Bøker av Max Allan Collins

BIG MAN ON CAMPUSCrime fiction readers know Quarry, the ruthless killer-for-hire, from Max Allan Collins' acclaimed novels - most recently THE LAST QUARRY, which told the story of the assassin's final assignment (and was the basis for the feature film The Last Lullaby).

First there was Max Allan Collins' legendary graphic novel...then came the Academy Award winning movie and his bestselling screenplay novelization. Now Collins presents an epic new novel, combining and expanding upon all that came before, to create the ultimate version of his unforgettable story.Depression-era Chicago is awash in liquor and blood, ruled by guns, graft, and gangsters like John Looney. His most feared enforcer is Michael O'Sullivan, known as the "Angel of Death." But when O'Sullivan's twelve-year-old son witnesses a gangland murder committed by Looney's brutal son, O'Sullivan's entire family is marked for execution to cover up the crime. O'Sullivan and his son find themselves on the run... and seeking vengeance... on the long, bloody road to Perdition.

The hitman hero of the acclaimed Cinemax series comes out of retirement when his daughter, a true-crime writer, is abducted by the subject of one of her books. A nail-biting suspense thriller from the author of ROAD TO PERDITION. MWA Grand Master Max Allan Collins' longest-running series, which inspired the show on Cinemax, makes a ferocious return following the Edgar Award-nominated QUARRY'S BLOOD as aging hitman Quarry is forced to come out of retirement when his true-crime-author daughter is abducted by one of the killers she's written about. Perfect for fans of Liam Neeson thrillers and authors such as Lee Child.

There has never been a full-length biography of Mickey Spillane, the most popular and influential mystery writer of his era-until now.Beginning in 1947 with I, the Jury, and continuing with his next six novels, Spillane quickly amassed a readership in the tens of millions, becoming the bestselling novelist in the history of American publishing. Surrounded by controversy for the overt violence and suggestive sexual content of his iconic Mike Hammer private eye novels, Spillane was loathed by critics but beloved by his readers.There is, however, more to Spillane's life than the books. He also starred as Hammer in a movie, was a circus performer, worked with the FBI in capturing a notorious criminal, and starred in Miller Light beer commercials that were so popular they ran for a quarter of a century.Max Allan Collins became Spillane's friend and collaborator, continuing the Mike Hammer series for years after the author's death, building upon unfinished manuscripts the writer left behind. Now, with co-author James Traylor, Collins has produced the first comprehensive and authoritative profile of the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master. It is a must-read for any fan of the author-or of the generations of crime writers that were influenced by his work.

Vietnam vet Mallory has been everywhere and done everything--from hippie life to construction work, from covering a reporter's beat to walking a cop's--before finally returning to small-town Iowa to try his hand at writing. In between crafting whodunits, he does his part for the community by ferrying hot meals to little old ladies. But then his worlds unexpectedly collide: home invaders murder one of his clients and leave Mallory black-and-blue when he catches them red-handed.The elderly victim is the first fatality in an organized burglary spree sweeping the town, but Mallory fears she may not be the last. And despite the painful cracks in his ribs, nothing can stop him from looking into the killing--not even the local sheriff, or the little blonde from high school days who got away...or even a beating courtesy of the ruthless goon squad that warns Mallory to steer clear.Armed with his ex-cop's instincts, soldier's survival skills, and mystery writer's savvy, Mallory bucks the local law and the love of his life to stop this brutal burglary ring. But writing a mystery can pay well, whereas solving one can pay dearly...

"In the mob-choked Chicago of 1932, private detective Nathan Heller may be willing to risk his life to earn a Depression dollar, but he never sacrifices his sardonic wit ... When Mayor Cermak's 'Hoodlum Squad' brings Heller along on a raid with no instructions but to keep his mouth shut and his gun handy, he becomes an unwitting, unwilling part of a hit on Al Capone's successor, Frank Nitti. As a result, Heller quits the force to become a private eye. His first job: head off a nation-shaking political assassination in Miami Beach"--P. [4] of cover.

The new definitive history of gangster-era Chicago-a landmark work that is as riveting as a thriller. Now featuring a new preface, plus 115 photographs and a map of gangland Chicago.A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year"Gripping. ... Reads like a novel." --Chicago "Revolutionizes our understanding of Al Capone and Eliot Ness." --Matthew PearlIn 1929, thirty-year-old gangster Al Capone ruled both Chicago's underworld and its corrupt government. To a public who scorned Prohibition, "Scarface" became a local hero and national celebrity. But after the brutal St. Valentine's Day Massacre transformed Capone into "Public Enemy Number One," the federal government found an unlikely new hero in a twenty-seven-year-old Prohibition agent named Eliot Ness. Chosen to head the legendary law enforcement team known as "The Untouchables," Ness set his sights on crippling Capone's criminal empire.Today, no underworld figure is more iconic than Al Capone and no lawman as renowned as Eliot Ness. Yet in 2016 the Chicago Tribune wrote, "Al Capone still awaits the biographer who can fully untangle, and balance, the complexities of his life," while revisionist historians have continued to misrepresent Ness and his remarkable career.Enter Max Allan Collins and A. Brad Schwartz, a unique and vibrant writing team combining the narrative skill of a master novelist with the scholarly rigor of a trained historian. Collins is the New York Times bestselling author of the gangster classic Road to Perdition. Schwartz is a rising-star historian whose work anticipated the fake-news phenomenon.Scarface and the Untouchable draws upon decades of primary source research--including the personal papers of Ness and his associates, newly released federal files, and long-forgotten crime magazines containing interviews with the gangsters and G-men themselves. Collins and Schwartz have recaptured a bygone bullet-ridden era while uncovering the previously unrevealed truth behind Scarface's downfall. Together they have crafted the definitive work on Capone, Ness, and the battle for Chicago.

