Hard-Boiled Dudes

SOME LIKE IT HARD-BOILED - WITH A SIDE OF DANGER

A muscular anthology of best-selling mysteries, Hard-Boiled Dudes showcases gritty, edgy, unexpected sleuths - a car mechanic, an ex-journalist, a reluctant lawyer, an ex-cop, and a small-town Hawaiian cop with a research scientist sidekick. Whether amateur or pro, these dudes come out swinging. From the deadly silence of a snowy ski resort to the buzzing swamps on Kauai, these five action-packed thrillers by award-winning authors are guaranteed to chill and thrill!

Vol. 1: REPULSE MONKEY

A year following Alex Glauberman's first brush with murder and mystery, he's recovered from cancer and chemotherapy; he's studying tai chi for its pleasures and therapeutic effects; life goes on. Then, in the space of a two-minute phone call, he's ensnared in another mystery.

His anniversary dinner with girlfriend Meredith comes to an abrupt halt when a quick check-in with the babysitter yields the news from Alex's sleepy nine-year-old that the babysitter has left: "She said it was an emergency. She said the emergency was that somebody was dead."

Now the babysitter is missing, and her boyfriend is dead.

Vol. 2: TRUE LIFE ADVENTURE

Wise-cracking ex-journalist Paul Mcdonald's main confidant is a cat named Spot; his best friend's a burglar who's trying to quit; his relationship status is commitment-phobic ... so what makes this Great American Novelist-in-waiting think adding "P.I." to his resume is a good idea? Well, his boss was just poisoned in Paul's living room right in front of him, and then somebody broke into his apartment; now he thinks they're trying to kill him. Finally Paul's got a story he can sell, if he can catch the murderer before the murderer catches him.

Vol. 3: CRIME CZAR

Tubby Dubonnet can't forget the last words that escaped an old friend's lips, and he can't get out of the way of a political campaign that's turning rough. Obsessed with the idea that a shadowy crime boss may be pulling the strings that have cost good people their lives, Tubby is entering into a test of courage with the most violent men in New Orleans. And as if that weren't dangerous enough, he's just picked up the worst ally he could ever find: a beautiful prostitute gunning for revenge.

Vol. 4: ROYAL FLUSH

Unlicensed PI Jake Samson is understandably nervous about infiltrating a local Marin County neo-Nazi group called the Aryan Command. After all, he is Jewish. But when the doe-eyed teenage goddaughter of his oldest friend begs him to help her boyfriend--harebrained, reformed skinhead Royal Subic--Jake finds he can't "just say no." Royal, who's too terrified to defect, is not only disenchanted with his recent brush with right-wing extremism (and a regrettable tattoo), he's afraid for his life--and he has the murder of a Command member-turned-defector to point to for proof. As Jake investigates, a complex conspiracy begins to unfold, including a plan to assassinate an outspoken talk-show host, a complicated web of local police and governmental infiltrators (some of them dirty themselves), and a possible international connection.

Vol. 5: VECTOR

Detective Cobb Takamura's idea of a busy night is a few drunken tourists and a jaywalker. That is, until the flood of killings begins, when suddenly the tropical paradise he calls home becomes a raging inferno of violence and bloodshed. Seemingly the victims - who all died screaming, of unknown causes, have nothing in common.

ONLY a tough scientist and a clever island cop can stop a ruthless cabal from loosing a weapon potentially more lethal than nuclear war on an unsuspecting world!


Genre: Mystery