Two years ago, Harry Rane’s wife died after a bout with cancer. Then, grief-stricken and careless, he went back to his job as a New Jersey state cop and got shot in the line of duty. He took early retirement, and now lives in an old farmhouse in rural New Jersey and takes life one day at a time. It’s not much, but he gets by. Things change when an old friend from his grade school days in Long Branch calls him for help. Bobby was Harry’s best friend until high school graduation, but when Harry went to the police academy Bobby went another way, working, dealing a little on the side. Now he’s taken one last chance and gotten in over his head for $50,000 to Eddie Fallon, a local crime boss. Harry goes to see Fallon on Bobby’s behalf, hoping to work something out, but it’s hard to negotiate with a man like Fallon, and things quickly get complicated, and dangerous. He does learn, too, that he and Fallon have something in common --- Fallon’s wife is an ex-girlfriend Harry hasn’t seen since he was eighteen, a girl who was pregnant with his child when she ran away. In this brooding, blistering debut set against the spare, atmospheric background of downstate New Jersey, Harry gets caught between his past and his future, between right and vengeance.

The Barbed-Wire Kiss: A Novel

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Stroby, Wallace

Mystery

Minotaur Books

The Heartbreak Lounge (Harry Rane Novels)

Ex-state trooper Harry Rane, who first appeared in Wallace Stroby's brilliant debut novel, The Barbed-Wire Kiss, is at loose ends. Doing some investigative work for a friend's firm just to keep himself busy, Harry meets Nikki Ellis, a woman desperate for help. Her ex, Johnny Harrow, was just released from prison after a seven-year stretch for attempted murder. Nikki hasn't spoken to him since he went down, but she knows what he's capable of, and that he'll be looking for her-and for the baby she put up for adoption after Johnny went away. She knows it's up to her to protect the child once again. And she's afraid. As Harry finds out, she should be. Johnny is headed home to New Jersey to settle up with anyone who did him wrong while he was gone, including Nikki and his former employer, mobster Joey Alea. Then he's planning to find his son and start a new life. Johnny starts at the Heartbreak Lounge, where Nikki was a dancer when she first met Johnny, and works his way through their old life, leaving a trail of blood and fear in his wake. Only Harry might be tough enough-or reckless enough-to help her. What happens next shows why the searing talent and explosive writing evident in The Barbed-Wire Kiss was only the beginning, and why Wallace Stroby is destined to be one of the finest crime writers of a generation.

Literature & Fiction

United States

Career-criminal Crissa Stone never works too close to home, or with the same crew, or rushes a job. These rules have kept her from doing any time. They're the rules her mentor and lover taught her, rules he didn't follow as closely as he should've. Now he's up for parole, and Crissa needs to come up with the money to help grease the wheels. Word is that there's an illegal card game set for less than a week from now. The take? Plenty. Desperate, Crissa slaps a plan together, but when one of her crew starts shooting, she catches the attention of Eddie the Saint. A hit man, Eddie is no less of a pro than Crissa, and he could use the work.
One of the most talented writers working in crime fiction today, Wallace Stroby's Cold Shot to the Heart is a tight, propulsive story that will hold readers captive until well after all the crooks have fled the scene.

Cold Shot to the Heart (Crissa Stone Novels, 1)

It’s late at night when Florida sheriff’s deputy Sara Cross arrives at the scene of a roadside shooting along a deserted highway. Another deputy, Billy Flynn, her former partner, who also happens to be her former lover, has fatally shot a twenty-two-year-old man during what started out as a routine traffic stop, and she’s the first to arrive on the scene. He claims that the man pulled a gun, and that when he didn’t respond to Billy’s commands to drop it, Billy shot him. Billy is clearly upset, shaken up; Sarah sees the gun in the dead man’s hand and the bag of illegal weapons in the trunk of his car and believes Billy’s actions were justified. Up north in New Jersey, Mikey-Mike runs a major drug operation and is tightening his hold on the competition, making a deal with a new supplier. Morgan, a middle-aged enforcer for Mikey who’s been in the life too long, would like to make one last score, walk away, and retire for good. Mike asks Morgan to head to Florida to find out what’s holding up his new deal, and Morgan sees the job as a possibility for his last big payday. As more details of the roadside shooting emerge with Sara’s investigation, and as Morgan follows the trail Mikey lays out for him, the two storylines begin to merge into a much darker, more menacing scenario than either Morgan or Sara imagined. Sara, in order to protect herself and her son, must follow the truth no matter where it leads. Acclaimed crime writer Wallace Stroby delivers a gripping novel that is part modern noir, part intense character study---and totally compelling from start to finish.

Gone 'til November

“Just when you think that you can’t be surprised anymore, a writer like Wallace Stroby ups the ante.” ---Laura Lippman, author of I’d Know You Anywhere Crissa Stone is a career criminal. A complete pro, she never works too close to her New York City home, rarely signs on with the same crew, and never rushes a job. These are the rules that have kept her from getting caught, from doing time. They’re the rules her mentor and lover taught her, rules he didn’t follow as closely as he should’ve. Now he’s up for parole, and Crissa needs to come up with some real money real fast to help grease the wheels. Word is that there’s an illegal card game set for less than a week from now. The take? As much as seven figures. Desperate, Crissa slaps a plan and a crew together. It’s robbery, not murder. But when one of her crew loses his cool and they have to abandon the plan, she catches the attention of Eddie the Saint. A hit man recently released from prison, Eddie is no less of a pro than Crissa, and he could use the work, not to mention all that money. One of the most talented writers working in crime fiction today, Wallace Stroby has written a tight, propulsive story that will hold readers captive until well after all the crooks have fled the scene.

