Tal Howard, a disillusioned Korean War veteran, breaks away from his old life, looking for answers. He's convinced he's going to find them in the small town of Hillston, the location of 60 grand in embezzled funds that Howard learned about from a dying friend in a POW camp. He just needs to find out where the money is hidden and contend with another former POW who has come looking for it—Earl Fitzmartin, a psychopath of whom they were all terrified in the camp. Howard soon learns that the secret to the money's location lies in the dead man's past, which must be discovered through the women he knew, such as the respectable Ruth Stamm and the sultry and dangerous Toni Rassele. Now featuring a new biography of John D. MacDonald and an essay exploring the paperback revolution of the mid-20th century, this early novel by a crime writing legend features classic hard-boiled writing, brutal action, tough characters, and a plot in which no one is spared.

On the Make

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

MacDonald,John D.

Mystery

Gutter Books LLC

Presented for a new generation, this thrilling reprint of the very first book-length investigation into the UFO phenomenon follows in the pulp tradition of the original 1950 pressing, which sold more than half a million copies. Rumored to be the inspiration for the character of Fox Mulder of The X-Files, leading ufologist Donald Keyhoe delivers the results of his groundbreaking research in a style that is at once terse and businesslike, imbued with a sense of wonder at the mysteries and possibilities he is confronting. Keyhoe argues that aliens&mdash;whatever their origins or intentions&mdash;do not seem hostile and have likely been surveilling the Earth for 200 years or more, though Keyhoe writes that their "observation suddenly increased in 1947, following the series of A-bomb explosions in 1945." This stunning work of nonfiction touched off everything we associate with the UFO phenomenon today&mdash;the widespread paranoia, the government disinformation campaigns, and the inevitable conclusion, for many people the world over, that UFOs exist and do not have an Earthly origin.

The Flying Saucers Are Real

Politics & Social Sciences

Keyhoe, Donald

Social Sciences

It's the last days of Prohibition and the first days of the Depression and East Coast crime bosses are vying for control of Los Angeles. Caught in the middle of the intrigues is Gerry Kells, a former New York enforcer now living a life of ease on the West Coast. As the fiercely independent Kells rejects the appeals of various crime bosses who want to make use of his talents, powerful forces align against him. Being framed for a murder turns out to be the least of his troubles and as the stakes get higher, and the odds get longer, it's only Kells' nerve and toughness that keep him one step ahead of the law—and the reaper. Featuring one of the most brutal finales in crime fiction history, this lost 1933 masterpiece took hard-boiled writing as far is it safely could. Some say too far.

Fast One: The Most Hard-Boiled Novel of the 1930s!

Literature & Fiction

Cain, Paul

United States

An underground hit since the 1990s and currently in development as a feature film directed by and starring Christian Slater, Love Stories Are Too Violent For Me is ironic, iconic pulp served hot and fast, straight out of the emotionally gory grindhouse called Life. When a hard-drinking professional baseball player hires Vic Valentine to find a vanished lover, a troubling journey begins. The hunt leads Valentine down a twisting trail of decadence and danger that eventually takes him to the most unexpected place—the private eye's own past.

Love Stories Are Too Violent For Me (Vic Valentine)

