Bøger udgivet af Stark House Press

THE OLD BATTLE-AXIt all starts with a lie. Mrs. Herriott's sister Madge has come back from Europe for a visit, but is found dead on the sidewalk outside the gate the next morning. Mrs. Herriott is only trying to protect her sister's reputation when she tells the police that she has no idea who the dead woman is. But one lie leads to another. Silas, her chauffeur, aids her in the lie. Her niece Carla even dresses up like her sister to continue the deception. But why is everyone trying to keep Madge's death such a secret? Before long Mrs. Herriott is caught up in a web of deception that seems to have no end. In this world of lies, is there anyone who can be trusted? And more importantly, is there anyone who should be trusted?DARK POWER"The Châlet was a house easy to get into, but not so easy to leave. . ." Diana Leonard comes to the Châlet at the invitation of her long-lost uncle, but soon finds that her visions of a family reunion are shattered by feelings of dread and suspicion. HerAunt Emma is a stern, domineering woman, a professor of psychology who conducts experiments on two cretin children who live with her. Uncle Peter himself is either a fool or a sadist, and Di can't figure out which. Their son, her cousin Miles, is a guilt-ridden alcoholic, his confidence long ago destroyed by his manipulating mother. And then there's her grandfather Rufus, a rich eccentric who comes to stay but who spends every moment in fear for his life from the rest of the family. It will take every ounce of Diana's courage to survive her stay in the Châlet-and an even greater act of will to survive her family.

In this superb coming of age story from the author of One for Hell, we meet 15-year-old Jeff Carr as he learns to cope with the harsh realities of life while growing up in Texas in the 1930's. Filled with attempted murder, hidden secrets and family scandals, Midnight Road is published here for the first time.

LITTLE MEN, BIG WORLD Ben Reisman, veteran columnist for the Journal, is bored. So when he stumbles across a reference to a character known as “De Ark,” an underworld person who seems to operate without anyone knowing about him, he is intrigued. “De Ark” is in fact, Mr. Orral Wanty, Arky to his friends, the right hand man of the Mover, the man who really runs the city. Arky’s control is so tight, even Commissioner Stark, the zealous law-and-order crusader, has never heard of him. But Arky’s hand is everywhere. He’s the man Leon Sollas, front for the syndicate, makes his weekly payment to—and he’s the man who Sollas goes to when he wants out. But Arky’s got problems of his own. The Big City Boys want to move in. His woman, Anna, wants a baby. And somewhere, hot on his trail, is a newspaper man in search of a story…  VANITY ROW    Police Captain Roy Hargis is the Administration’s fair-haired boy, only answering to Chad Bayliss, the city’s political boss. Most of the officers are in awe of him. Hargis can do no wrong. He knows how to cut to the heart of a case and bring the facts home to the D.A.’s office. So when rich lawyer Frank Hobart is shot down in cold blood, it looks open and shut. Hobart had been fooling around with a babe named Ilona Vance, things got out of hand, and she kills him. But Hargis doesn’t figure it that way—not after he meets Miss Vance. Because Ilona Vance is a force to be reckoned with, not merely beautiful, but so desirable it almost hurts. Hargis will go to any lengths to get her off, but he’s up against it this time. The syndicate wants to see her burn, Bayliss wants a quick conviction, and Hargis is finding his tough shell has been thoroughly cracked.

THE UNFINISHED CRIME Andrew Branscombe has been courting Hilda Patrell in his old-fashioned, priggish way.  He doesn’t realize that, though separated from her husband, she is still married.  So when Charles Patrell returns and begins to interfere with his plans, Andrew accidentally kills him in a fit of rage and fear.  At first panicked, his terror turns to exhilaration as he realizes that he can get away with the deed.  All he has to do is keep everyone from the truth. First there is his sister Eva, who is trusting enough to believe everything he tells her.  And there is Hilda and her thirteen-year-old daughter, Coralie, Charles’s daughter.  And Charles’s old friend, Vincent Colton, who shows up looking him.  And Charles’s young live-in girlfriend, Blanche, who must be dealt with.  And of course there’s Jerry, who unfortunately appears at exactly the wrong moment, but ends up helping him get rid of the body—and now won’t go away.  Fortunately for Andrew he is up to the task—daring and clever fellow that he is—because a lesser man would surely be caught.        THE GIRL WHO HAD TO DIE “I’m going to be murdered,” she said in her muffled, sad little voice.  Jocelyn is only nineteen but is convinced that she is going to die.  She meets John Killian on a cruise ship heading back to New York.  And when later than night she falls over the rail and into the ocean, it looks like her prediction had come true.  Imagine Killian’s surprise when the rescued Jocelyn insists that he was the one who had pushed her. She’s poison, he thought. She can’t help that, anymore than a rattlesnake can help it.  But you have to get away from her.  When they dock, Jocelyn convinces Killian to accompany her to the Bells for a visit.  She’s claims that she is in love with Killian, and will keep his secret.  And then one of the passengers, Elly L’O, and the ship’s purser, Chauverney, also show up at the Bells, followed by Angelo, who had been their ship’s waiter.  Each one seems to have a connection to Jocelyn—even Mr. and Mrs. Bell--and it soon becomes clear to Killian that they are bonds of hate.  But Jocelyn claims innocence.  Is he being groomed to be her next victim—or her murderer?

THE SUN WORSHIPPERS Gamage is on his way to Thebes, the Southern California desert town that Colonel Martinka built-up with his date plantations. Now the eccentric Colonel is building a pyramid in the desert and the land boom is ready to begin. Gamage is an ex-newspaperman-turned-film-writer who’s burned a few bridges in Hollywood. He’s been hired to write Martinka’s story for the family and prepare the world for the coming land grab. How was he to know that Ginny would be there, married to the Colonel’s son Frank. He thought he’d seen the last of her in Europe, the night she ran out on him. How could he know he’d meet Conny, who would become his Girl Friday, and perhaps something more. And how could he know he would find respect for the old recluse himself, trapped behind the layers of family fear and fabrication. Thebes is waiting like a desert mirage and Gamage is on his way to find it—and himself. YELLOWLEG Yellowleg rides into town with Turk and his sidekick Billy. He’s got a bullet in his shoulder that needs tending—he can barely shoot straight. But Yellowleg carries more than a bullet—he’s got the scars from a scalping he received from a drunken Confederate soldier, and nothing but hate in his heart. Turk and Billy are there to rob the local bank but another group beats them to it, and that’s when Yellowleg accidentally kills a young boy thanks to his bum shooting arm. Now, filled with guilt, Yellowleg is on a journey through Apache country with the beautiful widow, Kit, who is determined to bury her son next to his father. Turk and Billy have other plans. Turk wants the bank money. Billy wants the widow. And Yellowleg still wants his revenge. It’s going to be a long, hard ride.