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Ty Butler came from Eastern wealth&#8212but killers destroyed everyone who shared his name. Seeking a safe haven in the open West, he's found a home among the outlaws, tinhorns, and fugitives who gather at the gaming table. His skill at reading faces and cards has kept Butler in the money&#8212and it's kept him sharp and ready . . . for the assassins who're hunting him down.

Customer Reviews (1)

Not much to it, but still fun
This is a pretty standard western, with some interesting color, name dropping of famous gunslingers, and not much else.There is little character development, the plot meanders, and it all seems to tie into a series of mysteries that barely resolve by the time the novel is over.However, the writing is clean, the occasional gunfights are brisk, and descriptions of the poker games are surprisingly fun.

I don't know if this is true in his other novels, but the whole book is written in short sections of one to three pages, making is a quick read.The Gamblers is an enjoyable way to pass a few minutes here and there.Certainly not great, but I'll probably pick up the sequel if I find it.
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Marilyn Monroe thinks she's being followed. Eddie G, pit boss at the Sands Casino, is up for the job, but he is forced to leave buddy PI Danny Bardini to look after Marilyn. ... Read more

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The line-up: three New York Times bestselling authors, four Edgar Award winners, and other critically acclaimed past presidents of the Private Eye Writers of America.

THE DETECTIVES: the authors' most famous P.I.s.
THE STORIES: the authors' personal favorites.
PLUS: a special behind-the-crime-scene introduction to each author's creative process. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Old and new stories
List of stories: Wrong Place, Wrong Time/Bill Pronzini; The Merciful Angel of Death/Lawrence Block; Eighty Million Dead/Michael Collins; Deadly Beloved/William Campbell Gault; Second Story Sunlight/John Lutz; A Poison That Leaves No Trace/Sue Grafton; Aftermath/Jeremiah Healy; The Pig Man/Les Roberts; Faking It/Parnell Hall; Laying Down To Die/Robert J Randisi; The Maltese Cat/Sara Paretsky; Natural Death,Inc./Max Allan Collins.

I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 because of the 12 stories only 4 are new.The rest are reprints.Of the reprints, there were 2 that I'd never read before; EIGHTY MILLION DEAD and DEADLY BELOVED.All the stories are excellent and the writing topnotch ... Read more

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Determined to avenge a fellow bounty hunter, Decker goes cross-country to the roughest town of all-New York City-to track a killer. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

a good read

Originally published in 1988, Broadway Hunter sees print from Dorchester/Leisure.

Robert J Randisi writes a thrilling book that puts bounty hunter Decker into a search for the Tyrone brothers.Harrison City sees Deckers' friend Dover killed by three men and sets the scene for an unusual conflict.The path to retribution leads Decker to Oakley Ready and the wrong side of a search. Once arriving in New York, he is mistaken for Dover and becomes the victim of local gunmen.Leaving bodies in his wake, his skills as a gunman become tools for survival.

Randisi dishes up a fantastic novel that just rushes by as you follow Decker and his hunt.His swift, breezy easy to read style is perfect for an evening of adventure.If this were the golden age of radio, Randisi would be in good company amidst the likes of Striker, Gibson, Edwards, Lamour, and Tinsley.



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Product Description
This anthology is a collection of mystery stories by writers who attended the First Annual Mayhem in the Midlands Mystery Conference 2000 at the prestigious Omaha Sheraton Hotel (the old Aquila Court), cosponsored by Omaha Public Libary and Lincoln City Libraries.

Purchasing this book will bring spine-tingling enjoyment while proceeds help support the annual Mayhem in Midlands Mystery Conferences in Omaha, NE. ... Read more

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Thrilling new stories set duringTinsletown's glittering criminal past bytoday's top mystery writers.

Commissioned exclusively for this anthologyand featuring the bestselling, always compelling mystery writer Michael Connelly, as well as hisbroody LAPD police detective Harry Bosch, andsuch award-winning, A-list talents in the fieldof crime fiction as Terence Faherty, Gar Anthony Haywood, Dick Lochte, Stuart Kaminsky, and BillPronzini, this collection of Hollywood talessets a literary Klieg light on the most famousintersection in movieland: Hollywood andVine.