Viharo, Will

When criminal genius Charles "Reader" Kincaid accidentally alerts a retired cop to the impending commission of the perfect crime, the crime becomes a lot less perfect. The plan is to wire a prominent banker with a remote control bomb and thereby capture untold millions from a dangerous drug czar. Or is the plan something else? The plot thickens as hidden family connections come to light and who is betraying who-and why-becomes a matter of life and death for perpetrators and victims alike. With wry wit and first-hand knowledge of the underworld, author Les Edgerton unleashes a cast of quirky characters and dark ambitions that collide in a tale nothing short of explosive. Raves about Les Edgerton and BOMB: "Les Edgerton has swiftly become my favorite crime writer. Original voice, uncompromising attitude and a pure hardboiled style leap him to the front ranks of my reading list. He will become legendary." -Joe R. Lansdale, Paradise Sky, The Bottoms, Edge of Dark Water, The Thicket, the Hap and Leonard series, the books behind the TV series of the same name, and many others "Les Edgerton is the new High King of Noir." -Ken Bruen, The Emerald Lie, The Guards, Pimp and many others "Les Edgerton is the perfect reason for both of my favorite maxims: Don't trust anyone over thirty and: Don't trust crime fiction from anyone under thirty. The weight of experience behind Les's books is my anchor in the choppy waters of criminal literature." -Jedidiah Ayres, Peckerwood and others "Edgerton commits the perfect crime story." -Dietrich Kalteis, Triggerfish, The Deadbeat Club and Ride the Lightning "I'm not sure which is more fascinating, Les Edgerton's IED of a suspense novel, BOMB or the convoluted, heartbreaking story of its journey to publication. Both had me hooked. The good news is that you get it all with this fine new release from Gutter Books . . . With multiple story lines (each burning like a fuse), an authentic New Orleans setting, flawed good guys, and seriously-seriously-flawed bad guys, BOMB is the work of a gifted writer who knows how to ratchet up the suspense. If you're high strung, this is not the book for you. Adrenaline junkies won't be disappointed. " -Grant Jerkins, Abnormal Man: A Novel, A Very Simple Crime, The Ninth Step and others

Bomb!

Edgerton, Les

Failed rocker Declan "Deck" St. James lives in L.A., eking out an existence writing click-bait for scandal sheets. When his old friend Art Schulman—sobriety coach to the stars—shows up and invites Deck to Joshua Tree to check out a hot new band, the drunk and drug-addled Deck passes on what he thinks is a thinly-veiled intervention.  Two days later, Art is found dead of a mysterious overdose.  With the help of his ex-bandmate and former best friend Stevie, Deck launches an investigation and quickly learns nothing is what it seems, from the hot new band nobody has heard to the strange cult outside Joshua Tree. Deck and Stevie are forced to put their differences aside in order to put the band back together for one last show. It could be the biggest gig of their lives ... or the last time they are seen alive.

All Your Lies Came True

Creeden, Mike

The Replacements sang about the bittersweet fruit of life. Love. Loss. Ambition. Failure. They showed us the highs of the party, and the lows of the harrowing hangover. The Mats wrote about people who dared to be, and ended up aching for it. They were square pegs in the round hole of the world, and for their fans, they connected like no other band. Twenty-five crime writers take to the page to honor their misfit heroes with a series of stories about the sad, the twisted, the beat down, and the darkness that looms just beyond the periphery. Each tale is inspired by a Replacements song, and each story is just as unique and heartbreaking as its inspiration. Get in the van and ride to the next town with this rare tribute to a rarer musical phenomenon.

Waiting To Be Forgotten: Stories of Crime and Heartbreak, Inspired by The Replacements (Gutter Books Rock Anthology Series)

Segura, Alex

Belcamino, Kristi

Shaw, Johnny

Stallings, Josh

Stringer, Jay

Nicolay, Franz

Flanagan, Josh

Short Stories & Anthologies

A hard-hitting addition to the Gutter Books Rock Anthologies series, nominated for an Anthony Award! No one personifies the FTW rock-and-roll ethic better than the Man in Black. Johnny Cash’s music can be captured in that one iconic photograph. Guitar slung off his shoulder, sneer on his lips, middle finger extended to let the status quo know what he thought of it. Which is why Cash’s music speaks to so many of the marginalized, the forgotten, the misunderstood, the disen-franchised. Featuring some of today’s best crime fiction writers, Just to Watch Them Die is a kick-ass collection of wronged men and women who, like Johnny, walk the line every day, fighting for what they believe is right.

Just To Watch Them Die: Crime Fiction Inspired By the Songs of Johnny Cash (Gutter Books Rock Anthology Series)

Corbett, David

GRADY, James

Hart, Rob

Barrett, Lynne

Conley, Jen

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