Bøger udgivet af Down & Out Books

John Headston is a private detective who, early in his career, was very successful, running a 12-man operation called THE HEADSTONE DETECTIVE AGENCY, mainly because the guy who painted the name on the door added the "e" at the end without realizing it was wrong.As the book opens, however, Headston is now 50, and the agency is down to just him. In his past he had run-ins with not only the law, but with the New York State Agency who had licensed him. As a result he spent some time in jail, and had his license revoked. Now he has it back, and is trying to get started again.His first case is a missing persons case, a wealthy woman whose husband just seems to have vanished from his Wall Street stockbroker job. Headston finds the man, who is now living under very odd circumstances, but the missing persons case quickly turns to murder. Aided by a tattooed young lady who decides she should work for him, Headston decides to work on the murder case, while attempting to avoid running afoul of the law and having his licensed revoked again-and possibly for good, this time.

San Francisco. Late September, 2004.The Giants are hanging on to the slim hope of a spot in the Major League baseball playoffs.The Forty-Niners are hoping for their first win of the season after three losses.Vinnie "Strings" Stradivarius is in the intensive care ward at St. Francis Memorial Hospital-and Jake Diamond is hoping Vinnie will both survive and avoid a homicide indictment if he pulls through.Vinnie has been double-crossed, shot and left for dead at a crime scene, and he is the chief suspect in the murder of one of the city's most influential businessmen.Anyone who knows Vinnie knew he wouldn't hurt a fly.But the District Attorney and the San Francisco Police Department brass don't know him-and they don't care. Pressure from the Mayor's Office and the public is calling for a quick indictment and conviction-and Vinnie is handy.Jake Diamond has a strong dislike of the double-cross. If asked why the chicken crossed the road, Jake would suggest the road had crossed the chicken.In a race against time-with the help of Darlene Roman, Detective Sergeant Roxton Johnson of the SFPD, Sonny "The Chin" Badalamenti, bookmaker William "Big Bill" Conway, and Mob Underboss Tony Carlucci-Jake frantically scrambles to find answers before the case is closed with Vinnie taking the fall.In Abramo's first Jake Diamond mystery since the Shamus Award-winning Circling the Runway, Jake is determined to prove that you cross the chicken at your own risk.Praise for the Jake Diamond mysteries:"One of my all-time favorite PI series." -Steve Hamilton, Edgar Award-winning author of The Lock Artist"Think it's impossible to find a new take on the wise-cracking San Francisco PI? Meet Jake Diamond and think again…sharp and smart, convincing and complex." -S.J. Rozan, Edgar Award-winning author of Absent Friends

Private investigator August Riordan returns to San Francisco to avenge the death of his friend and one-time partner, Chris Duckworth. Duckworth has taken over Riordan’s old business, his old office and even his old apartment, and Riordan suspects Duckworth’s death is linked to the missing person case he was working when he died.An alluring young woman named Angelina hired Duckworth to look for her half-sister, but what Riordan finds instead is a murderous polyamorous family intent on claiming a previously unknown manuscript from dead Beat writer Jack Kerouac.Following clues from Duckworth and a trail of mutilated bodies left by the family, Riordan soon realizes that avenging his partner will first involve recovering the manuscript—and then saving Angelina and himself from kidnap, torture and death. As the bodies pile up, Riordan must work with old allies and enemies to untangle Duckworth’s last case before time runs out.

