Dead man flying! Ex-stuntman and private detective Rock Dugan faces the toughest challenge of his career. How was his wealthy client murdered while flying alone in a sailplane, in full view of all the suspects in the case? How will Rock survive when gangsters and crooked cops want him off the case? Which of the beautiful women involved in his client's murder can be trusted-and which may turn out to be deadly? SOME DIE HARD is legendary mystery and thriller author Stephen Mertz's first novel, originally published in paperback more than thirty years ago and long out of print. Part hardboiled private eye yarn, part classic novel of detection (with a locked-room mystery unlike any other), SOME DIE HARD is pure entertainment, and Rough Edges Press is proud to make it available once again. This edition includes a new afterword by the author. "One of my favorite writers . . . a born storyteller . . . Enjoy!" --Max Allan Collins "Stephen Mertz writes a hard-edged, fast-paced thriller for those who like their tales straight and sharp." --Joe R. Lansdale
Legendary thriller writer Stephen Mertz delivers a stunning new collection of his best short fiction, including a pair of stories, "Chez Erotique" and "Eagle Park Slim," appearing here for the first time! It's five-star collection by a master storyteller, guaranteed to entertain from first page to last! "A writer who deserves to be much more than the genre's best-kept secret . . . A born storyteller . . . Enjoy!" - Max Allan Collins "One of the best adventure writers of our time!"-NYT Best-selling writer James Reasoner "Action-Driven!" - Publishers Weekly
In steamy Shreveport, Louisiana, two musical legends-in-the-making come together: a whiskey-soaked country singer named Hank Williams and blues artist Muddy Waters. What they've got in common over several hectic days of drinking, singing and whoring is an interest in staying alive despite local mobsters, bent cops, and a truckload of Ku Klux Klansmen. Swimming with alligators is the least of this pair's adventures.
Somebody is out to murder rock star Jimi Hendrix, but Jimi's old army buddy--who calls himself Soldier--is on hand to help. The 1970 London rock scene comes alive in a violent, fast-paced thriller that mixes fact and myth about one of rock's greatest legends. "Action-driven crime novel . . . with German thugs, drug dealers, and an ex-CIA agent who claims that the U.S. government wants Jimi dead. Hendrix fans may enjoy Mertz's portrait of the iconic musician." -- Publishers Weekly
As an Army Ranger, Steve Madison saw action from Iraq to Central America, from Somalia to Kosovo. But with his discharge from military service, he thought he'd seen the last of violence, bloodshed and sudden death. He was wrong. As an "industrial consultant" to the music industry, Madison specializes in extricating pop stars from scandals that threaten to destroy multi-million-dollar careers. Johnny Willow is the hottest superstar of his generation; a young, gifted, blind musical genius whose addictions drove him into rehab and an extended hiatus at the height of his career. Now Johnny is back, clean and sober, with a new CD debuting at number one on the charts and a sold-out concert beginning a world tour. But one rainy night in St. Louis, Johnny's past returns with a vengeance and everything is threatened in a twisty maze of ghetto gang bangers, the Mafia, the DEA, a missing shipment of cocaine, kidnapping . . . and murder. That's where Steve Madison comes in. Also includes two short stories, "A Hit for the New Age," and "The Death Blues." Stephen Mertz lives in the southwestern United States.
An American space shuttle is on a mission to deploy a top secret space defense system, but it crash lands in an uncharted mountainous region between Korea and China. Kate Daniels, co-pilot on the shuttle must take charge and lead the surviving crew members to safety before Koren soldiers can find them. A rescue mission is being put together by the Americans, but can it reach the injured crew in time?
