Ex-state trooper Harry Rane, who first appeared in Wallace Stroby's brilliant debut novel, The Barbed-Wire Kiss, is at loose ends. Doing some investigative work for a friend's firm just to keep himself busy, Harry meets Nikki Ellis, a woman desperate for help. Her ex, Johnny Harrow, was just released from prison after a seven-year stretch for attempted murder. Nikki hasn't spoken to him since he went down, but she knows what he's capable of, and that he'll be looking for her-and for the baby she put up for adoption after Johnny went away. She knows it's up to her to protect the child once again. And she's afraid. As Harry finds out, she should be. Johnny is headed home to New Jersey to settle up with anyone who did him wrong while he was gone, including Nikki and his former employer, mobster Joey Alea. Then he's planning to find his son and start a new life. Johnny starts at the Heartbreak Lounge, where Nikki was a dancer when she first met Johnny, and works his way through their old life, leaving a trail of blood and fear in his wake. Only Harry might be tough enough-or reckless enough-to help her. What happens next shows why the searing talent and explosive writing evident in The Barbed-Wire Kiss was only the beginning, and why Wallace Stroby is destined to be one of the finest crime writers of a generation.

“Stroby continues to show a real flair for blending noir into a tightly plotted fireball of suspense in his second novel . . . [an] action-packed story.” —Florida Sun-Sentinel Ex-state trooper Harry Rane, who first appeared in Wallace Stroby’s brilliant debut novel, The Barbed-Wire Kiss, is at loose ends. Doing some investigative work for a friend’s firm just to keep himself busy, Harry meets Nikki Ellis, a woman desperate for help. Her ex, Johnny Harrow, was just released from prison after a seven-year stretch for attempted murder. Nikki hasn’t spoken to him since he went down, but she knows what he’s capable of, and that he’ll be looking for her—and for the baby she put up for adoption after Johnny went away. She knows it’s up to her to protect the child once again. And she’s afraid. As Harry finds out, she should be. Johnny is headed home to New Jersey to settle up with anyone who did him wrong while he was gone, including Nikki and his former employer, mobster Joey Alea. Then he’s planning to find his son and start a new life. Johnny starts at the Heartbreak Lounge, where Nikki was a dancer when she first met Johnny, and works his way through their old life, leaving a trail of blood and fear in his wake. Only Harry might be tough enough—or reckless enough—to help her. What happens next shows why the searing talent and explosive writing evident in The Barbed-Wire Kiss was only the beginning, and why Wallace Stroby is destined to be one of the finest crime writers of a generation. “Stroby’s second Rane storm is even better.” —Chicago Tribune

After a seven-year stretch inside a Florida penitentiary for attempted murder, Johnny Harrow knows exactly what he'll do when he gets out. He's going home to the shabby Jersey shore town where his girlfriend Nikki made the most selfless decision of her hard life: Giving up their newborn son for adoption. It's time for Johnny to claim what's his... Nikki made one terrible mistake--she didn't tell Johnny her decision until the child was gone. She knows Johnny never forgets...or forgives. She also knows what he's capable of. It's up to her to protect the child once again... Desperate to save the child from the seething menace that is Johnny Harrow, Nikki turns to former New Jersey state trooper Harry Rane for help. Now, an investigator, Rane must crawl through the darkest corners of the New Jersey underworld to find Johnny and stop him. But Johnny Harrow isn't a man who's often caught unaware...and so the game begins.

"Just when you think that you can't be surprised anymore, a writer like Wallace Stroby ups the ante." ---Laura Lippman, author of I'd Know You Anywhere Crissa Stone is a career criminal. A complete pro, she never works too close to her New York City home, rarely signs on with the same crew, and never rushes a job. These are the rules that have kept her from getting caught, from doing time. They're the rules her mentor and lover taught her, rules he didn't follow as closely as he should've. Now he's up for parole, and Crissa needs to come up with some real money real fast to help grease the wheels. Word is that there's an illegal card game set for less than a week from now. The take? As much as seven figures. Desperate, Crissa slaps a plan and a crew together. It's robbery, not murder. But when one of her crew loses his cool and they have to abandon the plan, she catches the attention of Eddie the Saint. A hit man recently released from prison, Eddie is no less of a pro than Crissa, and he could use the work, not to mention all that money. One of the most talented writers working in crime fiction today, Wallace Stroby has written a tight, propulsive story in Cold Shot to the Heart that will hold readers captive until well after all the crooks have fled the scene.

"Doogie Howser, M.D. meets The Fault in Our Stars in this tender romcom." —Teen Vogue The youngest doctor in America, an Indian-American teen makes her rounds—and falls head over heels—in Sona Charaipotra's contemporary romantic comedy Symptoms of a Heartbreak. Sixteen-year-old Saira has always juggled family, friendships, and her Girl Genius celebrity. Now, as the youngest med school graduate ever, she can finally achieve her mission to treat young people dealing with cancer. But proving herself in life-or-death situations is tough when everyone from her boss to her patients can't see past her age to trust her skills. And working in the same hospital as her mom isn't making things any easier! Life gets even more complicated when Saira falls for a teenage patient. To improve his chances, she risks her lifelong dream—and it could cost her everything. In her solo debut, Sona Charaipotra brings us a compelling #ownvoices protagonist who’s not afraid to chase what she wants. Symptoms of a Heartbreak goes from romantic comedy highs to tearjerker lows and is the ultimate cure-all for every reader needing an infusion of something heartfelt. An Imprint Book "Fans of YA contemporary don't want to miss this one." —Buzzfeed

When a young widow witnesses a fatal car accident outside a Jersey Shore motel, she's suddenly thrust into a nightmare of gang violence, guns, and money that she can't outrun in this action-packed novel by "one of the best writers in crime fiction" (Alison Gaylin).​ Joette Harper's life brings new meaning to the phrase "paycheck to paycheck." Struggling to afford her mother's sky-high medical bills and also keep the lights on in her trailer home, Joette needs a break. So, when she spies a bag full of money amongst the wreckage of a fiery car accident, she knows she can't just let it be. Inside is a bounty better than she could have dreamed—just shy of $300,000 in neatly stacked hundreds and fifties. Enough to pay off her debts, give her mother the care she deserves, and maybe even help out a few of her friends. But, of course, the missing briefcase didn't go unnoticed by its original owner, Travis Clay—a ruthless dealer who'll stop at nothing to get back what's his. Joette is way out of her depth, but can't seem to stop herself from participating in this cat-and-mouse chase. But can she beat Travis at his own game?

A half million dollars in drug proceeds, guarded by three men with automatic weapons. For Wallace Stroby's determined heroine, professional thief Crissa Stone, and her team, stealing it was the easy part. But when the split goes awry in a blaze of gunfire, Crissa finds herself on the run with a duffel bag of stolen cash, bound by a promise to deliver part of the take to the needy family of one of her slain partners. In pursuit are the drug kingpin's lethal lieutenants and a former Detroit cop with his own deadly agenda. They think the money's there for the taking, for whoever finds her first. But Crissa doesn't plan to give it up without a fight, even as her mission of mercy puts her and a young child in mortal danger, with forces on both sides of the law closing in. After all, a debt is a debt...even if it has to be paid in blood. With Shoot the Woman First, Wallace Stroby delivers another powerful, lyrical novel, his third featuring one of the most original female characters in hardboiled fiction.