"Las Vegas is a city of contradictions: seedy and glamorous, secretive and wild, Vegas attracts people of all kinds--especially those with a secret to hide, or a life to leave behind. It's the perfect location for Lester Olsen's lucrative business. He gets to treat gorgeous, young women to five-star restaurants, splashy shows, and limo rides--and then he teaches them how to kill. Private Jack Morgan spends most of his time in Los Angeles, where his...

Salvation seems tough to come by when a musician is shot following a Salvation Army concert. With no lead to go on, police investigator Harry Hole gives chase when the culprit realizes he shot the wrong man and seeks the one for whom the bullet was meant. Hole journeys to the dark corners of former Yugoslavia, returning to discover the deepest darkness is among Oslo's junkies and Salvationists 416pp., 150K, Auth res: Oslo, Norway

Just as Bruce Cable's Bay Books is preparing for the return of bestselling author Mercer Mann, Hurricane Leo veers from its predicted course and heads straight for the island. The hurricane is devastating: homes and condos are leveled, hotels and storefronts ruined, streets flooded, and a dozen people lose their lives. One of the apparent victims is Nelson Kerr, a friend of Bruce's and an author of thrillers. But the nature of Nelson's injuries suggests...

When Marty, the owner of a Texas backwoods bar, hires a man to kill his cheating wife and her boyfriend, he opens a door into the criminal world that he'll never be able to shut. The sleazy hit man decides instead to shoot Marty, thereby collecting his unearned fee and eliminating the only person who could implicate him-- or so he thinks.

"A prominent New Jersey doctor and members of a notorious outlaw motorcycle gang The Pagans transform the doctor's office into a drug ring pumping thousands of highly addictive opioid pain pills onto the streets in exchange for cash. Everything was going smoothly until one person discovered their plan: the doctor's wife. When she threatened to divorce him, the doctor's unholy alliance with his partners in crime turned deadly and the doctor hired a...

"Jim Jarmusch combined his love for the ice-cold crime dramas of Jean-Pierre Melville and Seijun Suzuki with the philosophical dimensions of samurai mythology for an eccentrically post-modern take on the hit-man thriller. In one of his defining roles, Forest Whitaker brings a commanding serenity to his portrayal of a Zen contract killer working for a bumbling mob outfit, a modern man who adheres steadfastly to the ideals of the Japanese warrior code...

"Dr. James Kauffman and his wife, April, were the perfect couple: a respected endocrinologist and a beautiful radio host. But under the surface lurked a world of drugs, sex, and biker gangs--and Dr. Kauffman would kill to keep it secret. In May 2012, April Kauffman, a well-known local radio personality and staunch advocate of military veterans rights, was found shot to death in the bedroom of the home she shared with her husband, Dr. James Kauffman....