Noir Audiobooks | Mystery, Thriller & Horror

Brand-new stories by: T. Jefferson Parker, Janet Fitch, Eric Beetner, Kelly Shire, Tod Goldberg, Michael Craft, Barbara DeMarco-Barrett, Rob Roberge, J.D. Horn, Eduardo Santiago, Rob Bowman, Chris J. Bahnsen, Ken Layne, and Alex Espinoza. From the introduction by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: The best noir writers make us feel the heat of the sun, the touch of a lover. Setting can be gritty but can also be sublime, no longer relegated to urban locales and seedy hotel rooms but also mansions and swimming pools. Hence, Palm Springs, which may seem like an odd setting for a collection of dark short stories—it’s so sunny and bright here. The quality of light is unlike anywhere else, and with an average of three hundred sunny days a year, what could go wrong? . . . The stories in this collection come on like the wicked dust storms common to the area. More than half are by writers who live here full-time; all have homes in Southern California. They know this place in ways visitors and outsiders never will. These are not stories you’ll read in the glossy coffee-table books that feature Palm Springs’s good life. There is indeed a lush life to be found here, but for the characters in these stories, it’s often just out of reach.

Barbara Demarco-Barrett (Author), Marco Guerrero (Narrator)

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Rovers

Two immortal brothers crisscross the American Southwest to elude a murderous biker gang and protect a young woman in this "utter triumph and delight" from award-winning author Richard Lange (Jonathan Ames, author of A Man Named Doll) Summer, 1976. Jesse and his brother, Edgar, are on the road in search of victims. They're rovers, nearly indestructible nocturnal beings who must consume human blood in order to survive. For seventy years they've lurked on the fringes of society, roaming from town to town, dingy motel to dingy motel, stalking the transients, addicts, and prostitutes they feed on. This hard-boiled supernatural hell ride kicks off when the brothers encounter a young woman who disrupts their grim routine, forcing Jesse to confront his past and plunging his present into deadly chaos as he finds himself scrambling to save her life. The story plays out through the eyes of the brothers, a grieving father searching for his son's murderer, and a violent gang of rover bikers, coming to a shattering conclusion in Las Vegas on the eve of America's Bicentennial. Gripping, relentless, and ferocious, Rovers demonstrates once again why Richard Lange has been hailed as an "expert writer, his prose exact, his narrative tightly controlled" (Steph Cha, Los Angeles Times).

Richard Lange (Author), Marc Vietor, Wayne Carr (Narrator)

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A Darker Place: A chilling murder mystery

The frozen body of a man is discovered in a used car yard on the hottest day of the year, his face contorted by fear and pain. Detective Kay Hunter and her team are assigned the case, but when they find out who the victim is, their worst fears are realised. There is another man missing – but is he a victim, or a killer? With time running out and witnesses afraid to talk, Kay is thrust into one of the most challenging investigations of her career to date. A Darker Place is the tenth book in the Detective Kay Hunter series by USA Today bestselling author Rachel Amphlett, and perfect for readers who love fast-paced crime thrillers.

Rachel Amphlett (Author), Alison Campbell (Narrator)

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Chica Uno

EL ÉXITO INTERNACIONAL QUE TE CAUTIVARÁ «El mejor suspense desde Perdida.» ELLE Alexandra, una exitosa abogada afincada en Nueva York, recibe la noticia de que su madre, muerta en la cárcel, la ha nombrado albacea de su testamento. Aunque nadie en su entorno lo sabe, la protagonista fue años atrás la Chica Uno, la única que logró escapar de la casa donde sus padres la tenían prisionera junto a sus hermanos. Ahora Alexandra deberá ponerse en contacto con los demás, que crecieron en familias adoptivas diferentes, incluido su extraño hermano Ethan, que ha convertido la pesadilla que vivieron de niños en un lucrativo negocio de conferencias… Convertida en un fenómeno internacional y calificada de obra maestra por la crítica literaria, esta novela hipnótica, llena de misterios y personajes que no son lo que parecen, eleva el thriller psicológico a un nuevo nivel. Reseñas: «Una obra maestra perfecta.» Sunday Express Review «¿Es esta la novela del año?» The Guardian «Adictiva y poderosa.» The New York Times «El mejor suspense desde Perdida.» Elle «La novela que te quedarás leyendo hasta las tres de la madrugada.» The Sunday Times «Absolutamente cautivadora.» Daily Mail «Una lectura fascinante y escalofriante.» BBC «Un thriller asombrosamente bueno.» The Observer «Imposible parar de leer e imposible de olvidar.» Daily Express Review «Te atrapa desde la primera página.» The Bookseller «Brillante.» The Sun

Abigail Dean (Author), Paula Iwasaki (Narrator)