Customer Reviews (3)

Not a Lemon in the Lot
This collections of short stories is set in various times periods and all include some mention of Hollywood and Vine. I liked Jack Webb's Star just because I loved the 1960's comeback of Dragnet and because the story was interesting. But be reassured the book's stories would all grade out at between A and a solid C if mystery lovers rated them.

entertaining
The underlying theme to these fourteen wonderful crime capers is the corner of Hollywood and Vine.All the contributions are strong with a few deserving of award nomination status as this may be the crime anthology of the year.Especially powerful Harry Bosch's "Suicide Run" by Michael Connelly and Moe Howard proves he is no stooge as an amateur sleuth investigating the death of Three Stooges founder Ted Healey in "Murderlized".With homage to Jack Webb and Hedder Hopper amongst other notables, readers will appreciate Hollywood and Crime; however the highlight to this reviewer is the return of private investigator Leo Bloodworth (by Dock Lochte) working a case while listening to the sound of Dinah Shore singing Johnny Mercer on an MP3.As Gar Anthony Haywood's character Danny Floyd says in "Moving Pictures" claims he knows movies as he has seen the "Matrix trilogy six times and both Kill Bills twice apiece"; "who gives a F**k" about classic film noirs especially black and white".Readers will hooray for Hollywood and Crime as the show must go on.

Harriet Klausner

Hollywood And Crime
This is a clever compilation of crime stories. Michael Connelly and Paul Guyot's tales are especially good.Everyone should have a copy available for a short story when needed and no time to read a full novel.Randisi has put together a great gang of authors. ... Read more

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Loaded with tension, charged with uncertainty, these four taut tales by New York Times bestselling authors bring their unsuspecting or hunted and fearful targets into the deadly sights of a hired killer’s gun. Contents include: "Chapter and Verse" by Jeffery Deaver read by John Rubinstein, "Dr. Sullivan’s Library" by Christine Matthews read by Judith Smiley, "The Right Tool for the Job" by Marcus Pelegrimas read by Richard Gilliland and "For Sale By Owner" by Jenny Siler read by Margy Moore.

Richard Gilliland is a veteran TV and film actor. Margy Moore and Judith Smiley are two of the brightest newcomers on the audiobook narrator scene. John Rubinstein is an actor/composer/director who won a Tony for his starring role in Broadway’s Children of a Lesser God. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Penny might have disappeared but Po is here to stay with us!
Critics call it "fast-moving and exciting" and "a solid debut." The Disappearance of Penny sees Henry "Hank" Po- a Racing Commision Investigator tackle a clueless case of looking for a horseowners young daughter. Many people including her father don't even careabout her missing...while others want him scratched. PERMANENTLY.

It is afirst person narrative with a very credible plot. The writing style isfluent and mixes up past and presence tenses to narrate the story and toexpress the writer's thoughts at that moment, respectively. The action isfast, gripping and realistic and will leave you gasping for air. To give anextra touch of reality, the author uses routine objects such as magazinesand locally infamous guns like Colt .38.

The author brings to life theexpressions and feelings of our hero. Example: Henry gets angry at himselfwhen he loses control and fistfights a hired killer. Henry as a characteris charming and uses his deductive skills and his good luck to solve thecase.

It is an amazing read and whodidwhat in this whodunit is sure toraise many eyebrows. ... Read more

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Fifteen hard-boiled stories by the author Booklist called "one of the last true pulp writers."An honest cop marked for a fall . . . A high-upkeep mistress with a taste for strangers . . . "A master of the genre . . . One of the best" (Michael Connelly). ... Read more

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Sixteen suspenseful murder mysteries highlight the investigations of daring female sleuths and include the works of such writers as Sara Paretsky, Janet Dawson, Sue Dunlap, and Marcia Muller. ... Read more

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When Claire Hunt is sent to host her home shopping program on location in the Big Easy she and her husband, Gil, cannot resist having him come along. A book dealer back home in St. Louis, Gil is eager for the chance to poke around in the French Quarter's shops. The food, the history, the mystique--all of it delights the couple . . . until they're meeting with the Voodoo Queen, Auntie Laveau.

The strange woman presents the duo with a collection of miniature Mardi Gras masks, hoping Claire will sell them on the air during her show. However, when the real Auntie Laveau is found murdered the police begin an official investigation.

