Max Allan Collins

Jessica Ann's mommy has been away for a while... When the police found out what she had done to those people, they sent Mommy to a place where she couldn't hurt anyone - including Jessica Ann - anymore. But now Mommy's been released and she's coming home. More than anything, she wants to regain the love of her precious little girl, and heaven help those who stand in her way.

As violence and death erupt around her, young Jessica Ann begins to suspect that her loving mother will do anything - even murder - to keep her daughter at the top of her class. She's pretty, she's perfect, she's June Cleaver with a cleaver, and you don't want to deny her--or her precious daughter--anything. Because she only wants what's best for her little girl...and she's not about to let anyone get in her way. And if that means killing a few people, well, isn't that what mommies are for? Best-selling author Max Allan Collins wrote and directed the film Mommy - a 1995 American thriller starring Patty McCormack.

A COLLECTION OF EXCITING, SUSPENSEFUL TALES. The title story, Murderlized, finds Moe Howard of The Three Stooges playing amateur private eye in Hollywood of 1937, solving the murder of the man the comedy team "stooged" for, Ted Healy. Moe isn't the only unlikely detective in the short story collection, as famed writer Damon Runyon seeks The Devil's Face and a young female detective and her rough-and-tumble partner are Out for Blood. Max Allan Collins and Matthew V. Clemens, whose collaborations include the bestselling CSI novels and the Reeder and Rogers series (Supreme Justice), collect eleven of their sometimes sexy, often violent, always exciting short stories, which range from police procedure to chilling horror, including the short story Lie Beside Me that was the first appearance of John Sand, star of Come Spy with Me.

In 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, and tormented Ness to his dying breath. A careening read that's full of surprises. ... Collins and Schwartz deliver a nimble, taut tale. More importantly, they offer a portrait of a complex crime fighter who believed in science and reason at a time when most officers smacked suspects around with a blackjack, a portrait set against a backdrop of ethnic and class collisions, labor unrest, and political intrigue. Catnip for true-crime buffs. --Kirkus ReviewsIn 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.

In 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, and tormented Ness to his dying breath. A careening read that's full of surprises. ... Collins and Schwartz deliver a nimble, taut tale. More importantly, they offer a portrait of a complex crime fighter who believed in science and reason at a time when most officers smacked suspects around with a blackjack, a portrait set against a backdrop of ethnic and class collisions, labor unrest, and political intrigue. Catnip for true-crime buffs. --Kirkus ReviewsIn 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.

At the height of the Mickey Spillane crime novel crazeof the early 1950s came Johnny Dynamite to rival Mike Hammer in wild, sexyyarns! Illustrated by Pete Morisi and written by Ken Fitch, the complete minigraphic novels from the rare Dynamite comic book (1953-'55) are collected hereby the creators of Ms. Tree, Max Allan Collins (Road to Perdition) and TerryBeatty (Rex Morgan, M. D.). Collins,Spillane's chosen literary heir, provides an informative introduction and aCollins/Beatty Johnny Dynamite tale is included as abonus!

Mike Hammer, the iconic PI created by hard-boiled crime master Mickey Spillane and written by New York Times bestseller Max Allan Collins, returns in Masquerade for Murder. After Mike Hammer witnesses Wall Street superstar Vincent Colby getting clipped by a speeding red Ferrari, the shaken victim's stockbroker father hires Hammer to find the driver. But the toughest private eye of them all soon is caught up in a series of bizarre, seemingly unconnected slayings marked by a forbidden martial arts technique. What do a lovely redhead, a short-tempered bartender, an exotic call girl, a murdered police inspector and a movie stuntman have to do with a scheme that might have transformed young Colby into a psychological time bomb?

THE LOST FIRST MIKE HAMMER THRILLER The lost book that begins the iconic Mike Hammer series by Mickey Spillane, finally completed by Max Allan Collins, author of Road to Perdition. "When someone frames me for rape and murder, I take it personal..." Mike Hammer steals a ride on a train upstate to Killington. But he arrives to a nasty surprise; he is accused by police of raping and murdering a young woman near the freight yards. Roughed up by the cops and facing a murder charge, Hammer's fate looks bleak until a beautiful blonde, Melba Charles--daughter of Senator Charles--gives him an unexpected alibi. But there is a price for clearing his name: he is to marry her. Why would Melba jump in to save a man she has never met before? And, more to the point, where is the real murderer?