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Three Graves

A wisecracking former LAPD Detective has his life shattered, his wife murdered, narrowly escaping the wrath of a ruthless gangster. What started off as mistaken identity becomes personal, when Colin Graves sets a plan into motion; a quest for vengeance. Fueled by booze, painkillers, acerbic wit, Colin teams up with his brother to take down the man that took away everything. It's like John Wick meets Beaches with a twist of Taken 3 and a splash of Deadpool. With a cast of characters, running the gamut from struggling actors to albino henchman, a pedophile, a serial killer, the Russian Mob, and the Yakuza, this melting pot sets a tone complimented by the backdrop only Los Angeles can provide. Twists, turns, reversals. Blood, guts, violence. Pop culture references, hilarity, hyperbole. It's a clever read for accomplished readers but also a fun ride for nitwits. Influenced by the films of Quentin Tarantino, the writing of Raymond Chandler, James Ellroy, Elmore Leonard, and Dr. Seuss, Three Graves hits harder than Mike Tyson with more heart than Secretariat.

Zack Kaplan (Author), Ian Bohen, Maxwell Hamilton (Narrator)

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Autumn, All The Cats Return: An Inspector Sebag Mystery

The second Inspector Sebag mystery following Summertime, All the Cats Are Bored: “A man like this—a cop like this—is definitely worth knowing.”—Los Angeles Review of Books Inspector Sebag is a policeman in southern France with an unparalleled sixth sense, who excels at slipping into the skin of killers and hunting them down. However, when a retired French Algerian cop is discovered in his apartment with the symbol OAS left near his body and few indications as to who killed him or why, Sebag’s skills are put to the test. Days later, when a controversial monument is destroyed and another French Algerian is shot down, Sebag begins to put the pieces together. Bringing to light the horrors, hopes, and treasons committed during the war in Algeria fifteen years ago, in this sequel to Georget’s Summertime, All the Cats Are Bored, Lt. Gilles Sebag discovers more than just a killer, but an entire secret history that not everyone wants revealed. “French crime writers are on a roll . . . Just savour the Gallic charm of this sizeable case for Inspector Sebag, a tenacious copper in the south of France with a sixth sense for tracking down killers.”—Financial Times “The subtlety, the imaginative style, the brilliant dialogues, and the extremely strong subject make Autumn, All the Cats Return a crime novel not to miss.”—Black Novel “Well structured, solidly documented, written with verve, Autumn, All the Cats Return has everything needed to satisfy even the most demanding of readers.”—UnPolar.com

Philippe Georget (Author), Nicholas Tecosky (Narrator)

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Adios Muchachos

Adios Muchachos is a dark, erotic, brutally funny romp through the sexual underworld and black-market boardrooms of post-Cold War Cuba. Seen through Chavarría’s compassionate but uncompromising eyes, present-day Havana is a crossroads for petty hustlers looking for an easy mark, two-time losers looking for a fresh start, and high-rolling international speculators looking to take advantage of them all.

Carlos Lopez, Daniel Chavarria (Author), Ariadna Gaya (Narrator)

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Top Rankin': A Punk/Ska Noir Novel

It's the dawn of 1980 in Los Angeles and everything's changing. James Dual, inspired by the racially integrated punky ska revival in England, starts the ON Klub, a ska, soul, and reggae club at the rough and ready pre-gentrified Silver Lake end of Sunset Blvd. He and partner in crime, Drea Dresden, try their best to make the transition out of the '70s in one piece. A journalist friend brings a mob related music man connected to Bob Marley to visit the club, who becomes obsessed with the charismatic young Jamaican singer Loraine Sulley, who is performing that night. He lures James with promises to bring in iconic ska and reggae artists to perform at the club if James convinces Loraine to sign to Marshall's planned new record label. In the meantime, James and Drea are threatened by two corrupt Sheriff's homicide detectives who are still trying to nail an innocent James for the death of a band member that occurred soon after he first arrived in LA. Top Rankin' is populated with real-life characters from the music world in Los Angeles, New York, and London, and leads listeners on a tour of the dangers and importance of providing refuge on the precipice of major political upheaval.

Howard Paar (Author), Shaun Grindell (Narrator)