Upon being released after three years of incarceration in a psychiatric facility, former narcotics detective and unlicensed PI Trevor Galloway has no idea how to begin picking up the pieces of his shattered life. Having lost the woman he loved and exacting revenge upon those responsible, he is irreparably broken, heavily medicated, and unemployable.When former Secret Service agent Nick Van Metre knocks on Trevor Galloway’s door, the last thing he expected was a job offer. However when the head of Metal Security hands Galloway a stack of photos and asks for his assistance with investigating a series of threats against a controversial presidential candidate, the former detective is stunned.Galloway initially takes the case, but eventually has to question his own sanity after he reports an encounter with intruders who seem to have left no trace in his home. When Nick Van Metre turns up dead and an attack is carried out against Dennis Hackney, the former detective with a history of extreme violence becomes the focal point of multiple investigations.Galloway pulls clues from photos and searches for answers while dodging bullets in Pittsburgh and Savannah.Get set for a mystery told at a breakneck pace, with each of the chapters being linked to photograph in roll of film.Look for the hints. Watch for the signs. Trevor Galloway doesn’t trust himself. Can you trust him?The answers won’t be revealed until the final photo is flipped.Praise for FORGIVENESS DIES:“Is someone setting Trevor Galloway up, or is his own mind deceiving him? Forgiveness Dies puts a uniquely fascinating protagonist—a detective who can’t trust his own perceptions—into a complex political thriller, and the result is propulsive. Hensley starts with a punch, and accelerates from there.” —Joseph Finder, New York Times bestselling author of Judgment and The Switch“Inventive storytelling meets propulsive action in this wild thrill ride from J.J. Hensley, who brings real-life experiences to the page and delivers an authentic tale of double-crosses and dirty dealings. Don’t worry if you haven’t stepped into Trevor Galloway’s shadowy world yet…start right here, and you’ll soon want to read them all!” —Daniel Palmer, USA Today bestselling author of Stolen and Saving Meghan“A snapshot of humanity in perfect focus. Edgy, furiously paced, raw. From the whip-smart dialogue to the deeply flawed characters, Hensley has a voice that will stay with you long after the final exposure.” —K.J. Howe, author of The Freedom Broker and Skyjack“Forgiveness Dies is a non-stop, gut churning thriller that you’ll read in one sitting. Hensley has conceived a brilliant but almost fatally flawed protagonist in Trevor Galloway, a man so tormented by his past that in the battle for truth and justice he’s forced to fight enemies that are dangerously real, and some that only real to him. J.J. Hensley is one of the best thriller writers out there, and he sits at the top of my must-read list.” —Mark Pryor, author of the Hugo Marston series“With Trevor Galloway, the tortured, likable protagonist of J.J. Hensley’s Forgiveness Dies, Hensley has created a character destined to remain with the reader long after the last page is turned. Not only that, but readers will find themselves inextricably pulled into a tight plot that bears a brutally close, and necessary, resemblance to today’s America. Read this book, and you’ll want to read everything else Hensley has written.” —E.A. Aymar, author of The Unrepentant

Starting in the Humboldt wilds and ending on the Skid Row of Los Angeles, Skunk Train follows two teenagers, Kyle and Lizzie, who stumble upon stolen drug money and set off to find Kyle's father, a Hollywood director he's never met, with drug dealers, dirty cops, and the Mexican mob on their heels.Kyle Gill, fifteen, lives with his older cousin, Deke, in the backwater Northern California town of Dormundt. Kyle has been cutting class for the past three weeks. When Kyle returns home one afternoon, he discovers Deke and his business partner, Jimmy, are holding one hundred pounds of marijuana, which they discovered abandoned at their dealer's house. Knowing people will soon come looking for the dope, Deke and Jimmy set up a quick deal at the Skunk Train Inn, a skeezy roadside motel, but the buyers turn out to be dirty cops. In the ensuing melee, Deke is killed, Jimmy escapes, and the dirty cops flee. Kyle takes off in Jimmy's truck with the money that was transferred before the shootout.On a mission to find his father, Kyle heads to San Francisco, where he meets Lizzie Decker, a wealthy high school senior, whose father has just been arrested for embezzlement. Together, Kyle and Lizzie join forces, but are soon pursued by Jimmy, the two dirty cops, and the Mexican cartel, as a third detective closes in, attempting to tie loose threads and solve the Skunk Train murders.Drawing on novels featuring teenage protagonists such as Rule of the Bone and Catcher in the Rye, Skunk Train is a modern-day love story set against the backdrop of the NorCal marijuana trade. Like No Country for Old Men, the book is steeped in the colloquial. It is a fast-paced thriller, which tests the bonds of family and shows the lengths desperate people will go to keep a secret and protects the ones they love.

