Noir - Then Through Now

Trying to locate a family friend who has become involved with a radical resistance group, Easy Rawlins stumbles onto a murder scene only to be named a suspect, and he finds himself exploring a world of betrayal, trying to stay alive.

Now in one volume—the first three novels in Philip Kerr’s New York Times bestselling historical mystery series starring hard-boiled detective Bernie Gunther...
“A Chandleresque knight errant caught in insane historical surroundings. Bernie walks down streets so mean that nobody can stay alive and remain truly clean.”—John Powers, Fresh Air (NPR)
Ex-policeman Bernie Gunther...

From the Publisher: In his introduction to the The Best American Noir of the Century, James Ellroy writes, "Noir is the most scrutinized offshoot of the hard-boiled school of fiction. It's the long drop off the short pier and the wrong man and the wrong woman in perfect misalliance. It's the nightmare of flawed souls with big dreams and the precise how and why of the all-time sure thing that goes bad." Offering the best examples of literary sure...

"A dying millionaire hires private eye Philip Marlowe to handle the blackmailer of one of his two troublesome daughters, and Marlowe finds himself involved with more than extortion. Kidnapping, pornography, seduction, and murder are just a few of the complications he gets caught up in."--Amazon.com.

"The first novel in The L.A. Quartet. The Black Dahlia is the haunting and harrowing book that put James Ellroy on the map as one of the most electrifying writers on the scene. On January 15, 1947, the brutally mutilated body of Elizabeth Short is found in a vacant lot. The victim makes headlines as the Black Dahlia, the center of a media frenzy and cultural fixation. Caught up in the investigation are two young cops, Dwight "Bucky" Bleichert and...

In the year 2019 in Los Angeles, replicants, genetically engineered human beings of superior strength and intelligence, have been created as labor for the planet colonies. The replicants, which have a life span of four years, start revolts and are forbidden on Earth. Four Nexus 6 replicants, which are virtually indistinguishable from humans, commandeer a space shuttle to Earth. Rick Deckard is a blade runner, a police officer who hunts down and terminates...

Ezekiel 'Easy' Porterhouse Rawlins is an unlicensed private investigator turned hard-boiled detective always willing to do what it takes to get things done in the racially charged, dark underbelly of Los Angeles. But when Easy is approached by a shell-shocked Vietnam War veteran, a young white man who claims to have gotten into a fight protecting a white woman from a black man, he knows he shouldn't take the case. Though he sees nothing but trouble...

A PI investigates a conspiracy at an LA country club: The first book by "the author of some of the most powerful crime novels ever written" (The New York Times).
It would be a stretch to call Fritz Brown a detective. A PI in name only, he washed out of the police force at twenty-five, and makes a cash living doing under-the-table repo work for a sleazy used-car dealer. It's an ugly job, but Fritz is not one to say no to easy

...

With two professional assassinations in quick succession, James Bond is quickly elevated to '00' status. Bond's first 007 mission takes him to Uganda where he is to spy on a terrorist, Mollaka. Not everything goes to plan and Bond decides to investigate, independently of MI6, in order to track down the rest of the terrorist cell. Following a lead to the Bahamas, he encounters Dimitrios and his girlfriend, Solange. He learns that Dimitrios is involved...