Time Has Run Out! The fuse can't burn any shorter. An insane media megastar, Thelma Justice, and her power-hungry lover, a Russian nuclear arms dealer, are close to unleashing hell on earth. CIA field agents Jack Cody and Sara Durrell have gone rogue. On the run, operating without official sanction, they're the only two people on earth with any chance of preventing a mad scheme of imminent global destruction. But now their own country is after them! With a young, hot-blooded Dubai princess to deal with and with more than one hit team closing in from every side, Sara and the man they call Suicide Cody must try to stay alive as they track a twisting trail of deceit and sudden death from the blood-soaked desert sands of Syria to the icy killing fields high atop the rugged Italian Alps in a race against time to prevent the ultimate doomsday scenario. "Stephen Mertz is the best action writer I've read in a long time . . . the Cody's War series is filled with everything you want from a master writer!" -Brent Towns, bestselling author of the Team Reaper series.
PAYBACK! America's disorganized military evacuation from the Hell on Earth called Afghanistan left ace CIA field agent Jack Cody with a bitter, dissatisfied fire in his gut. Maybe it was strategically viable, but too much good was being left undone in a country that had fallen into wholesale slaughter and savagery following America's withdrawal. Now, the Taliban is in power, and no one is safe. But when the US government learns that a handful of American military personnel may have been left behind and are being held prisoner by a cruel Taliban warlord somewhere in that godforsaken country, nothing can stop the man they call Suicide Cody from launching a one-man dark-op mission to locate their people and bring them home . . . or die trying! From Stephen Mertz, the modern master of action-adventure novels, comes this hard-hitting saga of combat and heroism. "Stephen Mertz is a Grandmaster of action/adventure!" -MensAdventureMagazine&Books.com
Robin Curtis and her son Paul have come to Devil Creek to start over after her bitter divorce. Also new to the area is Mike Landware-a writer haunted by the death of his wife. Neither of them are looking for love or trouble, but in Devil's Creek, it's possible they'll find both. At first Devil Creek seems like an idyllic small town, but it's not long until things begin to go horribly wrong. A young hoodlum takes an automatic weapon into town for a killing spree that shocks everyone. The same night, a serial killer begins stalking the women of the community. When Paul goes missing in the mountains, it's up to Robin and Mike to find him and to find out what's going on in their new home . . . before it's too late and another victim is added to the growing death toll.
Jack Cody is on a healing path, recovering from the personal trauma of loss that left this top American agent with the nickname "Suicide." But Cody's recovery, his personal relationship with his CIA control officer, Sara Durell, and everything else goes on hold when Cody is thrust into his most dangerous mission yet.
Contributors to this collection, public historians with experience at Civil War battle sites, examine key shifts in the Civil War and the context surrounding them to show that many chains of events caused the course of the war to change: the Federal defeats at First Bull Run and Ball’s Bluff, the wounding of Joseph Johnston at Seven Pines and the Confederate victory at Chancellorsville, the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation, the Federal victory at Vicksburg, Grant’s decision to move on to Richmond rather than retreat from the Wilderness, the naming of John B. Hood as commander of the Army of Tennessee, and the 1864 presidential election. In their conclusion, the editors suggest that the assassination of Abraham Lincoln might have been the war’s final turning point.
Camp David ranks with the White House and Air Force One as the most secure military site in America. Located in the rugged hills of Maryland 6o miles northwest of Washington, Camp David is the private country retreat for the President, his staff and family and also the perfect setting for affairs classified as too sensitive for public consumption.
FROM THE MODERN MASTER OF THE ACTION ADVENTURE M.I.A. HUNTER SERIES COMES CODY'S WAR!BIG TROUBLE IN CHINA!Cody's mission: locate and extract a defecting physicist, Dr. Kwan, creator of the ghastly mega-weapon, Dragonfire.
Sara Durell is missing. Sara was the best friend of Carol, Jack Cody's late wife who died with their children at the hands of Islamic terrorists. Cody now shares a deep platonic bond with Sara, whose compassion and counsel has contributed to his emotional recovery in the wake of that traumatic loss.
For three years, series of brutal vampire-style slayings have scandalized the world of rock music. Each of the killings has followed the appearance of a top band called The Screaming Tree, a group whose weird occult music had been called an orchestration of death. Steve Madison joins the tour to catch the killer...and all hell breaks loose!
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