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Unless the Threat of Death is Behind Them: Hard-Boiled Fiction and Film Noir
by John T. IrwinThe noted literary critic delves into the psychology and significance of American hardboiled crime fiction and film noir of the 1930s and ’40s.Early in the twentieth century, American crime novelists like Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler put forward a new kind of character: the “hard-boiled” detective, as exemplified by Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon. Unlike the analytical detectives of nineteenth-century fiction, these new detectives encountered cases not as intricate logical puzzles but as stark challenges of manhood. John T. Irwin explores how the stories of these characters grapple with ideas of American masculinity. Professional codes are pitted against personal desires, resulting in either ruinous relationships or solitary integrity. In thematic conflicts between independence and subordination, all notions of manly independence prove subordinate to the hand of fate.Tracing the stylistic development of the genre, Irwin demonstrates the particular influence of the novel of manners, especially the writing of F. Scott Fitzgerald. He also shows that as hard-boiled fiction began to appear on the screen in film noir, it took on themes of female empowerment—just as women entered the workforce in large numbers. Finally, he discusses how these themes persist in contemporary dramatic series on television, representing the conflicted lives of Americans into the twenty-first century.
Unlikely Guardian: A Western Romantic Suspense Novel
by Delores FossenFrom USA TODAY bestselling author Delores Fossen, one Texas cop will do anything to protect his endangered family. Previously published as Unexpected Father.Rugged Texas detective Jason Lawrence didn&’t expect his brother's death to mean he would become a father. But after a suspicious car wreck left Lilly Nelson in a coma, and his niece without a mother, the tough-as-nails police officer stepped in to raise the baby. After nearly two years, Lilly finally awakens and quickly becomes a target once again. Working together to uncover the secrets buried in her father&’s business records poses a threat to all their safety. With both mother and child under his protection, Jason must navigate the undeniable attraction between him and the still-healing Lilly while sheltering in close proximity. But how much is he willing to risk to keep Lilly safe?
Unlikely Hero
by Sean MichaelWhen his three-year-old daughter is kidnapped, Eric Wilson doesn’t have many options, and time is running out. With nowhere else to turn, he reaches out to his ex, influential businessman Brock Vencenza, whose money and contacts might be able to save Josie. Brock never got over Eric’s loss, and he’s more than willing to help when Eric needs him most. Together with law enforcement and private security, they embark on a twisting investigation to find the little girl—and who wants to hurt her and destroy both men in the process. Under the circumstances, confessing he still has feelings for Eric would be inappropriate, but Brock can’t deny what’s in his heart. He doesn’t know if their love can be rekindled or if he can even protect Eric and Josie. But one thing is certain: Brock’s determined to be the hero in reality that he is in Eric’s eyes.
Unlikely Traitors (Ursula Marlow Mysteries #3)
by Clare Langley-HawthorneUrsula Marlow thought she was done with death, but when her fiancé, Lord Wrotham, is arrested on charges of treason, her world is turned upside down. It is the winter of 1913, and the British Parliament, unsettled on the question of Home Rule for Ireland, is shaken over allegations of a plot to sell naval military secrets to Kaiser's Germany and liberate Ireland from English rule. For the first time, Ursula must work together with Chief Inspector Harrison to uncover the truth about Lord Wrotham's involvement, as well as his mysterious past. As the investigation continues, Ursula is drawn into the shadowy world of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and a web of espionage and betrayal. She must race against time to clear Lord Wrotham's name and thwart a plot that threatens not only British national security, but also her life.
Unlock the Mystery: Book 3
by Enid BlytonJulian, Dick, Anne, George and Timmy the dog find excitement and adventure wherever they go in Enid Blyton's most popular series.Join the Famous Five on their third adventure as they run away to Kirrin Island - and choose for yourself how the mystery ends.Find the mysterious trunk and help whoever let out that chilling scream - but don't run into the mysterious intruder. You choose how to unlock the trunk, but will you help in time or be held up by a false trail on the way?This exciting game story is based on Enid Blyton's Five Run Away Together. The text in this edition has been sensitively edited for today's reader and is unillustrated.
Unlock the Mystery: Book 3 (Famous Five: Adventure Game Books #3)
by Enid BlytonJulian, Dick, Anne, George and Timmy the dog find excitement and adventure wherever they go in Enid Blyton's most popular series.Join the Famous Five on their third adventure as they run away to Kirrin Island - and choose for yourself how the mystery ends.Find the mysterious trunk and help whoever let out that chilling scream - but don't run into the mysterious intruder. You choose how to unlock the trunk, but will you help in time or be held up by a false trail on the way?This exciting game story is based on Enid Blyton's Five Run Away Together. The text in this edition has been sensitively edited for today's reader and is unillustrated.