As the Hunts unwittingly become entangled with Louisiana's supernatural subculture Gil finds himself embroiled in the search for a missing girl who may or may not become the next victim. As he, himself, becomes endangered Claire and her son, Paul, frantically search the French Quarter for her husband before he can become a victim of the Voodoo Queen as well. But wait. Auntie Laveau is dead-or is she?
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Customer Reviews (1)

A romantic mystery that reads quite well
After her last involvement in a homicide case, Claire Hunt wants to avoid trouble at all costs.When she and her husband Gil visit "Auntie" Laveau in New Orleans about selling masques on her segment of a home shopping channel, Claire realizes "Auntie" is an imposter.

Before returning to their home in St. Louis, the police question the Hunts.Someone killed Aunt Laveau and Claire's name was found in her apartment.Gil returns to New Orleans to identify a person in the hospital who the police believe posed as Auntie Laveau for the Hunts.Someone kidnaps Gil, leaving it up to his spouse, who refuses to wait for the police to act, to find him.

Robert Randisi & Christine Matthews have written a fascinating mystery that provides readers with an insider's view of voodoo practitioners and their impact on believers.In THE MASKS OF AUNTIE LAVEAU, the voodoo subculture permeates the entire Big Easy, making the plot feel gothic-like.The two protagonists are endearing individuals whose love for one another has no bounds even conquering fear as proven by Claire's willingness to dive head first into trouble for her beloved.

Harriet Klausner ... Read more

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Including new stories from New York Times bestselling and Edgar(r) Award-winning authors, this collection is moody, menacing, and as unpredictable as the jazz music it celebrates.

With stories by Michael Connelly, Peter Robinson, Robert Ferrigno, Laura Lippman, Max Allan Collins, Julie Smith, Craig Holden, John Lutz, John Harvey, Billy Moody, Ed Gorman, Martin Meyers, Les Roberts, and Christine Matthews. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Good for jazz fans
This volume of short mystery stories all connected to jazz should be a favorite for those who love both. The stories' settings range from "the jazz age" to contemporary, from New Orleans to St. Louis. Many of them are peppered with names that true jazz aficionados will recognize. Authors in the anthology are: Craig Holden, John Lutz, Martin Meyers, Max Allan Collins & Matthew V. Clemens, John Harvey, Peter Robinson, Bill Moody, Michael Connelly, Les Roberts, Julie Smith, Ed Gorman, Laura Lippman, and Rober J. Randisi, who also edited.

The good:
A wide variety of stories and styles.
If you're a big jazz fan, you'll enjoy the inclusion in many of the stories of jazz greats.

The bad:
If you're not a big jazz fan, the references may leave you cold or confused.
Some of the stories were of the literary, see-how-smart-I-am variety, and not really mysteries at all.

The verdict:
Best for literati jazz fans, but there are still a few good stories for the rest of us.

Great Collection of Short Mysteries With A Jazz Flavor
My greatest fear when reading collections is that they will be uneven. Not here. These are all very good. They all keep the readers attention and move quickly. Time settings were from the the late 1920's till the not too distant past. I really enjoyed this and am going to purchase books by the authors I was not previously familiar with.

Murder and All That Jazz quite copacetic
The mystery anthology seemed to be dying a slow death in the '90s with the onset of the fast-food, summer beach, cats-and-recipe detective novel and the reluctance of bestselling authors to waste their sweat on the short story form.

But the anthology's now coming back with a vengeance. Penzler's sports mystery anths. and McBain's knockout new collection Transgressions come to mind. But this one came out of nowhere: A straight-to-paperback, little-trumpeted (pun intended) theme anthology that features a new Harry Bosch tale (Connelly's the one true modern heir to Chandler and a great break from the armies of Top 10 hacks out there). I'd have paid the book's price for this one alone: A police procedural with a clever mystery, a hearteningly Chandleresque Christmas moral, and a glimpse into Bosch's troubled past and affection for jazz. Connelly demonstrates here that you can write short and still deliver the goods. There's also a rare Milan Jacovich story (Les Roberts deserves more of that fame we seem to ladle on burgermeisters like Grisham, Cornwell, and Robin Cook), and additional P.I. treats by Julie Smith and Laura Lippman. That ain't enough for you, we got original Lutz, Randisi, Gorman, and Max Allan Collins. $6.99 for a feast like this? I'm glad I skipped my double-Thickburger lunch that day. You should enjoy!

Magnificent collection of writers in the key of jazz.
Most authors express the belief that the short story is the most difficult format to execute. Developing characters and advancing plot(s) in the space limitations can tax the most gifted of writers.

Leave it to Robert Randisi to assemble a collection of fascinating short mysteries with a jazz theme that belie the conventional wisdom.

