In Between Manhood and Greed , R.F. Ryan introduces us to a unique hero. Finnegan Gilhooly was raised to be a Pinkerton man when discovered by the agency's founder as an orphan. More of an assassin than sleuth, he will have to learn to adapt, much like the changing country in the 1870s. We first meet him in a shoot-out with Frank and Jesse James on thier escape from their violent fiasco in Northfield, Minnesota. Ryan gives us. a complete sense of who he is in action. Allen Pi

In this next section of the best twenty-five crime novels and thrillers published in th first twenty-five years of this century, we have five writers that show how to lean itno genre to create something fresh and memorable. HOLLOW MAN by Mark Pryor- An ADA who is also a sociopath becomes involved in both a heist and a femme fatale in this pitch black noir with a great use of point of view. Pryor's Dominic could be a later generation cousin to Jim Thompson's Lou Ford.. A FINE

Albert Fear Leffingwell's name would not have fit with his series character Jim Steele. He had to pick something like Dana Chambers for his radio script writer who still carries his hard boiled history, proving to be no stranger to fists, bullets, or explosions. Stark House recently released his first two adventures, placing Steele in two wildly different situations, Some Day I'll Kill You and Too Like the Lightning. Some Day I'll Kill You begins with many elements of a trad

Con Lehane has always been a writer for the New York proletariat. His medium boiled mysteries featuting amatuer slueths bartender Brian McNulty or librarian Raymond Ambler give us a working class view of the city that often figures into the plot. He goes deeper into that viewpoint as he becomes more hard boiled and looks at a dark corner of our history in The Red Scare Murders. Lehane's new protagonist is Mick Mulligan, a former Disney cartoonist who lost his job and family

The first part of this century was basically when I got a front row seat to a new generation that pushed the genre in new and exciting directions. It's been so long now, another is coming up. In this year's 25 0f 25' tradition, I made this five part list, starting with number 25. These five show authors who were not afraid to play with the form. THE DEVIL TAKES YOU HOME by Gabino Iglesias- Possibly the darkest book on this list (which is saying something). A man pushed to the

John Shirley, mainly known for his science fiction, has successfully rode into the western genre. He recently won a Spur award for his book Gun Metal Mountain. This week, Wolf Pack Publishing, released his look at a legendary lawman, Wyatt In Wichita. In some ways, the book gives us the missing main piece in the Lawrence Kasdan biopic Wyatt Earp, showing the transition as directionless youngman to formidable man with a badge and gun. Shirley introduces us to him fleeing Illi

Ace Atkins proves most entertaining when he pulls a lot from what entertains him. This can be seen in his Quinn Colson series that pay tribute to the Dixie set crime and action movies of the seventies. With Everybody Wants to Rule the World, he moves to the next decade. He blends both the spy films and books of the eighties with the setup and protagonist of its teen horror and thrillers. In 1985, fifteen year-old Peter Bennett is not crazy about the latest dude his mother, Co

Author and musician Tim Bryant weaves his tale ,World of Rivers, like a chamber piece, where most authors would make it their symphony.. Just a little over two-hundred pages, it covers over forty years, three locations, at least four main characters, each told with their own section, and at least three families that become one as it looks at race, fate, art, and other themes. By taking an epic and tightening it, he looks at how life may hold a method under its chaos. He first

Jake Hinkson immediately grabs us with the set-up in his latest, You Will Never See Me. Alice, Hardesty, a married academic, gets pulled into an alley and is assaulted, as she leaves her lover's apartment. She escapes and leaves him bleeding. When she returns with the man she was sleeping with, the attacker and any signs of the crime are gone. She goes home, gets rid of her clothes, and decides to keep quiet as not to reveal her indiscretions. She didn't know private detectiv

With The Rancher, Peter Bracvold's third book about the tall, tough swede Anders Nordic, he puts the cap on his hero's arc. He began as a wandering loner who has a stronger bond with Finn, the collie he saves from torment, to finding love in The Man From Dakota. Here he establishes, friends, family, and a place for a future, learning the lengths he'll go when it is all threatened. Nordic is now married to Alexandria (Alex) , daughter of the Comanche Ranch owner Garth Deveraux