Unlocking His Shutter
by River MitchellShutter, a man shrouding in darkness, leads a solitary life. One he is content with, until he witness’s his nephew, Fear, fall in love. Shutter sees what life could be like if he follows the light and opens his heart.Drake, a man with a mysterious past, has been accepted into a family that helps him escape the nightmares of his childhood. Together they face every obstacle and with the help of a loving, yet crazy family, they are forced to walk through hell to get to the future they both deserve. It’s not an easy journey to their happily ever after but once there, both men know it was worth every single step.
Unlovely
by Celeste ConwayThey look so sweet and beautiful...but what is the dark, unlovely truth?Harley's a college guy with a brain in his head. Those old tales about the ballet school and the evils hidden within its walls are for the town's fools and gossips. Then Cassandra, one of the dancers, whirls into his life. Harley is at first enchanted. Then he's doubtful. And then he's terrified. But it's already too late.
Unlucky 13 (Women's Murder Club Ser. #No. 13)
by James Patterson Maxine PaetroThe Women's Murder Club is stalked by a killer with nothing to lose. San Francisco Detective Lindsay Boxer is loving her life as a new mother. With an attentive husband, a job she loves, plus best friends who can talk about anything from sex to murder, things couldn't be better. Then the FBI sends Lindsay a photo of a killer from her past, and her happy world is shattered. The picture captures a beautiful woman at a stoplight. But all Lindsay sees is the psychopath behind those seductive eyes: Mackie Morales, the most deranged and dangerous mind the Women's Murder Club has ever encountered. In this pulse-racing, emotionally charged novel by James Patterson, the Women's Murder Club must find a killer--before she finds them first.
Unlucky For Some (Lloyd and Hill Mysteries #13)
by Jill McgownSelected by The Times (London) as one of the twentieth century's "100 Masters of Crime," Jill McGown writes mystery-suspense novels with plots that defy second-guessing. In Unlucky for Some, her thirteenth book featuring Detective Chief Inspectors Lloyd and Hill, the quiet life of an English town scarcely conceals the deadly menace lurking around dark corners and within the human mind. Michael Waterman is a self-made millionaire. His casinos and nightclubs ensure a constant flow of cash, and Waterman knows what he needs to do to keep it that way. So far, it seems, he has stayed on the right side of the law. Certainly, no one seriously suspects him of murdering bingo player Wilma Fenton, who was struck down while walking home with a purse crammed full of winnings. Her murder looks like an ordinary mugging except for one oddity: The killer had left Wilma's money neatly fanned out across her body. The motive behind the bafflingly violent act dogs Lloyd and Hill- now married and the harried parents of a two-year-old daughter. The stakes are raised with a second murder, modeled on the first . . . and then a third. A cold-blooded killer is challenging not only the police but the one witness to the first slaying: England's premier expert on serial crime, well-known journalist and TV personality, Tony Baker. It has now become a twisted game of madness and logic-in which failure to outwit the murderer means more senseless deaths. In this astonishing Lloyd and Hill novel, Jill McGown's storytelling genius will captivate longtime fans as well as first-time readers. Unlucky for Some is lucky for all admirers of virtuoso suspense writing.From the Hardcover edition.
Unlucky in Law (Nina Reilly)
by Perri O'ShaughnessyNina Reilly takes on the most dangerous and difficult case of her career in New York Times bestselling author Perri O’Shaughnessy’s latest thriller. An ingenious blend of forensic science, history, and gripping suspense, Unlucky in Law pits the tough but compassionate attorney against the most unbeatable adversary of all: the law. Nina has just received a last-minute call from her old boss and mentor in Monterey County, California, where she is enjoying the breathtaking scenery and spending time with her boyfriend, P.I. Paul van Wagoner. Klaus Pohlmann is in desperate straits and begs Nina to take over a seemingly unwinnable case: A luckless two-time felon named Stefan Wyatt has robbed a grave and made off with the long-buried bones of a Russian émigré. When he is caught and arrested, further devastating evidence found in the grave suggests that Stefan is guilty of a far more deadly crime.A young woman, a classmate of Stefan’s, has been killed, and he is accused of her murder. Now, as a result of California’s Third Strike law, Wyatt is looking at twenty-five years to life whether he’s convicted of grand theft or murder. Either way, he’s in big trouble. With her client’s blood DNA found in the dead woman’s apartment, Nina faces an uphill battle. Suspecting that her hapless client has been set up, Nina brings in a brilliant forensic pathologist who comes up with a startling theory about the case that could rewrite a crucial page of European history. As the evidence mounts against Nina’s client, Paul launches his own investigation into the shadowy past of the two-decades-old skeleton. But long-held secrets nearly get him killed and reveal a more insidious evil at work—and an extraordinary story dating back to tsarist Russia and the Romanov court. As Wyatt edges closer to the unluckiest verdict of his young life, Nina makes an astounding discovery that just might save her client—or expose a killer who could bury them all. Brilliantly imagined and compulsively readable, Unlucky in Law is a beguiling mix of wrenching drama and gripping action. And it is Perri O’Shaughnessy’s most accomplished novel to date.