Cold Shot to the Heart (Crissa Stone Novels)

Long Branch, Asbury Park, Ocean Grove. The Jersey Shore ain't what it used to be, but ex-state trooper Harry Rane still calls it home. After his wife's death, Harry got careless, got shot, and he left the force. He's a changed man, leads a quiet life, except when it comes to helping his friends...
Now an old buddy of Harry's wants a big favor. He owes $50,000 to a Jersey crime boss and needs Harry to get him more time to repay the loan. That sounds like a plan...except for the green-eyed, redheaded complication. The mobster's married to a gorgeous lady who once fell hard for Harry. And history is about to repeat itself.
Trying to help his friend pay off his debt but inexorably drawn to the girl, soon Harry is between a rock and a hard place. His chances of getting up and staying alive look to be about a million to one.... in Wallace Stroby's brooding, blistering debut The Barbed-Wire Kiss.

The Barbed-Wire Kiss: A Novel (Harry Rane Novels, 1)

Literary

Ex-state trooper Harry Rane, who first appeared in Wallace Stroby's brilliant debut novel, The Barbed-Wire Kiss, is at loose ends. Doing some investigative work for a friend's firm just to keep himself busy, Harry meets Nikki Ellis, a woman desperate for help. Her ex, Johnny Harrow, was just released from prison after a seven-year stretch for attempted murder. Nikki hasn't spoken to him since he went down, but she knows what he's capable of, and that he'll be looking for her-and for the baby she put up for adoption after Johnny went away. She knows it's up to her to protect the child once again. And she's afraid. 
As Harry finds out, she should be. Johnny is headed home to New Jersey to settle up with anyone who did him wrong while he was gone, including Nikki and his former employer, mobster Joey Alea. Then he's planning to find his son and start a new life.
Johnny starts at the Heartbreak Lounge, where Nikki was a dancer when she first met Johnny, and works his way through their old life, leaving a trail of blood and fear in his wake. Only Harry might be tough enough-or reckless enough-to help her. What happens next shows why the searing talent and explosive writing evident in The Barbed-Wire Kiss was only the beginning, and why Wallace Stroby is destined to be one of the finest crime writers of a generation.

The Heartbreak Lounge: A Novel (Harry Rane Novels, 2)

When Florida sheriff's deputy Sara Cross arrives on the scene of a roadside shooting, she finds another deputy, Billy Flynn, has killed a twenty-two-year-old man. Clearly shaken up, Billy―Sara's former partner and lover―claims the man pulled a gun, and after she takes look at the scene, including the illegal weapons in the trunk, she believes Billy's actions were justified.
In New Jersey, Mikey-Mike runs a drug operation that's making a deal with a new supplier. When it hits a snag, Mike sends Morgan―an enforcer who's been in the life too long―to Florida to check it out.
But as details of the shooting emerge and as Morgan follows the trail Mikey lays out for him, the story lines merge into an even more menacing scenario than either Morgan or Sara could've imagined.
Acclaimed crime writer Wallace Stroby delivers a gripping novel in Gone 'til November that is part modern noir, part intense character study, and totally compelling from start to finish.

Gone 'til November: A Novel

After a seven-year stretch inside a Florida penitentiary for attempted murder, Johnny Harrow knows exactly what he'll do when he gets out. He's going home to the shabby Jersey shore town where his girlfriend Nikki made the most selfless decision of her hard life: Giving up their newborn son for adoption. It's time for Johnny to claim what's his…Nikki made one terrible mistake--she didn't tell Johnny her decision until the child was gone. She knows Johnny never forgets…or forgives. She also knows what he's capable of. It's up to her to protect the child once again… Desperate to save the child from the seething menace that is Johnny Harrow, Nikki turns to former New Jersey state trooper Harry Rane for help. Now, an investigator, Rane must crawl through the darkest corners of the New Jersey underworld to find Johnny and stop him. But Johnny Harrow isn't a man who's often caught unaware…and so the game begins.

St. Martin's Paperbacks

Long Branch, Asbury Park, Ocean Grove. The Jersey Shore ain't what it used to be, but ex-state trooper Harry Rane still calls it home. After his wife's death, Harry got careless, got shot, and he left the force. He's a changed man, leads a quiet life, except when it comes to helping his friends...Now an old buddy of Harry's wants a big favor. He owes $50,000 to a Jersey crime boss and needs Harry to get him more time to repay the loan. That sounds like a plan...except for the green-eyed, redheaded complication. The mobster's married to a gorgeous lady who once fell hard for Harry. And history is about to repeat itself.Trying to help his friend pay off his debt but inexorably drawn to the girl, soon Harry is between a rock and a hard place. His chances of getting up and staying alive look to be about a million to one....

The Barbed-Wire Kiss: A Novel (Harry Rane Novels)

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Stroby, Wallace. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Stroby, Wallace

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Stroby, Wallace. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Barbed-Wire Kiss: A Novel

The Heartbreak Lounge (Harry Rane Novels)

Cold Shot to the Heart (Crissa Stone Novels, 1)

Gone 'til November

Cold Shot to the Heart (Crissa Stone Novels)

The Barbed-Wire Kiss: A Novel (Harry Rane Novels, 1)

The Heartbreak Lounge: A Novel (Harry Rane Novels, 2)

Gone 'til November: A Novel

The Heartbreak Lounge (Harry Rane Novels)

The Barbed-Wire Kiss: A Novel (Harry Rane Novels)