The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2024 (Best American Mystery Stories)

Literature & Fiction

Cosby, S.A.

Cha, Steph

Genre Fiction

Mariner Books

From the Academy Award-winning, Grammy-winning, and New York Times bestselling author Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and the New York Times bestselling author S. A. Cosby comes this thrill-a-minute novel--the first in a rollicking time-travel adventure series that's perfect for fans of Amari and the Night Brothers and Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky. Seventh grader Rahim Reynolds loves testing out the gadgets invented by his brilliant friend Kasia Collins. First there were the X-ray glasses and all the trouble they caused. Now there's the new cell phone she built for his birthday, even though his parents won't let him have one. But Rahim is excited to use the phone to search for videos of his favorite old-school rap group. What he doesn't know is the phone has a special battery that interfaces with a secret government satellite, which spells trouble when the phone transports him back to 1997. Almost immediately, he learns what every time traveler before him has: Actions in the past jeopardize the future. With Kasia as his only lifeline to the present, Rahim works with her to get home unscathed, all the while dodging bullies (on his end) and suspicious government agents (on hers). Philadelphia in the late nineties is a new world for Rahim and Kasia, but it is a familiar place for Questlove, who, alongside S. A. Cosby, delivers a high-velocity tale where two best friends discover that sometimes the best beat is the one that brings you back home.

The Rhythm of Time

Children's Books

Questlove

G.P.Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers'

TOUGH. These are not your mother's crime stories. Collecting established writers as well as newcomers to the indie scene, Tough aims to bring readers excellent stories in a dynamite package. This anthology contains 14 hardcore pieces from some of the indie scene's best talent.

Tough: Crime Stories

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Bracken, Michael

LYONS, MATTHEW

Barlow, Tom

Prosch, Richard

Graves, J.D.

Merrigan, Court

Rapacz, Mark

Taylor, J.M.

Mystery

Redneck Press

Airships and sky pirates! Brain Modification chips! Technologically enhanced nymphs! Shakespeare goes punk in this first volume of stories from Writerpunk Press (www.punkwriters.com). Profits to go to PAWS Lynwood (www.paws.org), an animal shelter and wildlife rescue. Ask a bunch of eclectic writers to write stories inspired by one of the greatest dramatists of all time. Cast the stories in various punk genres: Cyber, Tesla, Diesel, Steam, Clock. Result: an innovative collection of stories inspired by the Bard, with a twist! Punk stories show the path not taken or the path that shouldn't be taken. Let us reshape your world.

Sound & Fury: Shakespeare Goes Punk

COOK, Jeffrey

Gyzander, Carol

Perkins, Katherine

Bennett, Warren C.

Lopez, H. James

Short Stories & Anthologies

Writerpunk Press

The Fast Women and Neon Lights anthology is a wild criminal romp inspired by eighties crime movies and television shows, as well as the wacky, over-the-top eighties style and aesthetic. These eighteen hard-hitting, emotional, and often-hilarious stories written by some of today's top neo-noir authors will disturb you, make you laugh, and most of all, keep you highly entertained from cover to cover! Car thieves, down-on-their-luck Karate guys, out-of-control valley girls, Air Jordan-obssesed clutz robbers, professional opponent wrestlers, aspiring female wrestlers, Oingo Boingo-obsessed cocaine fiends, vice cop mashups, high-stakes gamblers, and heroin-addicted punk rock managers are just a taste of what you'll find in these dark pages!

Fast Women and Neon Lights: Eighties-Inspired Neon Noir

COOPER, PATRICK

Richardson, Kat

Pool, Michael

Lauden, S.W.

Kalteis, Dietrich

Wiebe, Sam

Chen, Sarah M.

Short Stack Books

Blacktop Wasteland: A Novel

Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner *New York Times Notable Book *NPR's Best Books of 2020 *BookPage's #1 Mystery and Suspense of 2020 *Sun Sentinel's #1 Best Mystery of 2020 "I lovedBlacktop Wasteland...[A] fast-paced, bareknuckle thriller."-Stephen King "A roaring, full-throttle thriller, crackling with tension and charm." -The New York Times Book Review "One of the year's strongest novels." -Sun Sentinel A husband, a father, a son, a business owner...And the best getaway driver east of the Mississippi. Beauregard "Bug" Montage is an honest mechanic, a loving husband, and a hard-working dad. Bug knows there's no future in the man he used to be: known from the hills of North Carolina to the beaches of Florida as the best wheelman on the East Coast. He thought he'd left all that behind him, but as his carefully built new life begins to crumble, he finds himself drawn inexorably back into a world of blood and bullets. When a smooth-talking former associate comes calling with a can't-miss jewelry store heist, Bug feels he has no choice but to get back in the driver's seat. And Bug is at his best where the scent of gasoline mixes with the smell of fear. Haunted by the ghost of who he used to be and the father who disappeared when he needed him most, Bug must find a way to navigate this blacktop wasteland...or die trying. LikeOcean's Eleven meetsDrive, with a Southern noir twist, S. A. Cosby'sBlacktop Wasteland is a searing, operatic story of a man pushed to his limits by poverty, race, and his own former life of crime.

