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

This collection of the finest short story mystery fiction by the most acclaimed writers, past and present features Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Thomas Burke, Harry Kemelman, and everyone in between. Edited by multi-award-winning mystery connoisseur Otto Penzler, it offers a delightful mixture of mystery and suspense.

The hardworking single mother of young daughter, Joanna Brady still feels the acute pain of loneliness and loss, the hole that was left in her heart when her policeman husband was murdered. But Sheriff Brady is the law in Cochise County, and murder has shattered the small town's fragile peace. A local gun dealer has died violently, and his stock of high-powered weapons has been cleared out. When two more slayings follow soon after, suspicion falls upon rancher Alton Hosfield.

Julia Lang is a winner—she' s beautiful, vivacious, and the publicity director of London's top hotel. Robert Brand is charismatic and handsome—with his vast fortune he can work magic. Julia and Robert make a golden couple, but when Robert tragically dies, Julia's world suddenly shatters. When his Swiss bank denies the existence of her inheritance, Julia realizes that her perfect life with Robert may have been built on a lie.

Tori Nunn went to Buenos Aires to forget—to forget her former life and to forget the death of her astronaut brother Greg, who died in a tragic space accident. But when handsome Ariel Solares alerts her to Japanese cocaine dealers shipping nuclear material from Columbia, she won't let go. Soon Tori is back in the world of spies and counterspies searching for the links between the Japanese killers, Russian dissidents with a new generation of nuclear weapons, and her own shadowy boss. Facing her deadliest enemies, she is aided only by her chief rival—the man with whom she is falling in love.

Alison Young seems to have it all: a brilliant career, a beautiful San Francisco townhouse, a loving husband, and a talented teenage daughter. But for 18 years, Alison has kept a terrible secret: She was the victim of a violent rape, and her daughter is the result of it. Unable to bring her attacker to trial or get a legal abortion, Alison left her hometown, reinvented her past, and built a new life for herself. Now, however, someone threatens to destroy all that Alison has achieved.

There's the Durango in Colorado, the one in Mexico, and the one in Spain; then there's the fourth one—the California town where the Franciscans forgot to fund a mission. Now, all it has going for it is the climate— and its hideout industry.

Aboard the majestic ocean liner Queen Elizabeth II, the world's most powerful leaders meet to launch a new era of peace and global cooperation. For Chinese terrorists who believe that the summit will make their Asian homeland a pawn of Western imperialist power, this summit represents a betrayal. They infiltrate the ship— and in a terrifying instant, a small, deadly group of fanatics take control and hold the world and its leaders hostage. With the survival of the world's greatest leaders at stake, any misstep will mean the end of the delicate balance that passes for peace.

Beaufort, South Carolina is home to the Smallwoods, a family closely knit but fiercely at odds. Georgie, the youngest, is tormented by worry for her son, who vanished two years earlier, and by her anger at her father. An unforgiving patriarch and ex-Marine, Georgie's father neglects her mother, belittles her brother Ashby, and denies her sister Claire the financial support she needs after a trying divorce.

Author David Morrell is a consummate storyteller, investing his tales with passion, sympathy, and narrative drive. From this master of literate, high-adrenaline novels of action comes three suspenseful short stories that will keep listeners guessing.

In Tokyo, a squad of fanatic Japanese nationalists force their way into the Imperial Palace and behead the emperor. It is a grisly first move in a sinister conspiracy to take advantage of a weakened Russia and invade oil-rich Siberia. The goal? World domination. The price? A third world war. Bound by a secret protocol to come to Russia's aid in the event of a war, but eager to avoid armed conflict, Washington sends Air Force Colonel Bob Cassidy and a squadron of fighter pilots on a secret mission to thwart the Japanese terrorists.

This lush, dazzling story captures the ultimate single woman's fantasy: A fairy tale comes true when a mysterious benefactor offers three single, attractive career women the use of his Beverly Hills mansion, pool, and credit card for a year. At the exclusive polo grounds, spas, and parties of the very rich, all three women meet the desirable, wealthy men they dreamed of. But as the champagne bubbles fade, each one discovers that the dream has a dark side.

Arriving home after another failed burglary, John Dortmunder is shocked to find his apartment occupied by a notorious cellmate that everyone had supposed (and hoped) had been jailed for life. Tom Jimson needs Dortmunder's help. Thirty years before his last prison stretch, Tom had pulled a big job up near Albany, one that left a cool $700,000 in cash buried under a water reservoir near Albany, New York. Tom's plan is to blow up the dam, flood the surrounding countryside, and grab the cash.

In a speculative dystopian thriller based on the premise that the South won the Civil War, President Spencer Jefferson Lee is shocked to discover that underneath the facade of civil order in his world of very separate races, there is dissent. A protest group made up of "losers" among this "ideal" society— same-sex and cross-racial lovers and their children— threatens the seeming peace and order.

Creator and first host of The Tonight Show, entertainment legend Steve Allen is asked to stand in for Terry Cole, a late night talk-show host. Easy enough to be a substitute, thinks Allen, but little does he know that the vodka from the on-stage refrigerator is poisoned. Allen is not harmed, but his guest drops dead on the stage! Was the intended target Terry Cole or Steve Allen? Cole does have an extensive list of enemies, but when Allen himself becomes the suspect, he must solve the crime or spend a lifetime in lock-up.

Following the success of Malice Domestic 1—recipient of the Agatha Award for Best Short Story and called "outstanding" by Publishers Weekly— acclaimed author Mary Higgins Clark serves a feast of original traditional mystery stories in classic Agatha Christie style. Featured writers include Amanda Cross, Frances Fyfield, and K.K. Beck.

Jonas Piedmont Beaumont has had a hard life and learned at a young age how hard life can be. Two marriages, a treacherous battle with the bottle, assorted midlife and moral dilemmas, and a few decades as a homicide detective haven't convinced him otherwise. When Beau and his new partner Sue Danielson are assigned the murder of an elderly woman torched to death in her bed, Beau finds himself distracted by Sue's difficulties at home.

What if you were offered a gig by some shadowy and well-financed interests to funnel five million dollars to rebels holed up in the Philippine mountains? They need to fund a revolt against the Aquino government and a resourceful and gutsy team to engineer it.

Nuala Anne McGrail has twice before amazed her faithful suitor, Dermot Coyne, with her psychic ability to "reach back" to the past and discover a wrong that needs righting. With their wedding only a few weeks away, Dermot's not a bit surprised when, while paying respects to his grandparents in Chicago's Mount Carmel Cemetery, Nuala points to the grave of the famous bootlegger Jimmy "Sweet Rolls" Sullivan .

Dermot Michael Coyne of Chicago goes to Ireland to uncover the true story of his grandparents, who left Ireland under a veil of mystery in the 1920s. There, Coyne meets Nuala Anne McGreal, a college student who helps him translate his grandmother's diaries. His grandparents, the O'Riadas, and the bloody history of Ireland from 1919 to 1923 are mysteriously linked to present-day peace talks between the Irish and English.

The man who would become the first president of the United States comes to life in this biographical novel written by acclaimed suspense writer Mary Higgins Clark. Strongly influenced by the gentility and generosity of spirit of his older brother, the young George matures into a devoted and able public servant in both the military and political arenas. Though marked by tragedies and disappointments, his domestic life offers him well-earned solace and satisfaction, especially after his marriage to the young widow, Martha "Patsy" Custis.