Jacket Man

      Linwood Barclay
     Jacket Man

From the New York Times and #1 international bestselling author of Far From True, a short story where the grifter is not who he seems. Sam seems like an ordinary guy. While he is filling up his car with gas in Stamford, Connecticut, a car whips into the station lot, stops alongside, and asks him for directions to LaGuardia Airport. Gian claims that he is from Milano, but Sam can spot an imitation in a second. The accent is all wrong, and while Gian tries to sell him counterfeit luxury coats that he can't take back on the plane to Italy, they bump hips, and Sam feels what he thinks is a gun tucked into Gian's belt. "Jacket Man" is a story of how to escape with your life, and some counterfeit pleather coats while you're at it. "Jacket Man" by Linwood Barclay is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the biggest names in mystery from the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and read them all!

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    Omerta

      Mario Puzo
     Omerta

To Don Raymonde Aprile's children he was a loyal family member, their father's adopted "nephew." To the FBI he was a man who would rather ride his horses than do Mob business. No one knew why Aprile, the last great American Don, had adopted Astorre Viola many years before in Sicily; no one suspected how he had carefully trained him ... and how, while the Don's children claimed respectable careers in America, Astorre Viola waited for his time to come. Now his time has arrived. The Don is dead, his murder one bloody act in a drama of ambition and deceit --- from the deadly compromises made by an FBI agent to the greed of two crooked NYPD detectives and the frightening plans of a South American Mob kingpin. In a collision of enemies and lovers, betrayers and loyal soldiers, Astorre Viola will claim his destiny. Because after all these years, this moment is in his blood ...

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    The Lottery Winner

      Mary Higgins Clark
     The Lottery Winner

Alvirah Meehan, the former cleaning lady from Flushing, New York, who struck it rich in the lottery, made her first appearance in Mary Higgins Clark's Weep No More, My Lady. After she narrowly survived a stalking killer in that best-selling novel, grateful fans clamored for her return. Mary Higgins Clark obliged with several splendid short stories starring the ever-resourceful Alvirah and her occasionally befuddled but always dependable mate, Willy. Here are Alvirah and Willy, ensconced in their spacious Central Park South condo, surrounded by the rich and famous, some of whom just can't go on living (The Body in the Closet). But then Alvirah has become something of a celebrity herself and even appears on the Donahue show, thereby giving unfortunate ideas to a bunch of kidnappers who demand a hefty ransom for her hapless hubby (Plumbing for Willy). When they're not solving dastardly crimes or extricating themselves from danger in Manhattan, Alvirah and Willy like to escape to Cape Cod. Even there, however, they find plenty to keep Alvirah's steel-trap mind occupied (Death on the Cape), not to mention solving the problems of a fellow lottery winner in distress (A Clean Sweep), or returning to the Cypress Point Spa to solve a brutal slaying among the rich and beautiful (The Lottery Winner), or - as a surprise - the unexpected bonus of a Willy and Alvirah Christmas tale of suspense (Bye, Baby Bunting).

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    Different Class

      Joanne Harris
     Different Class

The gripping new psychological thriller from Joanne Harris, to follow her bestselling Gentlemen & Players and Blueeyedboy. Perfect for fans of Claire Mackintosh, BA Paris. Paula Hawkins and *Tracy Chevalier. * After thirty years at St Oswald’s Grammar in North Yorkshire, Latin master Roy Straitley has seen all kinds of boys come and go. But every so often there’s a boy who doesn’t fit the mould. A troublemaker. A boy with hidden shadows inside. A new broom has arrived, bringing Powerpoint, sharp suits and even sixth form girls to the dusty corridors. But while Straitley does his sardonic best to resist this march to the future, a shadow from his past is stirring. A boy who even twenty years on haunts his teacher’s dreams. A boy capable of bad things.

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    Flash and Bones

      Kathy Reichs
     Flash and Bones

FLASH! Illuminated by lightning, a lifeless human hand seems to reach from a barrel of asphalt beside the Charlotte racetrack. Even for forensic anthropologist Dr Tempe Brennan it is a disturbing sight. And now she must find answers before thousands arrive for the year's big race. But before she can carry out a proper examination, the FBI mysteriously confiscate and destroy the body. It's a dead end. Until a young engineer alerts Tempe to the disappearance of his sister and her boyfriend from Charlotte twelve years earlier, and she determines to uncover what really happened to them. Soon after, the engineer’s body is found crushed under the wheels of a race car. Tempe realises the situation is truly sinister - and that even her own life could be in terrible danger.

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    Garden of Beasts

      Jeffery Deaver
     Garden of Beasts

Paul Schumann is a contract hitman for the mob in 1936. But with Prohibition over and the gang wars associated with it coming to an end, Schumann is finding less and less work. He is contracted for a hit. But this time, he's caught - and finds that he's been set up. He's taken to meet an official in Army Intelligence and given a choice: he can spend the rest of his life in jail, or he can help his country. He is to pose as a member of the 1936 Olympic team, travel to Berlin, and kill a high-ranking Nazi close to Hitler. Schumann has been picked because he's a second generation German-American and can speak the language fluently. Or at least that's what they lead him to believe...