United States

Flatiron Books

A New York Times Notable Books of 2020 Like Ocean’s Eleven meets Drive, with a Southern noir twist, S. A. Cosby’s Blacktop Wasteland is a searing, operatic story of a man pushed to his limits by poverty, race, and his own former life of crime.“Sensationally good―new, fresh, real, authentic, twisty, with characters and dilemmas that will break your heart. More than recommended.” ―Lee ChildA husband, a father, a son, a business owner…And the best getaway driver east of the Mississippi.Beauregard “Bug” Montage is an honest mechanic, a loving husband, and a hard-working dad. Bug knows there’s no future in the man he used to be: known from the hills of North Carolina to the beaches of Florida as the best wheelman on the East Coast.He thought he'd left all that behind him, but as his carefully built new life begins to crumble, he finds himself drawn inexorably back into a world of blood and bullets. When a smooth-talking former associate comes calling with a can't-miss jewelry store heist, Bug feels he has no choice but to get back in the driver's seat. And Bug is at his best where the scent of gasoline mixes with the smell of fear.Haunted by the ghost of who he used to be and the father who disappeared when he needed him most, Bug must find a way to navigate this blacktop wasteland...or die trying.\nAmazon.com Review\nOn the face of it, 
Blacktop Wasteland is one in a long list of books riffing on a popular trope: the career criminal who wants just one last bite at the cherry, one last job to set him up for peaceful, affluent retirement. Beauregard “Bug” Montage however, is an African American man, living in the rural south, which leaves him a few steps behind the starting line when it comes to getting ahead. He can’t afford to dream about Mai Tais on the beach. He needs money just to pay for his kid’s braces, to keep his mother from being evicted from her nursing home, and to pay the back rent on his auto body shop, which will be sold to the developers if he can’t catch up. There’s a part of him—driving his Dad’s old racing car, the Duster—that became legendary as the best getaway driver in three states. That part knows what it wants to do: take part in a heist. But the pull between poverty, paternity, and posterity is agonizing: does he want to be Beauregard, the family man flying right, or does he want to be Bug, firing up the Duster to follow in his Dad’s footsteps? 
Blacktop Wasteland is a slick, rural, Southern noir caper threaded with what the author has referred to as “tragic masculinity,” which means it will thrill you and break your heart all at the same time. 
—Vannessa Cronin, Amazon Book Review

Blacktop Wasteland

*INSTANTNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER* "Provocative, violent -- beautiful and moving, too." --Washington Post "Superb...Cuts right to the heart of the most important questions of our times." --Michael Connelly "A tour de force - poignant, action-packed, and profound." --Milwaukee Journal Sentinel A Black father. A white father.Two murdered sons.A quest for vengeance. Ike Randolph has been out of jail for fifteen years, with not so much as a speeding ticket in all that time. But a Black man with cops at the door knows to be afraid. The last thing he expects to hear is that his son Isiah has been murdered, along with Isiah's white husband, Derek. Ike had never fully accepted his son but is devastated by his loss. Derek's father Buddy Lee was almost as ashamed of Derek for being gay as Derek was ashamed of his father's criminal record. Buddy Lee still has contacts in the underworld, though, and he wants to know who killed his boy. Ike and Buddy Lee, two ex-cons with little else in common other than a criminal past and a love for their dead sons, band together in their desperate desire for revenge. In their quest to do better for their sons in death than they did in life, hardened men Ike and Buddy Lee will confront their own prejudices about their sons and each other, as they rain down vengeance upon those who hurt their boys. Provocative and fast-paced, S. A. Cosby'sRazorblade Tearsis a story of bloody retribution, heartfelt change - and maybe even redemption. "A visceral full-body experience, a sharp jolt to the heart, and a treat for the senses...Cosby's moody southern thriller marries the skillful action and plotting of Lee Child with the atmosphere and insight of Attica Locke." --NPR

Razorblade Tears: A Novel

*INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER* New York Times Notable Book * NPR's Best Books of 2021 * Washington Post's Best Thriller and Mystery Books of the Year * TIME Magazine's 100 Must-Read Books of 2021 * New York Public Library's Best Books of the Year * Goodreads Choice Award Nominee * Book of the Month's Book of the Year Finalist "Provocative, violent -- beautiful and moving, too." --Washington Post "Superb...Cuts right to the heart of the most important questions of our times." --Michael Connelly "A tour de force - poignant, action-packed, and profound." --Milwaukee Journal Sentinel A Black father. A white father. Two murdered sons. A quest for vengeance. Ike Randolph has been out of jail for fifteen years, with not so much as a speeding ticket in all that time. But a Black man with cops at the door knows to be afraid. The last thing he expects to hear is that his son Isiah has been murdered, along with Isiah's white husband, Derek. Ike had never fully accepted his son but is devastated by his loss. Derek's father Buddy Lee was almost as ashamed of Derek for being gay as Derek was ashamed of his father's criminal record. Buddy Lee still has contacts in the underworld, though, and he wants to know who killed his boy. Ike and Buddy Lee, two ex-cons with little else in common other than a criminal past and a love for their dead sons, band together in their desperate desire for revenge. In their quest to do better for their sons in death than they did in life, hardened men Ike and Buddy Lee will confront their own prejudices about their sons and each other, as they rain down vengeance upon those who hurt their boys. Provocative and fast-paced, S. A. Cosby's Razorblade Tears is a story of bloody retribution, heartfelt change - and maybe even redemption. "A visceral full-body experience, a sharp jolt to the heart, and a treat for the senses...Cosby's moody southern thriller marries the skillful action and plotting of Lee Child with the atmosphere and insight of Attica Locke." --NPR

Razorblade Tears

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