hard-boiled

In a Flash by William Mangieri

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Jimmy was a good cop, but age and changing times were getting the better of him. If he could only get an edge, take advantage of some of that new-fangled tech – what would be the harm? I mean, everybody cheats a little, don’t they? Just be careful not to get caught… Read “In a Flash” to see how Jimmy gets himself out of trouble.
“In a Flash” is a sci-fi/crime short story, the first in the Detective Jimmy Delaney series (and it’s FREE.) If you like a little self-deprecation and humor with some sci-fi elements thrown in (think “The Rockford Files” mashed up with the old BBC “The Avengers”) this is the series for you.

Targeted Age Group:: 16+

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
An associate mentioned how he wished he could just plug a flash drive into his brain and acquire skills, instead of having to spend years studying. I wondered about the convenience, and the mind-hacking dangers, and "In a Flash" was born (And Jimmy Delaney liked the gig and kept finding other ways to get in trouble.)

Featured Book: The Big Dive by Bruce W. Most

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In this whodunit set in 1951 Denver, the partner of street cop Joe Stryker is brutally slain almost in front of Joe’s eyes. The second time Joe has lost a partner to murder! In this sequel to the award-winning Murder on the Tracks, Joe faces two baffling questions: How did the killer pull off such a brazen murder and escape? And why was Joe’s “choir boy” partner murdered while burglarizing a pawnshop? To protect his dead partner’s reputation—and save his own career—Joe conceals his investigation from his new partner, his superiors, even his wife. All while dodging a homicide detective hell-bent to pin the crimes on Joe. His investigation soon leads him to a ring of dirty cops—and a dark secret that goes back to the shameful internment of Japanese-American citizens during World War II. Before Joe can answer the baffling questions and track down the brutal killer, he once again must risk his career, his marriage . . . and his life.

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Featured Book: Rizzo’s Rules by George Mazzeo

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A classic Hard-Boiled mystery in the style of Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett and Mickey Spillane. Lou Rizzo is a private eye with a drinking problem. He barely scratches out a living catching wayward husbands. Not very glamorous, but it pays the bills. When his best friend dies in a suspicious accident, the victim’s family asks him to investigate. He reluctantly agrees and soon finds himself drawn into a web of lies and intrigue. Add to that, someone is trying to kill him. To solve the case, he must conquer his personal demons, sort out the clues and stay alive.

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Featured Book: Missing Mona: A Tommy Cuda Mystery by Joe Klingler

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$29 – Post Pinned to Mystery Reads Home Page for 7 days

“A private investigator, a mysterious hitchhiker, dancers, gangsters, a mysterious bag …and twists and turns that will have the reader unable to put it down, Missing Mona…has it all.” — San Francisco Book Review (5 stars)

As Tommy looks squarely at his next decade his smartphone convinces him the time is ripe for a change. So he hits the road.

He immediately meets a damsel in distress named Mona. She persuades him that the bright lights and dark clubs of Chicago might be his kind of town. So on a summer Saturday night they settle into a fancy hotel.

On Sunday…Mona disappears.

After truth and lies are stirred like a blue martini, being assaulted, and witnessing a shooting that drowns a Ferrari–Tommy is desperate to help Mona.

If he can find her.

“This engaging and romantic story is packed with action and intrigue.” — Foreword Reviews

“Klingler presents his craftiest yarn to date, summoning the pulpy spirits of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett.” –Kirkus Reviews

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Featured Book: The Czar’s Egg by W.H. Lock

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In a city full of superheroes there is only one man trying to balance the scales of justice.

Private Detective Jack Story.

A former superhero wants Jack to find her husband. A husband that disappeared chasing a Faberge egg rumored to have mystical powers, and who happens to be a former supervillain.

But as Jack investigates, he uncovers the Egg’s long sinister history and the trail of bodies left in its wake. A history of sudden shifts in fortune followed by brutal deaths going back to the original owner, Nicholas II the Last Czar of Russia. Even a professional cynic like Jack has to admit that perhaps those powers aren’t just an urban legend.

After the husband turns up dead in a cheap motel, Jack finds himself in a race against time to stop the killer from getting The Czar’s Egg, an artifact that can grant anything the owner desires, even ultimate power.

The Czar’s Egg is the first book in a Private Detective series set in a world of superheroes. If you like hard boiled detectives, dames, and superheroes who try to get away with murder, you’ll love the world of Jack Story.

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Featured Book: The Whistling Sands – (Ned Flynn Series. Book 1) by Math Bird

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Ned Flynn has spent half of his life in jail. Now he has decided to go straight. Feared by those who have crossed him, in his mother’s eyes he can do no wrong. Yet during an ad hoc visit home, he finds her in a bad way. He feels guilty leaving her like this, but he needs money to do the right thing.

Then his luck changes, thanks to local businessman, Mason, who hires him to bring back his wayward wife. Yet like everything in Flynn’s life, things don’t go to plan. Not only does he fall for Mason’s wife Nia, but he’s haunted by her dead lover’s ghost.

Is Flynn’s losing his mind, and is Nia on his side, or is she the femme fatale everyone says she is?

A gripping psychological noir thriller in the tradition of James M. Cain and Jim Thompson.

Buy The Whistling Sands – (Ned Flynn Series. Book 1) Here

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Featured Book: Fade Route by David Chill

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A local politician is murdered and there’s one obvious suspect.

But Burnside, the former football star turned private investigator, pushes forward into an investigation that reveals more and more possible culprits, all with their own motives. With little more to go on than his gut feeling, Burnside pokes at everything around him as he tries to untangle a web of deceit that threatens to take down an entire community.

Fade Route is set on the outskirts of Los Angeles, in a seaside town that is both serenely pretty and brutally stark. It is a community that is home to the very rich and the very poor, a place that contains more than its share of affluence and beauty, as well as sin and despair. The story combines all the elements of a classic mystery, and delivers biting humor and numerous plot twists. It is a page turner that will keep the reader guessing until the jaw dropping climax reveals an ending that is both shocking and satisfying.

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