety and his credibility will be shot, along with Mark’s case. But the more time Mark spends with the jaded private investigator, the more the rules begin to blur.Tired of endless nights chasing people who don’t want to be found, private investigator Lukas Nystrom needs a change—and a guaranteed paycheck. When a high-profile contract with the state falls in his lap, he can’t screw it up. Even if it means ignoring his growing desire for the hotshot attorney who hired him.Convinced their client is innocent, Mark and Lukas team up to investigate the crime. With the trial looming and every lead gone cold, they work relentlessly to uncover the truth. But keeping things professional while searching for evidence they need might just make this the hardest case they’ve ever taken on.This book is approximately 90,000 wordsOne-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!Carina Press acknowledges the editorial services of Anne Scott
Hard-Boiled Anxiety: The Freudian Desires of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Ross Macdonald, and Their Detectives
by Karen Huston KarydesNamed one of Kirkus Reviews' Best Indie Books of 2016. 'Curl up on the analyst's couch with all your favorite mystery scribes, as Karen Huston Karydes sleuths out the neurotic, personal threads that make up the warp and the weft of their greatest fictions. A dark, yet illuminating read.' - Kim Cooper, author of The Raymond Chandler Map of Los Angeles and The Kept Girl For close to fifty years, three masters of the hard-boiled detective novel dispatched intrepid gumshoes into upper-crust homes and seedy back alleys, peeling back and exposing all the pretexts of polite society. Or did they? Were there even closer, darker secrets they never quite copped to? In Hard-Boiled Anxiety, Karen Huston Karydes offers a new and unsettling reading of the classic pairings: Dashiell Hammett and his successive shamuses, the Continental Op, Sam Spade, and Nick Charles; Raymond Chandler and his brooding knight errant, Philip Marlowe; and Ross Macdonald and his 1960s sleuth, Lew Archer. Each novelist, though celebrated in the American pantheon, harbored ghosts, injuries, and a guilty backstory of his own. Their fictional detectives served as doubles, in ways both flamboyant and subtle, as the authors wrestled inner demons and labored, in Karydes's words, to "write themselves well." Included are remarkable observations from a memoir kept by Ross Macdonald as he underwent psychotherapy in the 1950s, never divulged at this length until the publication of this volume. Sigmund Freud, welcome to Sunset Boulevard.
Hard Boiled (Second Edition)
by Frank MillerA second edition hardcover of the Eisner Award winner! Carl Seltz is a suburban insurance investigator, a loving husband, and devoted father. Nixon is a berserk, homicidal tax collector racking up mind-boggling body counts in a diseased urban slaughterhouse. Unit Four is the ultimate robot killing machine and the last hope of the future's enslaved mechanical servants. And they're all the same psychotic entity.
Hard-Boiled Sentimentality: The Secret History of American Crime Stories
by Leonard CassutoLeonard Cassuto's cultural history links the testosterone-saturated heroes of American crime stories to the sensitive women of the nineteenth-century sentimental novel. From classics like The Big Sleep and The Talented Mr. Ripley to neglected paperback gems, Cassuto chronicles the dialogue--centered on the power of sympathy--between these popular genres and the sweeping social changes of the twentieth century, ending with a surprising connection between today's serial killers and the domestic fictions of long ago.
The Hard Bounce
by Todd RobinsonThe debut novel from the creator of Thuglit.Boo Malone lost everything when he was sent to St. Gabriel's Home for Boys. There, he picked up a few key survival skills; a wee bit of an anger management problem; and his best friend for life, Junior. Now adults, Boo and Junior have a combined weight of 470 pounds (mostly Boo's), about ten grand in tattoos (mostly Junior's), and a talent for wisecracking banter. Together, they provide security for The Cellar, a Boston nightclub where the bartender Audrey doles out hugs and scoldings for her favorite misfits, and the night porter, Luke, expects them to watch their language. At last Boo has found a family.But when Boo and Junior are hired to find Cassandra, a well-to-do runaway slumming among the authority-shy street kids, Boo sees in the girl his own long-lost younger sister. And as the case deepens with evidence that Cassie is being sexually exploited, Boo's blind desire for justice begins to push his surrogate family's loyalty to the breaking point. Cassie's life depends on Boo's determination to see the case through, but that same determination just might finally drive him and Junior apart. What's looking like an easy payday is turning into a hard bounce--for everyone.
Hard Candy
by Andrew VachssIn this mercilessly compelling thriller, Burke--the private eye, sting artist, and occasional hit man who metes out a cruelly ingenious vengeance on those who victimize children--is up against a soft-spoken messiah who may be rescuing runaways or recruiting them for his own hideous purposes. But in doing so Burke becomes a target for an entire Mafia family, a whore with a heart of cyanide, and a contract killer as implacable as a heart-seeking missile. Written with Vachss' signature narrative overdrive--and with his unnerving familiarity with the sub-basement of American crime--Hard Candy is vintage Burke.