Nolan must rob every store in a mall in one night - or his girlfriend dies. Two Nolan novels from Grandmaster Max Allan Collins, collected in one volume for the first time.

"BEST-SELLING AUTHOR MICKEY SPILLANE'S MOST TERRIFYING NOVEL. In touristy Peachtree Heights, Georgia, a string of presumably accidental deaths of area physicians rouses the suspicions of Police Chief Blake Cutter. But the former big-city cop's attempts to warn Dr. Roy Ryan are viewed by his estranged wife as an attempt to muddy the waters of a custody battle over the couple's young son, Richie. Too late to do anything more, a small, incredibly powerful creature emerges from the night to brave the walls of the doctor's compound, terrorizing the family and any and all police guarding them. The menace is suddenly real, and those physicians' deaths are anything but accidental. And when young Richie's archeologist uncle gives the boy a grisly birthday present-an actual Aztec mummy!-the child begins to think the long-dead corpse is his friend, one who is still-breathing ... Mickey Spillane was a best-selling mystery and crime novelist of the 20th Century, and this novel is typical of his storytelling speed and the shocking surprises only he could deliver"--

Husband-and-wife mystery writing team Barbara and Max Allan Collins are showcased in this eclectic new collection of short stories written individually and together. In tales spanning from noir to horror, and genres ranging from police procedual to private eye, the Collins duo finds suspense and dark humor in such unlikely places as the White House, a retirement home, and the San Diego comic con. Two of MWA Grand Master Max's most popular characters, Quarry (in two rare short story appearances) and Ms. Tree (in the Edgar-nominated "Louise"), appear in these pages. Honored short story writer Barbara explores topics from over-zealous feminists to hungry Venus fly traps in tales both comic and chilling. And Marilyn Monroe, a father-and-daughter detective team, and a small-town female cop are among the unlikely stars of his unusual, entertaining collection.--Page 4 of cover.

"INVOKING THE BEST OF THE ORIGINAL JAMES BOND SPY THRILLERS. 1963 - It is rumored John Sand was the basis for a certain famous fictional spy created by an old colleague of his at his writing retreat in Jamaica. It's also believed that Sand has exchanged espionage for a cushy life as an energy company executive working for his oil-heiress bride, Stacey. Sand is now at work for a new international agency headed up by his former MI6 boss, with both John and Stacey-who has been trained to work with her husband side by side. Together, they have been assigned to recover a cache of stolen uranium, while also discovering what a bunch of not-so-former Nazis are up to in South America. Joining in the hunt is Sand's former lover, Charlotte DuBois, a French agent as lovely as she is deadly. Their bullet-blazing adventures take them from Switzerland to Argentina, and from the casinos of Las Vegas casinos to the docks of Buenos Aires, with the very real possibility of ending up in the historic bunkers beneath the Berlin wall-on the brink of World War III.."--

In an attempt to soothe growing Cold War tensions between America and Russia, Premier Nikita Khrushchev visits the US to see all that his "enemy" has to offer. Top of his to-do list? A trip to Disneyland and an introduction to sexual icon Marilyn Monroe. Thanks to the impossible security requirements, Disneyland is out of the question. Marilyn, on the other hand, jumps at the chance to put on a show for the Russian official. During her appearance, she overhears the details of an assassination plot designed to spark an atomic holocaust and devastate both superpowers. When the Secret Service refuses to believe her, Marilyn risks everything to whisk Khrushchev away to safety-in the happiest place on earth. With US agents and the KGB hot on their trail, Marilyn and Khrushchev enjoy the thrills of the amusement park while fighting to stay one step ahead of the assassins and prevent the horrors of an unprecedented war that would annihilate millions. "Historical fiction, thriller and comedy rolled into one book. It was a page turner - I couldn't put it down."

