Max Allan Collins – författare

"The thrilling history of the torso murderer. The tale of the ‘Untouchable’ who got Al Capone but failed to solve his goriest case." —Dan Jones, The Sunday TimesIn the spirit of Devil in the White City comes a true detective tale of the highest standard: the haunting story of Eliot Ness's forgotten final case–his years-long hunt for "The Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run," a serial killer who terrorized Cleveland through the Great Depression. “After helping to put Al Capone behind bars, lawman Eliot Ness came to Cleveland, where he did battle with a vicious killer. ... Even Ness was stumped trying to apprehend the ‘torso murderer’ responsible for a series of ghoulish killings. ... The authors have done Ness justice." —Wall Street JournalIn 1934, the nation’s most legendary crime-fighter–fresh from taking on the greatest gangster in American history–arrived in Cleveland, a corrupt and dangerous town about to host a world's fair. It was to be his coronation, as well as the city's. Instead, terror descended, as headless bodies started turning up. The young detective, already battling the mob and crooked cops, found his drive to transform American policing subverted by a menace largely unknown to law enforcement: a serial murderer.Eliot Ness's greatest case had begun. Now, Max Allan Collins and A. Brad Schwartz–the acclaimed writing team behind Scarface and the Untouchable–uncover this lost crime epic, delivering a gripping and unforgettable nonfiction account based on decades of groundbreaking research.Ness had risen to fame in 1931 for leading the “Untouchables,” which helped put Chicago’s Al Capone behind bars. As Cleveland's public safety director, in charge of the police and fire departments, Ness offered a radical new vision for better law enforcement. Crime-ridden and devastated by the Depression, Cleveland was preparing for a star-turn itself: in 1936, it would host the "Great Lakes Exposition," which would be visited by seven million people. Late in the summer of 1934, however, pieces of a woman’s body began washing up on the Lake Erie shore–first her ribs, then part of her backbone, then the lower half of her torso. The body count soon grew to five, then ten, then more, all dismembered in gruesome ways.As Ness zeroed in on a suspect–a doctor tied to a prominent political family–powerful forces thwarted his quest for justice. In this battle between a flawed hero and a twisted monster–by turns horror story, political drama, and detective thriller–Collins and Schwartz find an American tragedy, classic in structure, epic in scope.

Dr. Temperance Brennan, a highly skilled forensic anthropologist who works at the Jeffersonian Institution and writes novels as a sideline, has an uncanny ability to read clues left behind in a victim's bones. Law enforcement calls upon her to assist with murder investigations when the standard methods of identifying a body are useless. Brennan often finds herself partnered with special investigator Seely Booth of the FBI's Homicide Investigation Unit. Booth, a former Army sniper who mistrusts science and scientists, believes the key to solving crimes lies in discovering the truth from good old-fashioned detective work. Brennan's equally brilliant colleagues at the Jeffersonian's Medico-Legal Lab include earthy and bawdy Angela Montenegro, who's created a unique way to render an original crime scene in a 3-D computer image; Brennan's assistant, Zack Addy, a young prodigy whose genius IQ actually gets in the way of finishing any of the several doctorates he's begun; "the bug guy" Dr. Jack Hodgins, who's an expert on insects, spores and minerals, but conspiracy is his hobby; and Brennan's boss, the imposing lab director Dr. Daniel Goodman. "We hope my readers will realize that it's another manifestation of Tempe, and that they are in on this inside joke" says the real Reichs

In the mid-20th century, Mickey Spillane was the sensation of not just mystery fiction but publishing itself. The level of sex and violence in his Mike Hammer thrillers (starting with I, the Jury in 1947) broke down long-held taboos and engendered a near hysterical critical backlash. Nonetheless, Spillane's influence has been felt--reflections of Hammer are visible in nearly every subsequent tough guy of fiction and film, including James Bond, Dirty Harry, Shaft, Billy Jack, and Jack Bauer. Spillane's fiction came to the screen in a series of films that include Kiss Me Deadly (1955) and The Girl Hunters (1963) with the author himself playing his private eye. These films, and television series starring Darren McGavin and Stacy Keach respectively, are examined in a lively, knowledgeable fashion by Spillane experts. Included are cast and crew listings, brief biographical entries on key persons, and a lengthy interview with Spillane.