Hard Case Crime: Blackmailer
by George AxelrodFrom the Academy Award nominated screenwriter of Breakfast at Tiffany's and The Manchurian Candidate comes a breathtaking story of murder and mischief… It's the story of a big-game hunter, fisherman, fighter, visitor to Cuba, drunk, and Nobel Prize-winning author, recently deceased of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, whose final unpublished manuscript could fetch a mint… It's the story of a short, balding man with a high-pitched voice and a vicious wit, whose cocktail parties are the talk of the town, especially when a beautiful woman dies at one of them… It's the story of Hollywood’s sexiest starlet, who manages to conceal things even when she’s wearing nothing but a towel… …and it’s the story of Dick Sherman, intrepid New York publisher, on the trail of the literary find of the century – and the killer who will stop at nothing to keep it from being found.
Hard Case Crime: The Vengeful Virgin
by Gil BrewerWhat beautiful 18-year-old would want to spend her life taking care of an invalid? Not Shirley Angela. But that’s the life she was trapped in – until she met Jack. Now Shirley and Jack have a plan to put the old man out of his misery and walk away with a suitcase full of cash. But there’s nothing like money to come between lovers – money, and other women…
Hard Case Crime: Quarry's Ex
by Max Allan CollinsEven the enigmatic hit man called Quarry had to start somewhere. And for him that was the day he returned stateside from Nam to find his young wife cheating. He'd killed plenty overseas, so killing her lover was no big deal. And when he was recruited to use his skills as a contract killer, that transition was easy, too. He survived in this jungle as he had in that other one -- by expecting trouble.
Hard Case Crime: The Last Quarry
by Max Allan CollinsQUARRY'S BACK - FOR HIS TOUGHEST JOB EVER.The ruthless professional killer known as Quarry long ago disappeared into a well-earned retirement. But now a media magnate has lured the restless hitman into tackling one last lucrative assignment. The target is an unlikely one: Why, Quarry wonders, would anyone want a beautiful young librarian dead?And why in hell does he care?On the 30th anniversary of the enigmatic assassin's first appearance, bestselling author Max Allan Collins brings him back for a dark and deadly mission where the last quarry may turn out to be Quarry himself.
Hard Case Crime: Quarry in the Middle
by Max Allan CollinsThe enigmatic hitman Quarry -- star of seven celebrated novels and an award-winning feature film (The Last Lullaby) -- is back in this violent, steamy tale of warring crime families. When two Godfathers set out to bump each other off, guess who winds up with both contracts....
Hard Case Crime: Money Shot
by Christa FaustAngel Dare, a retired porn star and owner of an adult modeling agency, seeks revenge on the people who framed her for murder after locking her in the trunk of a car, battered, raped, and shot
Hard Case Crime: House Dick
by E. Howard HuntHouse Dick is one of Hunt’s very best, a classic hardboiled story of a detective in a Washington D.C. hotel (no, not that hotel) investigating a twisty tale of burglary and murder, of skullduggery under cover of darkness, of deception and shifting loyalties – and of the price you pay when you trust the wrong people…
Hard Case Crime: Passport To Peril
by Robert B. ParkerDecades before Robert Brown Parker began writing his books about Spenser, a man named Robert Bogardus Parker (1905-1955) penned this extraordinary novel of post-war intrigue. From the corridors and compartments of the Orient Express to the shadowy, ruined streets of Budapest - which he saw firsthand as a foreign correspondent during World War II - Parker takes you on a nightmare tour of a land where life is cheap, old hatreds run strong, and a couple of Americans can find themselves in more danger than they ever imagined. With all the immediacy of the wartime dispatches Parker filed from Turkey, Danzig, Warsaw, and Bucharest and all the authority of a man who himself spent three years crossing borders without a passport and narrowly avoiding arrest by the Gestapo, PASSPORT TO PERIL paints a heart-stopping picture of desperate men in a desperate time.
Hard Case Crime: Stop This Man!
by Peter RabeSOME MEN AND SOME MERCHANDISE ARE JUST TOO HOT TO HANDLE... All Tony Catell knew when he broke into the university science lab was that they had a gold ingot on the premises for some sort of experiment. So he stole it. What he didn’t know was that the experiment involved nuclear power – and that the gold was dangerously radioactive. Now the cops and the FBI are on Tony’s trail, Tony’s underworld contacts don’t want anything to do with him, and the loot he’s lugging around is leaving a swath of radiation sickness and death in his path. And since he’s just come from his third stint in prison, if they catch him, he’s not going back to jail – he’s going to the electric chair…