A brilliant collection of tales from 'a marvellously talented writer' [Esquire], author of the acclaimed, award-winning Oyster.

Powerful, moving and elegant, these stories cover every aspect of the human condition from tales of the family to those of the macabre... A man watches his family dine as he sits in his car at the kerb, and realises he lives in a household of strangers ... Menaced by a gang of skinheads in a Jewish cemetery, an American tourist in Germany placates the Neo-Nazis with a formula he continues to repeat even after he is safely back home ... the problem of a ghost in a nursery ... the often surprising demands of love ... These elegant, eloquent stories engage the world in sometimes shocking ways, surprising in their plotting, sly in their humour. Such mastery of craft is impressive, and whether it seeks to amuse or move, each story in has the power and style to affect the reader to the very core...

John Biguenet is the author of a novel, Oyster, and a story collection, The Torturer's Apprentice. The winner of an O. Henry Award, he has published fiction, poetry, and nonfiction in such journals as Granta, Esquire, Playboy, Story, Zoetrope, and DoubleTake as well as in various anthologies. He is currently the Robert Hunter Distinguished Professor at Loyola University in New Orleans.

Small-time black hustler Tee Bobby Hulin is partly redeemed, in Robicheaux's eyes, by a rare musical gift. Three men are present when Amanda Boudreau is raped and murdered, and Tee Bobby's prints found at the crime scene. Dave reckons he's innocent, and Tee Bobby pleads so, then attempts suicide in his holding cell. Why? Soon after, hooker and junkie Linda Zeroski is beaten to death by a man wearing leather gloves who, with great care and precision, crushes every bone in her face. Louisiana's murky history casts a long shadow in the work of James Lee Burke, but nowhere longer than here, and a family called LaSalles, who settled there before the Louisiana Purchase and built their wealth upon the backs of slave labour. When lawyer Perry LaSalles takes on the defence of Tee Bobby Hulin, Dave knows his motives are fuelled by guilt. For Tee Bobby's grandmother Ladice was seduced by Perry's grandfather, and Amanda Boudreau's death is related to events that happened long before Tee B obby was born ... In this rich and compelling novel James Lee Burke weaves a web of plots and subplots involving perfectly observed characters. Dense with passion and compassion, Burke's novels get better and better.

Henry Price has a whole new life - new apartment, new telephone, new telephone number. But the first time he checks his messages, he discovers that someone had the number before him. The messages on his line are for a woman named Lilly, and she is in some kind of serious trouble. Price is inexorably drawn into Lilly's world, and it's unlike any world he's ever known. It is a nighttime world of escort services, websites, sex, and secret identities. Price tumbles through a hole, abandoning his orderly life in a frantic race to save the life of a woman he has never met. Price's skills as a computer entrepreneur allow him to trace Lilly's last days with some precision. But every step into Lilly's past takes Price deeper into a web of inescapable intricacy - and a decision that could cost him everything he owns and holds dear.
Chasing the Dime has the irresistible velocity of film classics like The Maltese Falcon and Chinatown, but with the extraordinary writing and style that have made Michael Connelly 'a crime-writing genius' (Independent on Sunday)

Stephen Coonts & Jim DeFelice
Exciting new techno-thriller from the bestselling author of AMERICA and SAUCER

When the National Security Agency intercepts and decodes an obscure email message indicating a severe threat to the US, the American President considers his options. No Navy task force can solve this problem; it's too complicated for Delta Force and too delicate for the Marines. A B-2 bomber will only make things worse. What if, he asks the NSA Director, the same technology that made the interception possible could be used as an offensive weapon? What if the NSA turned from crypto-spy to crypto-warrior? Armed with satellites, ships, planes, and an array of sophisticated hardware - much of which it invented itself - the NSA proves as competent at covert action as it is at spying. With members of all services working closely with the agency, there is no place on earth it can't reach. Success leads to a permanent NSA Group that acts directly for the NSA Director. But the high-wire nature of its missions and the secretive, ego-driven culture of the agency means disaster always looms nearby...