North Noir

Reflecting a city still divided, Belfast Noir serves as a record of a city transitioning to normalcy, or perhaps as a warning that underneath the fragile peace darker forces still lurk. Featuring brand-new stories by: Glenn Patterson, Eoin McNamee, Garbhan Downey, Lee Child, Alex Barclay, Brian McGilloway, Ian McDonald, Arlene Hunt, Ruth Dudley Edwards, Claire McGowan, Steve Cavanagh, Lucy Caldwell, Sam Millar, and Gerard Brennan.

Still haunted by his suspected involvement in a plot against Castro, Ford ventures to Cuba - where he finds himself entangled in a web of murder, revenge, and assassination.

Fired from his longtime job as captain of the Coal Patrol, two-foot-three-inch, 1,300-year-old elf Gumdrop Coal is angry. He's one of Santa's original elves, inspired by the fat man's vision to bring joy to children on that one special day each year. But somewhere along the way, things went sour for Gumdrop. Maybe it was delivering one too many lumps of coal for the Naughty List. Maybe it's the conspiracy against Christmas that he's starting to sense down every chimney.

When Darl Moody went hunting after a monster buck he's chased for years, he never expected he'd accidentally shoot a man digging ginseng. Worse yet, he's killed a Brewer, a family notorious for vengeance and violence. With nowhere to turn, Darl calls on the help of the only man he knows will answer, his best friend, Calvin Hooper. But when Dwayne Brewer comes looking for his missing brother and stumbles onto a blood trail leading straight back to Darl and Calvin, a nightmare of revenge rips apart their world.

A combat veteran returned from war, Thad Broom can't leave the hardened world of Afghanistan behind, nor can he forgive himself for what he saw there. His mother, April, is haunted by her own demons, a secret trauma she has carried for years. Between them is Aiden McCall, loyal to both but unable to hold them together. Connected by bonds of circumstance and duty, friendship and love, these three lives are blown apart when Aiden and Thad witness the accidental death of their drug dealer and a riot of dope and cash drops in their laps.

Just released from prison, Trip Walker’s hopes for a fresh start are shattered after finding his twin sister Rose has vanished without a trace. Determined to uncover the truth, Trip plunges into the dark past he left behind, only to find powerful forces are also hunting for Rose—with sinister intentions. Dodging hired killers and crooked cops, he races to find his sister, all while uncovering secrets of his own family’s past. With time running out and enemies closing in, Trip faces an impossible choice: abandon his search, or risk everything—including his newfound freedom—for the ...

‘Chilling, compulsive and beautifully written.’ Brian McGilloway Thrown out of university, green-tea-drinking, meditation-loving Scott McAuley has no place to go but home: County Down, Northern Ireland. The only problem is, his father is there now too. Duke wasn't around when Scott was growing up. He was in prison for stabbing two Catholic kids in an alley. But thanks to the Good Friday Agreement, big Duke is out now, reformed, a counsellor. Squeezed together into a small house, with too little work and too much time to think about what happened to Scott's dead mother, the tension grows...

Some people just can’t avoid danger. Lately, American expat lawyer Glenn Murray Cohen has been one of them. A year ago, Glenn and his close friends from Bangkok’s mysterious NJA Club were drawn into a CIA plot to kidnap a Russian gangster. They succeeded and survived, thinking life was back to normal. When a sleazy grifter from Glenn’s past appears in Bangkok, Glenn and the NJA gang are dragged back into a dangerous world, this one filled with North Korean drug dealers, spies, and hitmen. Follow Glenn and his colorful friends as they face bullets, deceit, and love. Suspense with a ...

When the syndicate's money is taken, the bagman follows Joey Hendrick to the Shiretown. Houlton, Maine.

Ray Spalding's had enough of his wife, Paula. He's left his home in Edinburgh's Southside and headed for Belfast. It's safer there. Unknown to Ray, Paula's also had enough of him. She's not going back home. Not now, not ever. Jesse Spalding wakes up one morning to find both his parents gone. And he can't tell anyone or he'll be taken into care. As time passes and bills need paying, all Jesse can rely on are his wits, his friend Archie and his dad's 1950s record collection. Southsiders is a powerful short novel that follows the spiralling fortunes of Ray and Jesse, pushing father and son to ...