Unmanned
by Dan FespermanFrom the widely acclaimed author of The Prisoner of Guantánamo and The Double Game, an electrifying, timely, psychologically gripping descent into the hidden, expanding world of drone warfare. Not very long ago, Darwin Cole was an F-16 fighter pilot. He was a family man. He was on top of the world. Now? He's a washout drunk with a dishonorable discharge from the U.S. Air Force, living alone in the Nevada desert and haunted by an image beamed from one of his last missions as a "pilot" of a Predator drone--a harrowing shot of an Afghan child running for her life. When Cole is approached by three journalists trying to uncover the identity of the possibly rogue intelligence operative who called the shots in Cole's ill-fated mission, Cole reluctantly agrees to team up with them. But in our surveillance culture, even the well intentioned are liable to find themselves under scrutiny, running for their lives, especially when the trail they're following leads to the very heart of that culture--in intelligence, in the military, and among the unchecked private contractors who stand to profit richly from the advancing technology . . . not merely for use "over there," but for right here, right now. From the Hardcover edition.
Unmanned
by Lois GreimanEven in a city of long, tall beauties, psychologist Christina McMullen is used to getting hit on. But she’s definitely not accustomed to having a hit on her. Until the day a charming stranger shows up at her door—and someone guns him down right in front of her. For Chrissy, shootings and explosions are what pass for normal in her tempestuous relationship with sexy LAPD lieutenant Jack Rivera. But the real mayhem begins when her brother Pete blows in from the Windy City trailing clouds of trouble in the form of a pregnant girlfriend, “borrowed” money, and a mobster named “D.” Chrissy always said her family would be the death of her–but even L.A.’s sassiest shrink isn’t prepared for the truth behind her brother’s link to the dead stranger…or the killer who threatens them both.
Unmarked Graves (Connor Fraser #6)
by Neil BroadfootCan a killer ever be on the side of justice? In 1983, Professor Robert Balfour was found floating in Airthrey Loch at the heart of Stirling University's campus. His death was deemed a tragic accident but there were other, darker rumours. The death of a politics professor allegedly linked to the armed wing of the Scottish Liberation Brigade was always going to attract conspiracy theories. But that's all they were. Theories. Until now. To mark the 40th anniversary of his father's death, Jonathan Rodriguez has travelled back to Stirling - and he's brought a camera crew with him. Rodriguez is convinced his father's death was no accident - and that at least one of the killers wore a uniform. Desperate to make the problem go away, DCI Malcolm Ford turns to Connor Fraser for help. And then another body is found at nearby Bannockburn.On the trail of a double killer, Connor is forced to confront dark truths about the meaning of justice. And those truths may just break his heart - or stop it, for good. Praise for Neil Broadfoot: 'Tense, fast-moving and bloody. Broadfoot's best yet' Mason Cross'A true rising star of crime fiction' Ian Rankin'Beautifully crafted . . . There's no filler, no exposition, just action, dialogue and layering of tension that'll hold you breathless until the very end' Helen Fields'Wonderfully grisly and grim, and a cracking pace' James Oswald'A frantic, pacy read with a compelling hero' Steve Cavanagh
Unmarked Graves (Connor Fraser #6)
by Neil BroadfootCan a killer ever be on the side of justice? In 1983, Professor Robert Balfour was found floating in Airthrey Loch at the heart of Stirling University's campus. His death was deemed a tragic accident but there were other, darker rumours. The death of a politics professor allegedly linked to the armed wing of the Scottish Liberation Brigade was always going to attract conspiracy theories. But that's all they were. Theories. Until now. To mark the 40th anniversary of his father's death, Jonathan Rodriguez has travelled back to Stirling - and he's brought a camera crew with him. Rodriguez is convinced his father's death was no accident - and that at least one of the killers wore a uniform. Desperate to make the problem go away, DCI Malcolm Ford turns to Connor Fraser for help. And then another body is found at nearby Bannockburn.On the trail of a double killer, Connor is forced to confront dark truths about the meaning of justice. And those truths may just break his heart - or stop it, for good. Praise for Neil Broadfoot: 'Tense, fast-moving and bloody. Broadfoot's best yet' Mason Cross'A true rising star of crime fiction' Ian Rankin'Beautifully crafted . . . There's no filler, no exposition, just action, dialogue and layering of tension that'll hold you breathless until the very end' Helen Fields'Wonderfully grisly and grim, and a cracking pace' James Oswald'A frantic, pacy read with a compelling hero' Steve Cavanagh
Unmarked Man
by Darlene ScaleraNONDESCRIPT...?When Cissy Spagnola returned to the mean city streets of her childhood, she found nothing but trouble. Her mother and sister were missing, and after some not-so-discreet investigating, a potential witness turned up dead in her hotel room. Someone clearly wanted her eliminated, and she knew there was only one man she could trust....NO WAY!Nick Fiore. The irresistible neighborhood bad boy who'd taken her virginity was now a bona fide cop and Cissy's only hope for finding her family. Working closely to uncover a dangerous conspiracy rekindled their old passion, but would getting close to Nick put her heart-and life-even more at risk?
