Showing results by publisher "Phoenix Books" in Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

A confrontation between the U.S and China threatens to erupt into all-out war. As the U.S. withdraws from the Philippines, China slips in to fill the power vacuum and lays claim to tiny, uninhabitable oil-rich islands in the South China Sea. The Philippines also claim the islands, so China's navy decimates a Philippine drilling platform when its occupants refuse to knuckle under. A shooting war ensues, bringing America into the fray. The U.S. Air Force counterattacks with specially equipped B-52s, B-1s, and B-2 Stealth bombers.

When an affluent railcar owner disappears with millions of dollars belonging to Moose County investors, the international police launch an intense investigation to find the fugitive. But journalist detective Jim Qwilleran and his feline crime-busters find a mystery to unravel that is closer to home: Who blew the whistle on the embezzler—and why? Qwill goes full steam ahead to solve the puzzle before tragedy occurs, but the case is complicated by a train wreck on the main line and a murder in a railroad tavern.

A brutal serial killer known as "Dead Eyes" is lurking in the backyard of the famed Virginia FBI Profiling Unit. Despite the gifted profiling skills of Special Agent Karen Vail, the psychopath is always one step ahead with uncanny knowledge of the FBI's detailed strategy of pursuit. Threatening to derail the investigation and her career is Vail's contentious divorce from an abusive husband and an ugly custody battle. As Vail fights to find the killer before he murders more young women, she must battle forces determined to bring her down.

The United States is under siege by a terrorist vowing revenge for the abuse he suffered at the hands of Air Force MPs as a youth. The supervillain launches a full-on attack to destroy the country by blowing up airports and threatening the Capitol.

A young man resurfaces from Spenser's past to seek out the likeable P.I.'s guidance and help to solve the mysterious and sudden disappearance of the boy's mother. The most personal and revealing Spenser thriller of all, the hardboiled yet caring detective faces danger and a reckoning with his own past. Pastime is Robert B. Parker's electrifying masterpiece of crime fiction, both personal and revealing.

Hired by an aggrieved Boston aristocrat who believes his wife's brutal slaying to be something other than random violence, Spenser immediately senses that his client's picture-perfect portrayal of his family life is false. For starters, the victim's reputation is too saintly, her house is as lived-in as stage set, and her troubled children don't appear to be products of a happy home.

Pickax loves a big occasion. The Great Food "Explo" is about to begin, introducing new restaurants, country inns, and food specialty shops. Lurking in the background, though, is a killer determined to make this an event Pickax City will never forget. The Expo begins with a literal bang: a bomb wrecks the hotel, killing a housekeeper and causing extensive damage. Luckily for Pickax, Jim Qwilleran is on the scene, with suspicions that the bomb was intended as something stronger than a warning to someone.

This sixth volume of The Greatest Mysteries of All Time offers a variety of works by some of the most lauded writers in the field of suspense and literature.

When Robin Nevins is denied acceptance into an exclusive university, Spenser is eager to investigate. It seems the denial is tied to the suicide of a young gay activist, and as Spenser digs deeper, he is immersed in a multicultural swamp of politics: black, gay, academic, and feminist. Meanwhile, Spenser's girlfriend Susan asks him to come to the aid of an old college friend who is being stalked.

Nicholas Linnear won a major battle with the apocalyptic destruction of Floating City. But his enemy has retreated from the ruins left smoldering in the Vietnamese jungle, to regroup and mount the assault that will solidify his ultimate power-and destroy Linnear. That enemy is Mick Leonforte, scion of a proud and deadly Mafia dynasty.

It's not Carmen Colson and her ironworker husband Wayne's fault that they were in the real estate office when a pair of thugs walked in with extortion on their minds. But as far as aging Ojibway Indian hitman Armand Degas is concerned, the Colsons are going to have to pay dearly for seeing too much, and for the damage Wayne inflicted on Armand and his sicko partner Richie Nix with a tire iron.

Anna has been assigned a three-week posting on Georgia's isolated Cumberland Island. Despite the breathtaking natural setting, Anna finds time weighing heavily as she works tedious fire pre-suppression duty. Her boring routine is shattered when a sudden plane crash in the inland palmetto thickets calls her and the other members of the fire crew to action. When Anna and the crew investigate, they discover the plane was sabotaged. Suspicions smolder over the accident which killed both the pilot and his passenger, Cumberland's lone law enforcement ranger.

Rear Admiral Jake Grafton, the hero of Flight of the Intruder, returns as the United States and Cuba engage in a terrifying game of brinkmanship, a gamble that could break the last military taboo and destroy both countries. In Cuba, an ailing Fidel Castro lies dying. Across the Straits of Florida, an anxious U.S. awaits the inevitable power struggle, determined to have a say in who controls this strategically invaluable island.

Boston hoodlum Julius Ventura wants to find his daughter's missing husband. At least that's how he puts it to Spenser and Hawk, even though it's clear that Julius isn't telling the whole truth—or maybe not any part of the truth. Something about the case appeals to Spenser's passion for justice, though, and he launches an odyssey that leads him and Hawk into the netherworld of organized crime.

Spenser finds himself fighting for his life when he takes on a murder case for Ellis Alves, a Black man with a criminal record who says he was framed. From Boston's back streets to Manhattan's elite, Spenser and Hawk search for suspects. But when an assassin with a .22 puts Spenser in a coma, is the chance for justice dead?

Crime, thriller, and noir fans will delight in this fourth volume of The Greatest Mysteries of All Time, an exciting series featuring short fiction by legendary writers, past and present. From Edgar Allan Poe, Ernest Hemingway, and Georges Simenon to Lawrence Block and Sara Paretsky, this unique collection—compiled and edited by multi-award-winning mystery connoisseur Otto Penzler—is a captivating mixture of mystery and suspense.

On July 19, 2001, Jeffrey Archer—politician and international best-selling author—was sentenced to four years in prison for perjury. He became Prisoner FF8282 and spent the first three weeks of his sentence in a high-security prison that housed some of Britain's most violent criminals. He was moved to the Lifer's wing—because of the security it provided—where he became a trusted confidant to fellow convicts. Prisoners and guards alike asked for his autograph and sought his advice—though one cellmate sold a story about Archer to the British tabloids.

Persuaded by Polly Duncan, his beloved companion, to join her in a group tour of Scotland, Qwill expects to revel in his Scottish heritage while keeping Polly safe from the Pickax Prowler. Instead, his trip is cut short when a thief swipes a suitcase, the bus driver disappears, and a fellow tourist is found dead—all in the same day. Although the town of Pickax is in a tizzy over the recent events, Qwill has other, more puzzling worries on his mind: Who is the fellow still following Polly? Why is Koko licking Qwill's photographs of Scotland and tackling him on the apple barn stairs?

Louise Towers, one of the most powerful and celebrated women in the world, is brutally attacked in her New York mansion. Founder of a mighty cosmetics empire, she is known as one of the most well-guarded, inaccessible people, so both the public and press alike believe that the attack could have only been planned by someone close to her. The investigation to find the perpetrator uncovers an intricate web of family, friends, business associates, and lovers—any one of whom could have been motivated to harm Louise.

An adorable crackpot inventor has developed his latest idea—run-proof, snag-proof pantyhose—just in time for a Miami pantyhose convention. If he can just raise $1.1 million over the convention weekend, he can save the housing project he shares with other retirees from getting sold out from under them. But an industry queen is determined to keep his invention off the market—any way she can.