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    Carrion Comfort

      Dan Simmons
     Carrion Comfort

"CARRION COMFORT is one of the three greatest horror novels of the 20th century. Simple as that." --Stephen King "Epic in scale and scope but intimately disturbing, CARRION COMFORT spans the ages to rewrite history and tug at the very fabric of reality. A nightmarish chronicle of predator and prey that will shatter your world view forever. A true classic." --Guillermo del Toro "CARRION COMFORT is one of the scariest books ever written. Whenever I get the question asked Who's your favorite author? my answer is always Dan Simmons." --James Rollins "One of the few major reinventions of the vampire concept, on a par with Jack Finney's Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, and Stephen King's Salem's Lot. --David Morrell THE PAST... Caught behind the lines of Hitler's Final Solution, Saul Laski is one of the multitudes destined to die in the notorious Chelmno extermination camp. Until he rises to meet his fate and finds himself face to face with an evil far older, and far greater, than the Nazi's themselves… THE PRESENT... Compelled by the encounter to survive at all costs, so begins a journey that for Saul will span decades and cross continents, plunging into the darkest corners of 20th century history to reveal a secret society of beings who may often exist behind the world's most horrible and violent events. Killing from a distance, and by darkly manipulative proxy, they are people with the psychic ability to 'use' humans: read their minds, subjugate them to their wills, experience through their senses, feed off their emotions, force them to acts of unspeakable aggression. Each year, three of the most powerful of this hidden order meet to discuss their ongoing campaign of induced bloodshed and deliberate destruction. But this reunion, something will go terribly wrong. Saul's quest is about to reach its elusive object, drawing hunter and hunted alike into a struggle that will plumb the depths of mankind's attraction to violence, and determine the future of the world itself…

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    Bullseye

      James Patterson
     Bullseye

Caught in the crossfire of a deadly standoff, Detective Michael Bennett must kill...or be killed. Tensions between America and Russia are the highest they've been since the Cold War. As the countries' Presidents travel to the United Nations to iron out their differences, a fashionable husband and wife team of lethal assassins prowls the streets of Manhattan hunting their prey--a professor hiding a scandalous secret. Their next target: the extremely popular President of the United States of America. Pulled away from his family and pressed into service, Detective Michael Bennett must trace the source of a threat that could rip the country apart--and what he finds may turn the Cold War red hot once again. With allegiances constantly in doubt and no one above suspicion, only Bennett can step into the line of fire to save the President before the deadly kill shot hits its mark.

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    The Brass Verdict

      Michael Connelly
     The Brass Verdict

Things are finally looking up for defense attorney Mickey Haller. After two years of wrong turns, Haller is back in the courtroom. When Hollywood lawyer Jerry Vincent is murdered, Haller inherits his biggest case yet: the defense of Walter Elliott, a prominent studio executive accused of murdering his wife and her lover. But as Haller prepares for the case that could launch him into the big time, he learns that Vincent's killer may be coming for him next. Enter Harry Bosch. Determined to find Vincent's killer, he is not opposed to using Haller as bait. But as danger mounts and the stakes rise, these two loners realize their only choice is to work together. Bringing together Michael Connelly's two most popular characters, The Brass Verdict** is sure to be his biggest book yet.

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    Under Fire

      Tom Clancy
     Under Fire

On a routine intelligence gathering mission in Tehran, Jack Ryan, Jr., has lunch with his oldest friend, Seth Gregory, an engineer overseeing a transcontinental railway project. As they part, Seth slips Jack a key, along with a perplexing message. The next day Jack is summoned to an apartment where two men claim Seth has disappeared—gone to ground with funds for a vital intelligence operation.  Jack’s oldest friend has turned, they insist. They leave Jack with a warning:  If you hear from Seth Gregory, call us immediately. And do not get involved. But they don’t know Jack. He won’t abandon a friend in need.  His pursuit of the truth will lead him across Iran, through the war-torn Caucasus, and finally deep into territory coveted by the increasingly aggressive Russian Federation. Along the way, Jack is joined by Seth’s primary agent, Ysabel, a enigmatic Iranian woman who seems to be his only clue to Seth’s whereabouts.  Jack soon finds himself lost in a maze of intrigue, lies, and betrayal where no one is who they seem to be—not even Seth, who’s harboring a secret of his own that harkens back to the Cold War. A secret that is driving him to the brink of treachery. Racing against the clock, Jack must unravel the mystery: Who is friend and who is foe? Before it’s over, Jack Ryan, Jr., may have to choose between his loyalty to Seth and his loyalty to America.

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    Defending Jacob

      William Landay
     Defending Jacob

Award-winning author William Landay has written the consummate novel of an embattled family in crisis - a suspenseful, character-driven mystery that is also a spellbinding tale of guilt, betrayal, and the terrifying speed at which our lives can spin out of control. Andy Barber has been an assistant district attorney in his suburban Massachusetts county for more than twenty years. He is respected in his community, tenacious in the courtroom, and happy at home with his wife, Laurie, and son, Jacob. But when a shocking crime shatters their New England town, Andy is blindsided by what happens next: His fourteen-year-old son is charged with the murder of a fellow student.

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    Fractured

      Teri Terry
     Fractured

Kyla shouldn't be able to remember anything. But she can - and she's beginning to realize that there are a lot of dark secrets locked away in her memories. When a mysterious man from her past comes back into her life, she thinks she's on her way to finding the truth. But the more she learns about her history, the more confusing her future becomes.

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    Mad River

      John Sandford
     Mad River

Bonnie and Clyde, they thought. And what's-his-name, the sidekick. Three teenagers with dead-end lives, chips on their shoulders, and guns. The first person they killed was a woman during a robbery. The second was incidental. Simply in the way. Then, hell, why not keep on going? It's not until Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigator Virgil Flowers steps onto the Shinder murder scene that the clues begin to come together. As their crime spree cuts a swath through rural Minnesota, it's a growing army of cops who join Virgil in trying to run them down. But even Virgil doesn't realize what's about to happen next.

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    What a Carve Up!

      Jonathan Coe
     What a Carve Up!

If Charles Dickens and Agatha Christie had ever managed to collaborate, they might have produced this shamelessly entertaining novel, which introduces readers to what may be the most powerful family in England--and is certainly the vilest. A tour de force of menace, malicious comedy, and torrential social bile, this book marks the American debut of an extraordinary writer.

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