Unmasking Miss Lacey
by Isabelle GoddardStand and deliver!Incorrigible Jack Beaufort, Earl of Frensham, with a scandal at his heels, is taking an enforced sojourn in the country. He hardly expects to confront a highwayman in this quiet retreat. Or to discover, when he lays hands on the villain, a form that is undeniably female....Should he unmask the daring Miss Lacey and hand her over to the law? Or follow his rakish instincts to take the law and that temptingly curvaceous form into his own hands?
Unmasking the Shadow Man
by Debbie HerbertIn this romantic suspense from a USA Today–bestselling author, a woman investigating her sister’s death in her rural hometown finds an ally in a local cop.Officer Liam Andrews knows when a woman’s in danger. From the moment he encounters Harper Catlett, he’s wants her under his protection. Something mysterious is going on in the house where Harper’s sister died years ago and now that Harper is conducting some amateur detective work, she’s suddenly facing threats from an unseen enemy. What Harper doesn’t know is that Liam is already working undercover on her hometown’s unsolved murders. And the more Harper probes the small southern town’s sordid secrets, the greater the risk to both of them. Will they be able to solve these long-buried crimes before they wind up dead?
Unmoving Unseen
by Frederick KrauseJohn Keller is seconds away from a horrible death, but dying is something he will not easily accept. John has a power that he was unaware of. A power few people possess. Through a combination of fear and an extreme degree of self-preservation, John wills himself out of his body. He is now a member of a small group unknown to the living world. He is a "Bail-out." This can only happen if a person bails out in a moment they were sure death was eminent, but they wouldn't have actually died. Their physical body remains in coma while they are left to wander naked and invisible until their body dies. One thing separates John from the rest of the Bail-outs. His body is not in coma. His body is walking and talking and - killing. John's wife takes her children and goes on the run and the physical John hunts them. The real John sets out on a quest to acquire a body and stop the imposter before it's too late. He will have to overcome dangerous obstacles and deceive trusted friends. Who will find his family first? Two men determined to affect opposing outcomes. One is driven by love and revenge, the other, by pure hatred and an uncontrollable desire to kill.
Unnatural Acts
by Kevin J. AndersonTo Be Dead Or Not To Be DeadIn the Unnatural Quarter, golems slave away in sweatshops, necromancers sell black-market trinkets to tourists, and the dead rise up--to work the night shift. But zombie detective Dan Shamble is no ordinary working stiff. When a local senator and his goons picket a ghostly production of Shakespeare in the Dark--condemning the troupe's "unnatural" lifestyles--Dan smells something rotten. And if something smells rotten to a zombie, you're in serious trouble. . .Before his way of life, er, death, is destroyed, Dan wants answers. Along the way he needs to provide security for a mummified madame, defend a mixed-race couple (he's a vampire, she's a werewolf) from housing discrimination, and save his favorite watering hole, the Goblin Tavern, from drying up. Throw in a hairy hitman, a necro-maniac, and a bank robber who walks through walls, and Dan Shamble's plate is full. Maybe this time, the zombie detective has bitten off more than he can chew. . .Praise for Death Warmed Over"Wickedly funny, deviously twisted and enormously satisfying. This is a big juicy bite of zombie goodness. Two decaying thumbs up."--Jonathan Maberry"A darkly funny, wonderfully original detective tale."--Kelley Armstrong"An unpredictable walk on the weird side. Prepare to be entertained." --Charlaine Harris
Unnatural Acts (Stone Barrington #23)
by Stuart WoodsIn Stuart Woods's bestselling series, Stone Barrington discovers that some jobs don't pay... <P> When a hedge fund billionaire hires Stone Barrington to talk some sense into his wayward son, it seems like an easy enough job; no one knows the hidden sins and temptations of the ultra-wealthy better than Stone. But as Stone and his erstwhile protégé, Herbie Fisher, probe deeper into the case--and an old one comes back to haunt him--he realizes that even he may have underestimated just how far some people will go to cover up their crimes--and commit new ones...