Private investigator Jim Knighthorse takes on his most dangerous case yet. An animal rights activist has disappeared and his girlfriend fears the worst. The twisty clues eventually lead Knighthorse onto the high seas and deep into Mexico’s shark-infested waters―and straight into the sordid underbelly of the illegal shark-fin market. The ex-football player turned private eye soon becomes the man who knows too much... and what he knows could get him killed. But not before Knighthorse does what he does best―take the bad guys down and burn the whole damn thing to the ground. Hail Mary is ...

Six days before Baer Creighton cut down a cabal of dogfighters, a 16-year-old girl disappeared while walking home from school in Asheville, North Carolina. Witnesses later claimed they saw her in the back of a police car. Twenty-five years before that, an illegal fireworks plant blew up in Benton, Tennessee, killing 11, and raining M100 firecrackers over half a county. A few days later, a 13-year-old boy learned his highest calling was murder.

'A writer to reckon with.' The Irish Examiner Someone going missing is not an event in their life but an indicator of a problem. Detective Inspector Harriet Sloane is plagued by nightmares while someone from her past watches from a distance. In East Belfast, local four-year-old River, vanishes from his room. Sloane must put her own demons to bed and find the boy. Before it’s too late. REVIEWS 'The people, their places and everything they say is totally credible. Highly recommended.’ Books Ireland 'A novel of style and verve. The Sleeping Season is unapologetically feminist.' Sharon ...

Past events cast shadows you can't outrun. Wayne and Phil knew that better than anyone, after what happened when they were children, bullied by Wayne’s murderous brother. When Tyrone returns after many years, bent on revenge, they are about to be drawn back into his dangerous world. Book One of the Phil Tyler Crime Thriller series.

His worst enemy becomes his last hope… When Trip Walker’s nemesis, Eddie, survives a brutal attack, Trip is blindsided by Eddie’s bombshell revelation: the person behind the attempted murder is Rose—Trip’s sister. Driven to confront the shocking truth, he must delve into her hidden past, placing him in the crosshairs of a violent gang she once called friends. And with the police circling and old enemies holding grudges, Trip confronts a deadly dilemma. He’s forced to team up with Eddie and his ruthless crew, all while knowing they could betray him at any moment. Caught between ...

As Christmas comes to the west cost of Iceland, a corpse is found in a fish farming pond. Detective Hildur Rúnarsdóttir and trainee Jakob Johanson barely have time to start their investigation before another body is discovered. And soon a third. While investigating the case, Hildur's lost sister weighs heavy on her mind. Meanwhile, Jakob travels to Finland for the hearing of his fraught custody battle, that leaves him facing dire consequences. As the number of deaths continues to grow, Hildur and Jakob are desperate to catch the killer before they strike again.

A good deed turns deadly… When Trip Walker, a PI-in-training with a troubled past, rescues a young man with special needs from kidnappers, he’s thrust into a dangerous game. What starts as a simple good deed quickly spirals into a maze of deceit, greed, and violence that threatens to consume them both. Trip soon discovers that Reggie, the young man he saved, stands at the center of a vicious family feud. To protect Reggie and uncover the truth, Trip must navigate a minefield of shifting alliances and hidden agendas. But in this high-stakes game, everyone seems determined to use Reggie ...

In "Frostbitten Secrets: Unmasking the Architect," join detective Nora Larsen as she witness her race against time to unmask the elusive Architect and bring him to justice before he strikes again. Then, venture to the "Whispers of Vágar: Unveiling the Faroese Enigma" where detective Haldur Johansen must confront his own demons as he unravels a series of chilling murders, each with a cryptic symbol that holds the key to the town's dark past. Finally, set sail on a perilous voyage in "The Phantom Passenger: Voyage of Shadows," where a mysterious figure haunts the decks of a ferry.

When the granddaughter of a prominent North Dakota state senator goes missing from her hometown, law enforcement has a couple leads on out-of-state roughneck oil workers - but with the holidays approaching and the trail growing cold, each day that passes decreases the chances that she will ever come home. Reporter Cooper Smith is chasing a story about the Bakken oil industry for Minnesota Public Radio when he learns that the missing woman is his wife's best friend. Leaving the story behind, he puts his investigative skills to work to help rescue her.

When the body of a homeless woman is found under Bradford’s railway arches, DS Nikki Parekh and her trusty partner DC Sajid Malik are on the case. With little evidence, it’s impossible to make a breakthrough, and when Nikki receives a newspaper clipping taunting her about her lack of progress in catching the killer, she wonders if she has a personal link to the case. When another seemingly unrelated body is discovered, Nikki receives another note. Someone is clearly trying to send her clues...but who? And then a third body is found.