Gary Phillips

Joe Clifford

Dana King

Frank Zafiro

John Shepphird

Colin Conway

Holly West

Travis Richardson

Hector Acosta

Carmen Jaramillo

Mark Bergin

Tom Pitts

Matt Phillips

Paul Garth

James L'Etoile

It's eviction day for The Hope Apartments. The residents have known about it for over a year. It's too bad they ignored all the warning signs. More than a century ago, developer Elijah Hope constructed a state-of-the-art hotel. As the generations passed and tastes changed, The Hope spent two decades as an underutilized office building before conversion into a low-income housing project. Rundown by years of human occupation, The Hope has become a hollow shell of its once great self. It is home to drug addicts, petty criminals, and those hiding from others. The city has long turned a blind eye to The Hope as surrounding neighborhoods gentrified and pushed their disaffected in its direction. But now The Hope is preparing a return to its original glory. The current owners plan to convert it into a boutique hotel. The only thing standing in their way is the eviction of over one hundred units. Each resident knew this fateful day was coming, yet most chose to believe it would never arrive. They ignored the posted signs, the hand-delivered warnings, and even the actual notices. Many stayed until the bitter end. These are their stories. The Eviction of Hope is a collection of fourteen short stories from crime fiction's freshest voices. Get your copy today and experience The 509 in a completely new way.

A 509 Crime Anthology

The Eviction of Hope

London, 1678 Isabel, Lady Wilde, a mistress to King Charles II, has a secret: she makes her living disguised as Mistress Ruby, a fortune-teller who caters to London's elite. It's a dangerous life among the charlatans, rogues and swindlers who lurk in the city's dark corners, but to Isabel, the risk is worth the reward. Until magistrate Sir Edmund Godfrey seeks Mistress Ruby's counsel and reveals his unwitting involvement in a plot to kill the king. When Isabel's diary containing dangerous details of his confession is stolen, she knows she must find it before anyone connects her to Mistress Ruby. Especially after Sir Edmund's corpse is discovered a few days later… Isabel is sure that whoever stole her diary is Sir Edmund's killer—and could be part of a conspiracy that leads all the way to the throne. But as she delves deeper into the mystery, not even the king himself may be able to save her. 81,000 words

Mistress of Fortune

Asa Maria Bradley

Eryk Pruitt

Long time grifters Sam and Rachel love two things: each other and the grift. On the run from the mob, the two lovers move from one con to the next, winning some and losing others, but always finding a way to survive. Episodes 7-9 of Season Two begins with Gone Dead on You by Eryk Pruitt, a master of rural noir. Set in Pruitt's fictional Lawles County, this tale brings an element of the supernatural into play as Rachel portrays a medium who speaks to the dead partner of a dirty cop as part of a revenge ploy. Swedish paranormal romance author Asa Maria Bradley penned Episode 8, Upgrade. When Sam and Rachel target a rich mark in San Francisco, the con is high tech but the strain on their relationship is even higher. Faced with a challenge they've never truly encountered before, the pair realizes they are risking more than their freedom on this one. Episode 9, The Money Block by Holly West, follows a reinvigorated Sam and Rachel in central California as they work a variation of an old scheme, updated for the digital age. But when their mark realizes he's been taken, the repercussions are brutal, and Sam and Rachel lose more than they knew possible.

A Grifter's Song Vol. 3

London, 1679 Isabel, Lady Wilde, mistress of King Charles II, has made a good living disguised as fortune teller Mistress Ruby, counseling London's elite. But after the murder of one of her customers, business has taken a downturn, and Isabel is on the verge of accepting the king's offer to move into the palace. Isabel's plans are interrupted when a beggar girl named Susanna shows up at her home, claiming to be her niece. Isabel always believed that her older brother, Adam, died alone during the plague. When Susanna reveals that Adam was actually murdered, Isabel is compelled to take up an impossible task: discover the truth about her brother's death, twelve years after it happened. Isabel's investigation leads her through the gamut of London society, from bear-baiting matches and brothels to the realm of wealthy bankers. But as she uncovers her brother's dark secrets, Isabel begins to wonder whether the past is better left buried—especially when uncovering the truth could lead to her own funeral. 79,000 words

Mistress of Lies

Joyce Carol Oates

Joe R. Lansdale

Rob Hart

Hilary Davidson

Alison Gaylin

Ryan Sayles

Kelli Stanley

Reed Farrel Coleman

Grant Jerkins

Alec Cizak

Patricia Abbott

Thomas Pluck

S.W. Lauden

Angel Luis Colón

J.L. Abramo

Trey R. Barker

Paul J. Garth

Kent Gowran

Jeffery Hess

Tim O’Mara

Keith Rawson

Nominated for the 2017 Anthony Award for Best Anthology/Collection *** Proceeds from the sales of Unloaded will benefit the nonprofit States United To Prevent Gun Violence (CeaseFireUSA.org) *** For the first time, more than two dozen crime and mystery authors have joined together to use the strongest weapon at their disposal—words—in a call for reasonable gun control in the U.S.A. In this collection you get all the thrills and excitement you come to expect from a great crime story, but without any guns. From best sellers and writing legends to the brightest stars of the next generation of crime writers, the twenty-five authors here have taken pen in hand to say enough is enough. Gun violence has got to stop and this is our way of speaking out—by showing that gun violence can be removed from the narrative, and maybe from our lives. It's not anti-gun, it's pro-sanity. And above anything else, these are thrilling crime stories that will surprise and shock, thrill and chill—all without a gun in sight. The writers are from both sides of the political aisle and many of the authors are gun owners themselves. But everyone felt it was time to speak out. Featuring the talents of J.L. Abramo , Patricia Abbott, Trey R. Barker, Eric Beetner, Alec Cizak, Joe Clifford, Reed Farrel Coleman, Angel Luis Colón, Hilary Davidson, Paul J. Garth, Alison Gaylin, Kent Gowran, Rob Hart, Jeffery Hess, Grant Jerkins, Joe R. Lansdale, S.W. Lauden, Tim O’Mara, Joyce Carol Oates, Tom Pitts, Thomas Pluck, Keith Rawson, Kelli Stanley, Ryan Sayles, and Holly West. Praise for UNLOADED… “The 25 short stories in this thought-provoking theme anthology prove that clever crime writers can generate just as much mayhem, weirdness, and chills without the use of firearms.” —Publishers Weekly

Crime Writers Writing Without Guns

Unloaded

Holly West

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