Unnatural Acts: A Stone Barrington Novel
by Stuart WoodsIn Stuart Woods’s bestselling series, Stone Barrington discovers that some jobs don’t pay… When a hedge fund billionaire hires Stone Barrington to talk some sense into his wayward son, it seems like an easy enough job; no one knows the hidden sins and temptations of the ultra-wealthy better than Stone. But as Stone and his erstwhile protégé, Herbie Fisher, probe deeper into the case—and an old one comes back to haunt him—he realizes that even he may have underestimated just how far some people will go to cover up their crimes—and commit new ones…
Unnatural Acts: A Stone Barrington Novel (A Stone Barrington Novel #23)
by Stuart WoodsIn this action-packed thriller in Stuart Woods’s #1 New York Times bestselling series, Stone Barrington discovers that some jobs don’t pay… When a hedge fund billionaire hires Stone Barrington to talk some sense into his wayward son, it seems like an easy enough job; no one knows the hidden sins and temptations of the ultra-wealthy better than Stone. But as Stone and his erstwhile protégé, Herbie Fisher, probe deeper into the case—and an old one comes back to haunt him—he realizes that even he may have underestimated just how far some people will go to cover up their crimes, and commit new ones.
Unnatural Acts: The Cases of Dan Shamble, Zombie PI
by Kevin J. Anderson&“Another full caseload for the zombie detective . . .&” in this &“inventive&” urban fantasy novel from a New York Times–bestselling author (Kirkus Reviews). To Be Dead Or Not To Be Dead In the Unnatural Quarter, golems slave away in sweatshops, necromancers sell black-market trinkets to tourists, and the dead rise up—to work the night shift. But zombie detective Dan Shamble is no ordinary working stiff. When a local senator and his goons picket a ghostly production of Shakespeare in the Dark--condemning the troupe&’s &“unnatural&” lifestyles—Dan smells something rotten. And if something smells rotten to a zombie, you&’re in serious trouble . . . Before his way of life, er, death, is destroyed, Dan wants answers. Along the way he needs to provide security for a mummified madame, defend a mixed-race couple (he's a vampire, she&’s a werewolf) from housing discrimination, and save his favorite watering hole, the Goblin Tavern, from drying up. Throw in a hairy hitman, a necro-maniac, and a bank robber who walks through walls, and Dan Shamble&’s plate is full. Maybe this time, the zombie detective has bitten off more than he can chew . . . Praise for Death Warmed Over: &“A darkly funny, wonderfully original detective tale.&” —Kelley Armstrong, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of A Twist of Fate). &“An unpredictable walk on the weird side. Prepare to be entertained.&” —Charlaine Harris, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse True Blood series &“Like Alexander McCall Smith&’s Mma Precious Ramotswe, [Anderson&’s] sleuths really do settle most of their cases, and they provide a lot of laughs along the way.&” —Kirkus Reviews
Unnatural Causes
by Janet BettleGeri Lander is a successful lawyer always ready to passionately defend the underdog. But when Joanna Pascoe comes to her for help in uncovering the truth behind her husband's mysterious death, even Geri believes she does not have much of a case. What has happened to Joanna's husband seems like a tragedy-a senseless, heart-wrenching tragedy. But, as Geri digs a little deeper, she comes up with frightening questions, and no answers: Why should a perfectly healthy man like Dr. Pascoe die after a simple case of food poisoning, and why such a gruesome death? The further Geri delves, the more suspicious the circumstances become, and before long she discovers that Thomas Pascoe has died from something far worse than food poisoning. Dr. Pascoe is the victim of a deadly super-bug-a bacterium resulting from over-use of antibiotics in farm animals. Geri begins to investigate, only to be thwarted at every attempt to discover the truth. The authorities are curiously unwilling to help, more people are dying, and suddenly Geri finds herself in the middle of a dangerous conspiracy. In this terrific first novel, Janet Bettle introduces a feisty heroine and brings a fresh and contemporary voice to the world of legal thrillers.