The hitman hero of the acclaimed series Quarry on Cinemax returns for his final act. By Quarry's creator, the award-winning author of Road to Perdition! QUARRY'S VIOLENT PAST COMES LOOKING FOR HIM The professional hitman known as Quarry -- star of the Cinemax TV miniseries of the same name -- has put killing behind him. But after a beautiful writer of true-crime bestsellers drops by to announce he's the subject of her next book, killers descend to give him some of his own deadly medicine, forcing Quarry to journey into his bloody past to find the answers -- and settle old scores. QUARRY'S BLOOD brings the hitman's decades-long saga right up to the present day as MWA Grand Master Max Allan Collins explores the startling final act of Quarry's professional career.

Los Angeles. The City of Angels. The perfect place for a honeymoon...and the worst possible time for a murder.Vacationing private investigator Nate Heller finds himself a suspect in the LAPD's investigation of the notorious Black Dahlia murder case. Problem is the butchered starlet, Elizabeth Short, is an old Chicago flame of Heller's--and only the P.I. himself knows she was blackmailing him for abortion money.Classic noir at its finest blended to extraordinary effect with historical facts, Max Allan Collins' Angel in Black crackles with tight plotting and razor-sharp dialogue. With the help of a world-weary, alcoholic Eliot Ness, Heller links the murder to a notorious Cleveland serial killer...while doing his best to stay out of jail and salvage his already troubled new marriage. Along the way he encounters Chicago boxer Barney Ross, fellow suspect Orson Welles, and zany gangster Mickey Cohen.

Joyce Lackey was a classic baby-boomer. She had it all: a high-paying position, a beautiful condo, a BMW. But there was one thing she didn't have any more - her youth, and that was what she needed most.Her boss fired her because he wanted someone with "young blood and young ideas." Joyce was forced to start all over again. But could she compete with all the beautiful young kids who were so hungry for what she had? The X-Gen Agency could give Joyce everything she wanted, everything she needed - a new job, a new body and a new identity. In short: a new life, but there was a price. It seemed reasonable enough when Joyce signed the contracts, and besides, she was desperate. By the time she realized what she had done, it was too late to turn back. This was one contract without an escape clause..."A clever, twisted generational thriller that fictionalizes the brewing Boomers vs. Gen X-ers conflict in the workplace and in society at large."

A young woman's terrible nightmares are a projection of a serial killer's mad murders... Prepare to meet a seductive vampire preying on the homeless, a mobster who meets his murderous match, a sexual predator who selects the wrong victim, a psychotic Santa, a tabloid ghost hunter, and a pop star who wants to live forever. And waiting for you are teenage hookers from hell, a bad girl turned good in a bad way, and a group of ghost hunters who spend a harrowing night in a very haunted house.A riveting, brand-new collection of dark crime and darker horror by Mystery Writers of America "Grand Master," Max Allan Collins.

AN OFF-THE-WALL ROMP AND OTHER EXHILARATING CRIME STORIES. Recent almost-college-grad Fred Kitchen and his eccentric six-foot-four pal, Wheaty, pay off a poker debt with a prank - showing their stuff in the then-current fad of streaking. Soon they are under arrest and in jail, killing time by playing cards with a couple of hardened criminals, unwittingly racking up a new debt...one that can only be paid off by participating in a bank robbery during a small-town festival. Written as a tribute to the comic novels of his mentor Donald E. Westlake, Shoot the Moon is a fast, funny crime novel written early in his career by Max Allan Collins.

Do No Harm is the next mystery in the Nathan Heller series by New York Times bestselling author Max Allan Collins.It's 1954 and Heller takes on the Sam Sheppard case-a young doctor is startled from sleep and discovers his wife brutally murdered. He claims that a mysterious intruder killed his wife. But all the evidence points to a disturbed husband who has grown tired of married life and yearned to be free at all costs. Sheppard is swiftly convicted and sent to rot in prison.Just how firm was the evidence...and was it tampered with to fit a convenient narrative to settle scores and push political agendas? Nathan's old friend Elliot Ness calls in a favor and as Nathan digs into the case he becomes convinced of Sheppard's innocence. But Nate can't prove it and has to let the case drop.The road to justice is sometimes a long one. Heller's given another chance years later and this time he's determined to free the man...even if it brings his own death a bit closer.

A CORNUCOPIA OF HOLIDAY-THEMED TALES OF CRIME AND MYSTERY.Master storyteller, Max Allan Collins tells crime stories for every holiday: Christmas, Mother's Day, Memorial Day, Father's Day, Fourth of July and Thanksgiving.A Wreath for Marley adds intrigue to a traditional Christmas tale; Flowers for Bill O'Reilly infuses a Memorial Day setting with horror-movie madness; and in the Thanksgiving yarn A Bird for Becky, a sweet twelve-year-old girl turns out to be the reincarnation of a rubbed-out Chicago gangster. Also included are the short stories Mommy, a Mother's Day tale that became the bases of a cult movie; Firecracker Kill, a Fourth of July serial-killer noir that pairs a cop and a mob enforcer as heroes; and His Father's Ghost, a Halloween-meets-Father's Day study of an adopted boy's search for the killer of the father he never met.