Even the enigmatic hit man called Quarry had to start somewhere. And for him that was the day he returned from Vietnam to find his young wife cheating. He'd killed plenty overseas, so killing her lover was no big deal. When he was recruited to use his skills as a contract killer, that transition was easy, too. He survived by expecting trouble. What he didn't expect was running into her again.

"FRIEND, YOU'RE TALKING TO A GUY WITH A PRICE ON HIS HEAD AND THE POLICE AT HIS BACK..." Compared to the $40 million the cops think he stole, $75,000 may not sound like much. But it's all the money in the world to the struggling Cuban exiles of Miami who rescued Morgan the Raider. So when it's snatched by a man the Cubans trusted, Morgan sets out to get it back. A simple favor but as the bodies pile up -- dead men and beautiful women-- the Raider wonders what kind of Latin hell he's gotten himself into, and just who or what is the mysterious Consummata? Begun by mystery master Mickey Spillane in the late 1960s and completed four decades later by his friend Max Allan Collins (Road to Perdition), The Consummatais the long-awaited follow-up to Spillane's bestseller The Delta Factor -- a breathtaking tale of treachery, sensuality, and violence, showcasing two giants of crime fiction at their pulse-pounding, two-fisted best.

First...there was the last quarry. Then...there was the first quarry. Now...look who's caught in the middle. The enigmatic hitman Quarry - star of seven celebrated novels and an award-winning feature film ("The Last Lullaby") - is back in this violent, steamy tale of warring crime families. When two Godfathers set out to bump each other off, guess who winds up with both contracts...

Crime fiction readers know Quarry, the ruthless killer-for-hire, from Max Allan Collins' acclaimed novels. But where did Quarry's story start? For first time ever, Collins takes us back to the beginning, revealing the never-before-told story of Quarry's first job: infiltrating a college campus and eliminating a professor whose affair with one of his beautiful, young students is the least of his sins...

QUARRY'S BACK – FOR HIS TOUGHEST JOB EVER.The ruthless professional killer known as Quarry long ago disappeared into a well-earned retirement.  But now a media magnate has lured the restless hitman into tackling one last lucrative assignment.  The target is an unlikely one: Why, Quarry wonders, would anyone want a beautiful young librarian dead?And why in hell does he care?On the 30th anniversary of the enigmatic assassin's first appearance, bestselling author Max Allan Collins brings him back for a dark and deadly mission where the last quarry may turn out to be Quarry himself.

Hammer accompanies a politician to Moscow, where he is arrested by the KGB and imprisoned. He quickly escapes, but back in the States, the government is none too happy. Russia demands his return to stand charges, and various government agencies are following him. A question dogs Hammer: Why does Russia want him back, and why was sent to Russia with the senator in the first place?

Mike Hammer's cop pal Captain Pat Chambers is nearing retirement, and Mike and his gorgeous secretary Velda are planning a much overdue marriage. It's a mellow time for America's toughest detective, until an assassin's bullet almost brings him down on his doorstep. Could the attempted hit have anything to do with the release of a serial killer put away by Mike and Pat, decades ago?

A never-before-published chapter in Mickey Spillane’s classic series of hard-boiled crime, featuring tough-guy PI Mike Hammer When Mike Hammer and his secretary-turned-lover, Velda, go on vacation to a Long Island beach town, Hammer becomes embroiled in the mystery of a missing New York party girl who lives nearby. When the woman turns up naked—and dead—astride the statue of a horse in the town square, Hammer feels compelled to investigate . . . Shuttling back and forth between Long Island and the city, Hammer finds himself going toe-to-toe with illegal gamblers, corrupt small-town cops, mobsters, and other shady characters who threaten to tear him down.Lady Go Die! is Mickey Spillane's lost 1940s Mike Hammer novel, written between I, the Jury and My Gun Is Quick. Completed by Spillane's friend and literary executor Max Allan Collins, this uncovered gem of hard-boiled crime fiction is finally making its way into print almost 70 years after its inception.

From the New York Times bestselling author and MWA Grandmaster Max Allan Collins and the iconic master of noir Mickey Spillane comes the next book in the Mike Hammer series.Hammer accompanies a politician to Moscow, where he is arrested by the KGB and imprisoned. He quickly escapes, but back in the States, the government is none too happy. Russia demands his return to stand charges, and various government agencies are following him. A question dogs Hammer: Why does Russia want him back, and why was sent to Russia with the senator in the first place?