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A selection of gritty fiction featuring tough characters from the wild side of life. |
| Algren, Nelson | A Walk on the wild side |
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Sympathetic portrayal of characters from the wild side of life.
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| Baer, Will Christopher | Kiss me, Judas |
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Begins with a man waking in a bath of bloody water to discover he is missing a kidney. A dark novel.
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| Banbury, Jen | Like a hole in the head |
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Seamy crime story set on the streets of L.A.
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| Brown, Larry | Dirty work |
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Two Vietnam vets meet in a hospital 22 years after the war ended and relive their experiences, recounting the heavy toll the war took on lives, particularly those of poor, black soldiers.
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| Brown, Larry | Facing the music : stories |
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10 short stories from the underside of life.
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| Bukowski, Charles |
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| Burroughs, William S. | The Naked lunch |
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Insight into the drug culture via the heroin induced hallucinations of a 1950s junkie.
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| Carr, Caleb | The Alienist |
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Gritty historical mystery surrounding the identity of a mutilating killer who stalked the streets of Manhatten at the turn of the century.
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| Child, Lee | Jack Reacher series |
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Series featuring an ex-military policeman.
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| Cody, Lisa | Rift |
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A cross country trip goes horribly wrong.
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| Cornwell, Patricia | Dr. Kay Scarpetta series |
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Forensic pathologist solves unsavoury murders.
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| Crumley, James | Bordersnakes |
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Milo Milodragovitch moves south to El Paso to enlist his former partner in the search for his missing inheritance. Ribald tale of alcohol, drugs and violence.
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| Deaver, Jeffrey | Lincoln Rhyme series |
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Chilling series featuring forensic psychologist Lincoln Rhyme.
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| Dexter, Pete | Paris Trout |
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Shotgun murder of a girl in a 1940s Georgia town reveals divisions of race and class.
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| Ellis, Brett Easton |
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| Ellison, Harlan | Angry candy |
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Disturbing collection of short stories.
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| Ellroy, James | L.A. confidential |
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Three 1950s L.A. cops deal with hidden secrets whilst pursuing those responsible for a vicious mass murder.
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| Ford, G.M. | Leo Waterman series |
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Set in the low rent areas of Seattle and featuring a motley crowd of homeless characters.
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| Gifford, Barry | Wild at heart : the story of Sailor and Lula |
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Following the journey of Sailor and Lula through some of the less well known lifestyles of the deep south.
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| Hall, James | Bones of coral |
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Para-medic Shaw Chandler is shocked to attend the scene of his father's murder. He returns to Key West to unravel the mystery of his father's death and uncovers a potential environmental disaster devised by a psychotic.
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| Harstad, Donald | Carl Houseman series |
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Gutsy police procedurals set in Iowa.
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| Harris, Thomas | Silence of the lambs |
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Interaction between Hannibal Lecter a convicted killer and cannibal and a young investigator protecting herself.
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| Holden, Craig | Four corners of the night |
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Detectives investigating a child abduction suspect a link to the unsolved disappearance of one of their own children 7 years earlier.
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| Hornburg, Michael | Bongwater |
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Features a group of dropouts in Portland, Oregon.
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| Kelman, James | How late it was, how late |
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Set in Glasgow, Sammy recovers from a 2 day binge to land in jail.
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| Lehane, Dennis | Gennaro and Kenzie series |
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Boston private detectives pursue crime in the ghetto.
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| Lieberman, Herbert | City of the dead |
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New York forensic pathologist is confronted by his daughter's body during a bloody multiple murder inquiry.
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| Margolin, Philip | Gone, but not forgotten |
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Ten years after a tramp was convicted of the Rose Killings the bodies start turning up again, accompanied by a black rose.
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| McIlvanney, William | Laidlaw series |
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Glasgow based policeman relies on his wits when working in the slums.
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| Miller, Ellen | Like being killed |
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Gritty novel of drug abuse set in New York.
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| Mina, Denise | Garnethill |
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Recovering mental patient is the suspect in the murder of her married lover when he is found dead in her house.
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| Moore, Susannah | In the cut |
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Twin themes of death and sex appear in this dark novel telling of a professor living alone in New York.
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| Mosley, Walter | Always outnumbered, always outgunned |
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Short stories
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| Mowry, Jess | Way past cool |
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Dark novel of street gangs.
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| O'Brien, John | Leaving Las Vegas |
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Sera and Ben, a prostitute and an alcoholic reveal an unusual story of love.
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| O'Nan, Stewart | A Prayer for the dying |
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Diptheria ravages a Wisconsin town and Jacob Hansen agonises with the decision to save himself and his family or attend to his many duties within the small town.
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| Parker, Robert B. |
Spenser series
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Pelecanos, George |
Right as rain |
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An American hard-boiled crime novel.
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| Perry, Thomas | Jane Whitefield series |
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Jane Whitefield of the Seneca Indian tribe is an expert in helping people disappear, to emerge with new identities.
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| Reich, Kathy | Death du jour |
| Reich, Kathy | Deja dead |
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Featuring Temperance Brennan, Montreal based forensic anthropologist.
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| Ridley, John | Love is a racket |
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Small time con artist becomes involved with a young, homeless woman.
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| Robb, J.D. | Eve Dallas series |
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Crime novels distinguished by a sharp contrast between a dangerous futuristic New York and the serene wealthy lifestyle of the main character.
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| Selby, Hubert | Last exit to Brooklyn |
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Sympathetic portrait of the low life of inhabitants of Brooklyn in the 1950s.
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| Seranella, Barbara | Munch Mancini series |
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Reformed drug addict and prostitute, Munch Mancini works as a motor mechanic, teaming up with a friendly cop to investigate crime.
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| Siler, Jenny | Easy money |
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Drugs, guns and seedy dives abound in this coast to coast thriller.
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| Smith, Scott | A Simple plan |
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Violence spirals out of control as fortune seekers discover $4,000,000 and strive to keep it for themselves.
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| Teran, Boston | God is a bullet |
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Local cop is assisted by a former member of a satan-worshipping cult to rescue his kidnapped daughter from the cult run by a Manson-like character.
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| Thayer, James | White star |
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Ex-Vietnam vet sniper is puzzled when people around him are killed by a sniper's bullet. Seems that someone is trying to draw him into a deadly game.
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| Thompson, Carlene | Black for remembrance |
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20 years after her daughter Hayley is kidnapped Caroline makes another life with a new husband and daughter but a number of unsettling events lead her to believe that Hayley is taking revenge.
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| Tryon, Thomas |
Harvest home
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| Warner, Alan | Morvern Callar |
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Lowly paid supermarket employee wakes to find her partner has committed suicide in their home.
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| Winslow, Don | The Death and life of Bobby Z |
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Tim Kearney, convicted for life without parole is offered a deal by the DEA. They want him to assume the identity of a international drug lord and exchange him for a DEA agent held in Mexico.
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| Woodrell, Daniel | Tomato red |
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Story of a loser, Sammy Barlach and the hard times he endures in a southern town.
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| Wright, Richard | Going native |
| Bigger Thomas is abandoned by society after he murders a young woman in 1930s Chicago. |
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