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Todo lo peor

Una novela fría como el acero, despiadada como el cruel asesino que la habita. Varios cadáveres de homosexuales aparecen brutalmente asesinados en el Berlín Este de finales de la Guerra Fría. Las autoridades no le prestan la atención que merece hasta que un alto cargo de la Stasi que maneja información muy sensible para el Estado aparece muerto en las mismas circunstancias. Por su experiencia en el comportamiento de la mente criminal, encargan la investigación a Viktor Lavrov, que, junto al inspector apartado de la Kriminalpolizei, Otto Bauer, buscará la manera de sumergirse en un mundo prohibido tras los pasos de un despiadado asesino mesiánico. César Pérez Gellida regresa para descolocarnos con un trepidante thriller negro magistralmente ambientado en una época no tan lejana pero sí muy distante en el ámbito de los derechos y las libertades. Otra nueva joya del que es para muchos el mejor escritor patrio de novela negra. «Había invertido algo menos de media hora en conseguir que se le llenaran de sangre los cuerpos cavernosos y ocho segundos en dejarlo incosciente. Antes, eso sí, se había asegurado de salir por separado de aquel antro y de que nadie se cruzara con él entrando en su portal, lo cual, en los tiempos que corrían en la República Democrática Alemana -donde expresar con libertad la condición sexual de cada uno seguía siendo una quimera para los colectivos de gais y lesbianas-, más que una actitud comprensible era un comportamiento recomendable. Una vez dentro, habían ido directos al grano sin pasar por los incómodos y repugnantes preliminares, circunstancia que le agradecía de veras, aunque, a la vista de los hechos que acontecieron inmediatamente después, no podría decirse que lo hubiera tenido en consideración. Repitiendo la fórmula de las ocasiones precedentes, había tomado la iniciativa de manera inesperada, colocándose a su espalda con la excusa de desvestirlo. Sacando el máximo partido a esa ventajosa posición, le había rodeado el cuello con el antebrazo y aplicado presión a las arterias carótidas para obstruir el flujo sanguíneo que irriga el cerebro. Como esperaba, no tardó en perder la conciencia». 'CÉSAR PÉREZ GELLIDA ES, SIN NINGUNA DUDA, EL MEJOR AUTOR DE NOVELA NEGRA DE ESPAÑA'. JUAN GÓMEZ-JURADO

César Pérez Gellida (Author), Patxi Freytez (Narrator)

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One London Day

'Hard boiled, lustful, edgy - a modern noir.' - Robert Dugoni, international bestselling author of the Tracy Crosswhite series - July 30th 2018. It’s the hottest Summer in fifty years and Joseph Severin, a respectable North London businessman, has taken on a lucrative side job. He’s doing the books, old school, (because these days the only trail you can’t trace is a paper one) for a rogue MI5 outfit, the Shadows, headed by clever, psychopathic Sebastien. When the game is rumbled, he sends their hitman, Mr Phipps, to kill Severin and get those books back. For a simple man, Severin has a complicated life. He’s developed a sudden and wild passion for Lottie – aka ‘chaos on two legs’. Who is in love with Patrick, the next hot young black actor. Who is obsessed by Sonya, a gorgeous Russian escort. Who has one night to make the final money she needs for her daughter’s cancer operation. With MI6 onto them, and the books missing, the Shadows panic. And a day that begins with a hit in Finchley ends in violence and betrayal on the steamy night streets of Portobello. ONE LONDON DAY is a daisy chain tale of characters and connections, a contemporary London Noir. Like that genre’s 40’s origins, this story has its hood, its moll, its femme fatale, its fancy boy. Everyone is both protagonist and antagonist. No one gets out unharmed – and some don’t get out at all.

C. C. Humphreys (Author), Chris Humphreys (Narrator)

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Blood Money: A Nolan Novel

The mob couldn't kill him, the cops couldn't catch him, and even time wouldn't slow him down. Playing dirty isn't Nolan's style ... until he's taken to the cleaners. Nolan was still alive; his wounds healed and his money was safe-all $800,000 of it. It was Nolan's birthday and he was sitting happy. Until Planner was killed. Planner was an eccentric antique dealer; Planner had the $800,000 in his safe. But now he was dead and the money was gone. Caught up in the sizzling crossfire of double-dealing, danger, and death, Nolan was up against the "Family" again. There was only one way out ... Blood Money!

Max Allan Collins (Author), Stefan Rudnicki (Narrator)

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City on the Edge

An American teen living abroad discovers the truth about himself and his family in this thrilling novel from "one of the best dialogue hounds in the business" (New York Times Book Review). In the wake of a baffling tragedy, 13-year-old Graham moves with his family to Beirut, Lebanon, a city on the edge of the sea and cataclysmic violence. Inquisitive and restless by nature, Graham suspects his State Department father is a CIA operative, and that their family's fragile domesticity is merely a front for American efforts along the nearby Israeli border. Over the course of one year, 1974, Graham's life will utterly change. Two men are murdered, his parent's marriage disintegrates, and Graham, along with his two ex-pat friends, run afoul of forces they cannot understand. The City on the Edge is elegiac, atmospheric, and utterly authentic. It's the story of innocents caught within the American net of espionage, of the Lebanese transformed by such interference, of the children who ran dangerously beside the churning wheel of history. One part Stephen King's "The Body" and another John le Carre's A Perfect Spy, it's a transformative crime story told with heart and genuine experience.

David Swinson (Author), Jonathan Davis (Narrator)

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Noir Audiobooks in Mystery, Thriller & Horror