His "Murder and All That Jazz" boasts a roster filled with Edgar, Shamus and Agatha winners.

The baker's dozen tales all sparkle...my particular favorites were penned by Laura Lippman, Les Roberts, Michael Connelly, Julie Smith and Mr. Randisi.

A pleasure from start to finish. Enjoy this one and get an introduction to some writers you may not have known.
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Customer Reviews (2)

Thoroughly enjoyable Western
"Trapp's Mountain" was originally published in 1989 as "Mountain Man's Vengeance " and credited to "Robert Lake" before being re-issued under its present title in 2005.

"Trapp" is itsmain protagonist; amountain man whose Native American partner ,is murdered and violated by 2 men in the Greeen River country . He exacts revenge for the atrocity ,killing both perpetrators .Unfortunately for him ,one of the killers was "Dan Train" ne'er -do- well son of an extremely wealthy and influential man of the territory ,"Sam Train " who ,having failed to secure the death penalty for "Trapp" ensures he receives a 25 year sentence in Huntsville prison. He survives prison ,avoiding taking sides in the gang disputes and eventually comes to be a "player" in its closed society ,before his eventual release.On his release he falls in with the mercurial "Wendell Fry" aka "Kid Fry"who has earned a reputation as a gunman and so is a marked man amongst those seeking to build a reputation at his expense .The two set out to travel to Trapp's old stamping grounds ,the eponymous mountain where he lived most of his life prior to incarceration .

It is an eventful journey ;there are wanna- be gunmen testing Fry's skills and there is a contract killer on their trail,one "Keller" who is retained by"Train " to kill Trapp . Eventually all 3 are taken prisoner by the Comanches ,under their leader Quannah Parker .They are set free in order to provide sport for the warriors who are set the task ofhunting them down.

Randisi is a genre veteran and he knows how to write slick and entertaining Westerns better than most people ,and he delivers an action packed novel ,replete with incident and well characterised .Randisiis also a dab hand at the crime novel and the scenes with the ailing "Train" in his oveheated living quarters evoke the opening of the Chandler classic "The Big Sleep".

The only serious defect in the book is the flashback heavy opening 60 or so pages ,which impede the momentum of the narrativebut overall it is an exceptional escapist Westernand one that will give an evening of enjoyment to anyone who appreciates the genre.

Reads like pulp fiction
In 1846, mountain man John Henry Trapp's wife and home were deliberately destroyed by fire. Trapp searched high and low and killed the men responsible. But one of the men was the son of a powerful man, and he made sure Trapp served the top sentence of 25 years in prison for his revenge. Finally free again, all Trapp wants is to get back to his mountain.

Now Trapp has to feel his way around the 1871 West as a 64-year-old man who still feels 39 (age doesn't matter in prison) but whom others now derisively call "Grandpa." And he's got only his talent for poker, his skill with his trusty Sharps buffalo rifle, and his new friend Fry to help him along.

As if that weren't enough, there's someone who thinks that prison was not enough punishment for Trapp and wants him dead. But getting between Trapp and his mountain is a dangerous proposition.

Robert J. Randisi is one of my favorite Western writers. In addition to his work on The Gunsmith (probably my favorite of the monthly Western series), he also manages to write some of the more interesting nonseries Westerns due to his modern approach to character and his liberal use of humor along with the expected traditional genre tropes.

In Trapp's Mountain (originally published as Mountain Man's Vengeance under the pseudonym "Robert Lake"), Randisi shows the other side of revenge. Many Western authors would have focused on Trapp's seeking of retribution and called it a day. Randisi does give that part its due through a strategic use of flashback, but he is more interested in how that action colors the rest of Trapp's life.

Trapp just wants to get back to the life he had before, but first he's got to actually make it back to the mountain, and Randisi puts a lot of exciting obstacles in his way. Trapp's Mountain makes great use of Randisi's unadorned prose style. It reads quickly and moves like the best pulp fiction. The only downside is that it ends at the point where a sequel would begin, and there doesn't seem to be one. But Trapp's journey is interesting enough to stand alone. ... Read more

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Conceived and edited by mystery writer Bob Randisi, this work is a collection of original mysteries, written specifically for the spoken word audio medium. Among the contributors are Jeremiah Healy, Nancy Pickard, John Lutz, and Loren D. Estleman. 4 cassettes. ... Read more