It starts as a mission to honor a fallen comrade. It becomes a mission for justice.On a personal journey to return an heirloom to the father of his former colleague and lover, Jim Grant isn't sure what to expect in the dusty flatlands of Texas. He isn't expecting trouble from the local cowboys, but trouble is what he gets. With instincts honed from years as a covert operator, Grant is a small town's last hope against an army of good old boys and a violent kingpin who has everything to lose. And if he manages to keep his boots above ground he may just be able to lay to rest the memory of a soldier who died too soon.Praise for the books by Colin Campbell:"Very real. And very good." -Lee ChildThe Resurrection Man Series"A cop with a sharp eye, keen mind, and a lion's heart." -Reed Farrel Coleman"Campbell writes smart, rollercoaster tales with unstoppable forward momentum and thrilling authenticity. The Resurrection Man series is a blast." -Nick Petrie"Grim and gritty and packed with action and crackling dialogue." -Kirkus Review, for Jamaica Plain"Action packed. Tough-as-nails. The pages fly like the bullets, fistfights and one-liners that make this one of my favourite books of the year. Top stuff!" -Matt Hilton"Campbell's wry maverick Grant never fails to entertain." -Kirkus Review, for Montecito Heights"Sets up immediately and maintains a breakneck pace throughout. Its smart structure and unrelenting suspense will please Lee Child fans." -Library Journal Review"Harkens back to the gritty action series of the 70s and 80s, with a stylish noir voice." -Kirkus Reviews, for Adobe Flats"Crackerjack entertainment: taut, gritty and full of devilish twists." -Kirkus Reviews, for Snake Pass"Hard-hitting action and Grant's dry wit make this a rollicking good time." -Library Journal Review"Campbell's Beacon Hill is a great tale of violence and intrigue, stretching across the Atlantic and back again. In it, Jim Grant proves he is the real deal." -Reed Farrel ColemanThe UK Crime Novels"This is police procedural close-up and personal. A strong debut with enough gritty realism to make your eyes water, and a few savage laughs along the way." -Reginald Hill, for Through the Ruins of Midnight"An excellent story well told. A mixture of The Choirboys meets Harry Bosch." -Michael Jecks"Campbell's 30 years as a Yorkshire policeman infuse this unusual procedural with grim reality and the harsh humor that helps keep the coppers sane." -Kirkus Review, for Blue Knight White Cross"Every detail feels authentic, and Campbell's dark, muscular prose suggests the best pulp writers of the '50s." -Kirkus Review, for Northern Ex

Some have called Gary Waid’s unconventional Dancing Bear a self-incriminating, self-flagellant, self-abusive paean to the underbelly of American moral decadence. But if you’d like to read mostly-true stories about marijuana smuggling or federal prison, or even running from the law, this is the book for you.Not since Portnoy’s Complaint has there been such a sad-sack confession. And Waid won’t let you stop laughing until the last page.

Joe Ricker writes with a voice reminiscent of Jim Thompson and Raymond Carver. This collection of stories is set in the darkest corners of New England, where the damaged American underbelly emerges. The characters in these stories will challenge every notion you have of right and wrong, and you'll quickly realize that you've probably passed some of the characters in these stories on the streets. Be glad you kept walking. Walkin' After Midnight is a searing and poignant representation of the shadowy side of humanity, the part of our culture that we don't want to believe exists. But it does, and the author that Esquire referred to as "A man of letters who's gentle in the way that only the toughest of hard-asses can be" has brought it to your doorstep. Praise for WALKIN' AFTER MIDNIGHT: "Joe Ricker is a hard-boiled poet in the tradition of Charles Bukowski. He writes of lonely, scarred men, damaged women, and of haunted places we all know. These shorts are served straight up with no chaser. Like the best of noir, it's about people with few options and often no way out. Highly recommended."-Ace Atkins, New York Times bestselling author of The Forsaken and The Redeemers "Tough yet lyrical, bristling with hard-won wisdom, these stories knock you out of any comfort zone you may have found and into the red. Ricker knows people, violence and landscape. He knows truth, too. And these stories beat their fists like drums."-Tom Franklin, New York Times bestselling author of Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter "Joe Ricker's stories are like windows with ragged blinds twisted open to reveal the lives that go on all around us, in spite of us, and sometimes are us. His characters are dark, desperate, and fascinatingly vivid. Read Ricker and have your eyes opened."-Gerry Boyle, international bestselling author of Once Burned, a Jack McMorrow mystery "Walkin' after Midnight crackles with danger, and this noir collection of short stories announces Joe Ricker as a provocative new talent. His plots swerve and startle as characters emerge from smoky bars, carrying grudges into frozen landscapes. Ricker's style is a turns gritty, raw, and surprisingly tender, while his prose goes down like fine whiskey."-Carla Norton, New York Times bestselling author of Perfect Victim "Ricker writes literary noir. His stories are records of murder and deceit, acts committed by individuals with such considerable damage, and/or in such dire straits, that the actions they commit seem to them logical, and perhaps inevitable. Ricker does not celebrate violence and/or amorality; his fiction talks of such things in carefully crafted, measured prose, and the calm, relentless focus of his narratorial voice presents his characters, their actions and their pasts, without judgment, so that we readers may apply our own. In this manner, his writing becomes highly moral; it asks us to look at actions and decisions that are alien to many of us, and to find empathy where we might otherwise be inclined to turn away." -Christopher Coake, PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize