The death of Paco "Packy" Johnson shouldn't have surprised anyone. Paco Johnson spent a lifetime in the system -- starting in juvie at age 10, then prison for most of his adult life. But he managed to make some real friends in prison, friends who helped him get parole, a place to stay, and plans to help him adjust to a life outside prison after seventeen years behind bars. But only seventeen hours after he was released, he was found dead -- murdered -- in the streets of the Bronx. James Beck can't save Packy any longer -- but he can try to find out what happened to Packy, and why, and exact a measure of justice. Beck, ringleader of a tight clique of ex-cons based in Brooklyn's Red Hook section, is determined to accord Packy at least some dignity and a measure of justice. But what drove Packy out onto the streets of the Bronx his first night back? Who did he run into that hated him enough to viciously beat him before executing him, and yet left behind his wallet full of cash? But what at first appears to be a simple, if tragic, street killing, quickly becomes something much more difficult and complex. And it will take all the skills, connections, and cunning of Beck and his team not only to learn the truth but to survive the forces they've unwittingly unleashed.

The NYPD has a secret they'd like to keep in the past. Detective Jack Kenny doesn't like keeping secrets. Conservative, stubborn, and frustrated by institutional red tape, Detective Jack Kenny solves crimes the old-fashioned way. If there's anything that thirty-plus years in the NYPD--or being born into a family of Irish Catholic cops--teaches you, it's that good police officers need little more than a badge, a six-shot revolver, and some seasoned street smarts to get the answers they need. Kenny's partner, the young, beautiful, and technologically savvy Carmen Romero, believes that computers--not hunches--are the key to identifying and catching today's toughest criminals. Together, Kenny and Romero make a pairing as fiery as it is effective. But when a new witness to the grisly, thirty-year-old "Bronx Barber" murder comes forward, linking the brutal slashing of a prostitute with an NYPD stag party gone wild, the duo's skills and loyalties are put to the test like never before. Suddenly, Jack's long-deceased first partner is implicated in the crime, and an unpaid debt drives the veteran detective to get to the heart of a secret that the NYPD would prefer to leave in its past. With pressure escalating and time running out, Kenny and Romero's frantic search for truth will put their careers, reputations, and lives at stake. Along the way, they'll learn just how strong the ties that bind New York's Finest really are.

The death of Paco "Packy" Johnson shouldn't have surprised anyone. Paco Johnson spent a lifetime in the system -- starting in juvie at age 10, then prison for most of his adult life. But he managed to make some real friends in prison, friends who helped him get parole, a place to stay, and plans to help him adjust to a life outside prison after seventeen years behind bars. But only seventeen hours after he was released, he was found dead -- murdered -- in the streets of the Bronx. James Beck can't save Packy any longer -- but he can try to find out what happened to Packy, and why, and exact a measure of justice. Beck, ringleader of a tight clique of ex-cons based in Brooklyn's Red Hook section, is determined to accord Packy at least some dignity and a measure of justice. But what drove Packy out onto the streets of the Bronx his first night back? Who did he run into that hated him enough to viciously beat him before executing him, and yet left behind his wallet full of cash? But what at first appears to be a simple, if tragic, street killing, quickly becomes something much more difficult and complex. And it will take all the skills, connections, and cunning of Beck and his team not only to learn the truth but to survive the forces they've unwittingly unleashed.

This anthology of classic noir set in NYC’s County of Kings features stories by Thomas Wolfe, Lawrence Block, Maggie Estep and more. On the heels of the award-winning bestseller Brooklyn Noir—a collection of all-new Brooklyn-based crime fiction—this second volume digs deeper into the criminal history of New York's punchiest and most alluring borough. Brooklyn Noir 2 offers classic short stories by the authors who blazed the path for the success of the first volume. Each story is set in a distinct Brooklyn neighborhood and mixes masters of genre with some of the best literary fiction authors to ever set foot in the borough. These brilliant and chilling stories explore crime among Brooklyn’s Russian, Jamaican, Puerto Rican, Italian, and Irish, communities, among other enclaves in this diverse and distinctly crooked borough. Brooklyn Noir 2 features entries by H.P. Lovecraft, Lawrence Block, Donald Westlake, Pete Hamill, Jonathan Lethem, Colson Whitehead, Carolyn Wheat, Thomas Wolfe, Hubert Selby, Jr., Stanley Ellin, Gilbert Sorrentino, Maggie Estep, Salvatore La Puma, and Irwin Shaw.

Like Ocean's Eleven meets Mystic River, Among Thieves is a high-octane thriller from a writer at the top of his game. 'Hardboiled urban noir from the pen of a master' Lee Child ***** Unfairly imprisoned by the State of New York, ex-con James Beck is a man with a keen sense of right and wrong. But when a friend's niece turns to him for help, he soon discovers that the men at whose hands she's suffered are more dangerous than he could possibly have imagined. In order to prevail, he and his gang of friends will have to outwit, out-flank and out-fight a formidable array of opponents the like of which they've never before encountered. Or die trying . . . Praise for John Clarkson: 'The legendary Jack Reacher may just have met his match in ex-convict James Beck, star of this sensational thriller ... The action is relentless, twist turns upon twist as the intricacies of an exceptional plot unfold, revealing Beck as a man never to be underestimated. This is an outstanding thriller from a writer at the top of his game' Daily Mail 'An adrenalin fuelled rush. James Beck is one of the baddest, boldest, brashest creations ever seen in the pages of any thriller. You can't ask for more out of a crime novel, Among Thieves is as good as it gets' Lorenzo Carcaterra, author of Sleepers 'An outstanding thriller ... for fans of' Publishers Weekly 'John Clarkson's Among Thieves is an intense, well-written thriller about tough, cunning men whose conflicting schemes turn Brooklyn into a battlefield' Thomas Perry 'Fans of the great Lawrence Block and Lee Child will get their money's worth and then some' Peter Blauner, author of Slow Motion Riot and Slipping into Darkness 'Among Thieves is fabulous, pure and simple' Book Reporter 'Strong storytelling. Highly entertaining' salon.com

Nominated for the 2017 Edgar Award for Best Novel From the critically acclaimed and award-winning author comes a gritty, atmospheric new series about the other side of Long Island, far from the wealth of the Hamptons, where real people live—and die. Gus Murphy thought he had the world all figured out. A retired Suffolk County cop, Gus had everything a man could want: a great marriage, two kids, a nice house, and the rest of his life ahead of him. But in the course of a single deadly moment, his family is blown apart, and he is transformed from a man who believes he understands everything into a man who understands nothing. Now divorced and working as a courtesy van driver for a run-down hotel, Gus has settled into a mindless, soulless routine. But his comfortable waking trance comes to an end when ex-con Tommy Delcamino asks him for help. Four months earlier, the battered body of Tommy’s son TJ was discovered in a wooded lot, yet the Suffolk County PD doesn’t seem interested in pursuing the killers. In desperation, Tommy seeks out the only cop he ever trusted—Gus Murphy. Gus reluctantly agrees to see what he can uncover, and as he begins to investigate, he finds that Tommy was telling the truth. Everyone involved with the late TJ Delcamino—from his best friend, to a gang enforcer, to a Mafia capo, and even the police—has something to hide, and all are willing to go to extreme lengths to keep it hidden. It’s a dangerous favor Gus has taken on as he claws his way back to take a place among the living, while searching through the sewers for a killer.