James Church

The Man with the Baltic Stare

From the author of the critically acclaimed Inspector O series comes another riveting novel set in the mysterious world of North Korea

Autumn brings unwelcome news to Inspector O: he has been wrenched from retirement and ordered back to Pyongyang for a final assignment. The two Koreas, he learns, are now cooperating-very quietly-to maintain stability in the North. Stability requires that Inspector O lead an investigation into a crime of passion committed by the young man who has been selected as the best possible leader of a transition government. O is instructed to make sure that the case goes away. Remnants of the old regime, foreign powers, rival gangs-all want a piece of the action, and all make it clear that if O values his life, he will not get in their way. O isn't sure where his loyalties lie, and he doesn't have much time to figure out whether 'tis better to be noble or be dead.

James Cobb

The Arctic Event

On a desolate island deep within the Canadian Arctic, a scientific expedition photograph the wreckage of a bomber on a mountain glacier. To the world at large, the half-century old aeroplane is merely a relic of the early Cold War. Only a handful of insiders know that it still represents a major threat to civilization, as the aircraft is a Soviet Air Force biological warfare platform, still armed with two tons of active weaponized anthrax. Lieutenant Colonel Jon Smith of Covert-One – the personal action arm of the President of the United States – is assigned to lead CIA agent Randi Russell and the lovely, but lethal, weapons expert, Professor Valentina Metrace to secure the site. But on the island Smith and his team find themselves confronted with a traitor from within their ranks. Cut off from all outside aid, the operatives must struggle against both betrayal and the brutal polar environment. Gradually they become aware that something else exists within the hulk of the ancient bomber: a secret potentially more devastating than even the plane's warload, and one that could bring about both a cataclysmic revision of global history and serve as the trigger for a Third World War.

James Crumley

One to Count Cadence

At Clark Air Force Base, the Philippines, Sergeant Jacob "Slag" Drummel, a scholar by intent but a warrior by breeding, assumes command of the 721st Communication Security Detachment – an unsoldierly crew of bored, rebellious, whoring, foulmouthed, drunken enlistees.

James Crumley

The Final Country

Dagger Awards (nominee)

Milo Milogragovitch is trying to find his feet in Texas, earning a living as a bar owner and a PI on the side. But then a tedious job tracking down a runaway wife takes a violent turn when he finds himself in a bar with ex-con Enos Walker, who's out for revenge on the partners who turned him in.

James Hadley Chase

12 Chinks and a Woman

Only one man could satisfy Glorie Leadler’s craving for love and affection. And though this golden-haired bit of feminine dynamite could have had a dozen men at her feet for the asking, it was a solitary Oriental who made her heart beat fast. When jealous rivals tore that midnight love from Glorie’s arms, her over-heated emotions burst forth in a volcano of love-stricken vengeance that rocked Florida and left a mark on many men’s souls.

The characters of this novel are entirely fictional and any resemblance to actual persons or situations is accidental.

James-Hadley Chase

A COFFIN FROM HONG KONG

Введите сюда краткую аннотацию

James Hadley Chase

Fast Buck

International jewel thief, Paul Hater, knows a secret that everyone wants to know - and will go to any lengths to uncover. How long can he remain silent? When Hater is arrested in possession of a stolen necklace, the police use every possible means to persuade him to reveal the location of the rest of the collection. He remains silent and so begins his twenty-year prison sentence. Having exhausted all their leads, the International Detective Agency, acting on behalf of the insurers, must patiently await Hater's release before they can hope to find out more. But just as his day of release approaches, Hater is kidnapped by a ruthless international gang determined to force the secret from him and prepared to go to any lengths to do so….

James Hadley Chase

Figure It Out for Yourself

Vic Malloy

From the moment Lee Dedrick, husband of the fourth richest woman in the world, disappears, believed kidnapped, Vic Malloy of Universal Services is snarled up in a vicious vortex of murder, glamorous women and violent non-stop action. The curtain goes up on the sprawled, lifeless body of Dedrick’s chauffeur, shot to death by an unknown hand. A frightened and lovely brunette flits across the scene, but vanishes almost immediately, shooting from a well-turned hip. Five hundred thousand dollars ransom is paid over to the invisible kidnappers, but Lee Dedrick is not returned. The whole of the country as far north as San Francisco and as far south as Los Angeles joins in the hunt for the kidnappers. Nick Perelli, gambler, is framed for the kidnapping and is arrested. Determined to save him and to find the real kidnappers, Vic Malloy, with his aides Paula Bensinger and Jack Kerman, takes a header into this mystery and intrigue which finally lands him in a situation of unparalleled danger and horror. Then, after the most gruesome and exciting experience of his already turbulent career, Malloy finds the key to the riddle of Dedrick’s kidnapping.

James Hadley Chase

Get a Load of This

An early morning stroll in the park, or a lonely cross-country drive to Florida; evading arrest in war-torn Cuba, or sipping bourbon in the Bronx—it makes no odds, serious trouble lies just around the corner…. The sleazy jungle of lamp-lit streets, faded hotel lobbies and soulless freeways is the setting for a menagerie of typically brash Chase characters: all-metal blondes that weaken your resistance, merciless thugs in uniform and third-rate double-crossers.

Fast-paced and crackling with cynical wit, this classic anthology shows why Chase is the unchallenged British champion of the tough American tradition.

This remarkable collection of short stories was first published in 1942 and is now re-issued for the first time. It is a tribute to the vigour and storytelling ability of James Hadley Chase that after so many years these tales still shock and thrill the reader.

Fun books

Choose a genre