Welcome to Hell In a bloody attack, ruthless outlaws hijack the morning stage from Trinidad, New Mexico. Not for gold or money, but for Denver banker Raymond Parker. Even more valuable to Sheriff Caleb York are the money man's fellow passengers: York's ex-flame, ranch owner Willa Cullen, and Rita Filley, the sensual owner of the Victory Saloon. Holding their captives at a hotel in the ghost town known as Hell Junction, the Hargrave gang demands a high ransom. Caleb must find a way to infiltrate the gang and rescue the hostages. Because Caleb York knows when you're in Hell, justice takes no prisoners . . . "Spillane is a master in compelling you to always turn the next page." --The New York Times "Spillane is a pioneer of tough-guy ethics."--Washington Post "Collins displays his mastery of Spillane's distinctive two-fisted prose." --Publishers Weekly "No one can twist you through a maze with as much intensity and suspense as Max Allan Collins." --Clive Cussler

The hitman hero of the acclaimed series Quarry on Cinemax returns with an all-new assignment. By Quarry's creator, the award-wining author of Road to Perdition! WHO PUT QUARRY IN THE CROSSHAIRS? Formerly a Marine sniper in Vietnam, the man known professionally as “Quarry” has spent the past decade killing for money, first in the service of an agent called the Broker, and then as a freelance hitman. But he’s always been on the right side of those contract kills — until now. It seems someone has taken out a contract on Quarry himself. But who? And why? And how does a mysterious woman from his past figure in? Quarry will find the answer — or die trying.

A thrilling ride through the case books of Ms Tree, private detective! From the minds of author Max Allen Collins and artist Terry Beatty, comes the first collection of 5 classic Ms Tree stories. Join Michael Tree, the 6ft, 9mm carrying private detective on her thrilling adventures. No case is too small, no violence too extreme, just as long as it gets the job done.

The new definitive history of gangster-era Chicago-a landmark work that is as riveting as a thriller. Now featuring a new preface, plus 115 photographs and a map of gangland Chicago. A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year"Gripping. ... Reads like a novel." --Chicago "Revolutionizes our understanding of Al Capone and Eliot Ness." --Matthew PearlIn 1929, thirty-year-old gangster Al Capone ruled both Chicago's underworld and its corrupt government. To a public who scorned Prohibition, "Scarface" became a local hero and national celebrity. But after the brutal St. Valentine's Day Massacre transformed Capone into "Public Enemy Number One," the federal government found an unlikely new hero in a twenty-seven-year-old Prohibition agent named Eliot Ness. Chosen to head the legendary law enforcement team known as "The Untouchables," Ness set his sights on crippling Capone's criminal empire. Today, no underworld figure is more iconic than Al Capone and no lawman as renowned as Eliot Ness. Yet in 2016 the Chicago Tribune wrote, "Al Capone still awaits the biographer who can fully untangle, and balance, the complexities of his life," while revisionist historians have continued to misrepresent Ness and his remarkable career. Enter Max Allan Collins and A. Brad Schwartz, a unique and vibrant writing team combining the narrative skill of a master novelist with the scholarly rigor of a trained historian. Collins is the New York Times bestselling author of the gangster classic Road to Perdition. Schwartz is a rising-star historian whose work anticipated the fake-news phenomenon. Scarface and the Untouchable draws upon decades of primary source research--including the personal papers of Ness and his associates, newly released federal files, and long-forgotten crime magazines containing interviews with the gangsters and G-men themselves. Collins and Schwartz have recaptured a bygone bullet-ridden era while uncovering the previously unrevealed truth behind Scarface's downfall. Together they have crafted the definitive work on Capone, Ness, and the battle for Chicago.

New York Times bestselling author Max Allan Collins again brings to life the legacy of crime-writing legend Mickey Spillane in another explosive chapter in this now-classic western saga. Caleb York has a tin star, a blazing gun, and plenty of courage. All he needs is a little luck to deliver big justice . . . On a lively night at the Victory saloon in Trinidad, New Mexico, Sheriff Caleb York interrupts his poker game to settle a minor dust-up that raises the stakes into major trouble. The wounded miscreant he ushers to the hoosegow spills the secret behind the mysterious disappearance of a certain stage coach. Bound for Denver, the stage carried three important passengers--beautiful ranch owner Willa Cullen, lovely temptress Rita Filley, and wealthy banker Raymond L. Parker. The two women are rivals for the lawman's love, while Parker is a key investor in Trinidad's future. But all are gone, with only the corpses of fellow passengers as bullet-ridden clues. York follows a trail of blood to a ghost town known as Hell Junction. To rescue his lady friends and the banker, he must infiltrate an outlaw den . . . and pray no one among the thieves, killers, and kidnappers will recognize him. With only his desert rat deputy to back him up, York must free the captives, round up the badmen--and, whenever necessary, send them straight to Hell.

Hammer is summoned to a meeting with Jamie Winters, United States Senator from New York, and Jamie's lovely, very smart wife, Nicole, considered by many to be the power behind the throne. Winters is being blackmailed, and Hammer is given a list of suspects who may be behind the threats to the Senator's career. But when the suspects begin to drop like flies, Hammer realises there is more to this case than just a salacious tape.