Urban Crime Fiction

Six months ago, Charlotte almost lost everything. Now, she’s determined to keep her daughter, Elle, safe. So when local girls close to Elle in age and appearance begin to go missing, it’s her worst nightmare. Charlotte’s fears are confirmed when a frantic search becomes a shocking murder investigation. The girls’ bodies have been found - half-buried, and with traces of mud and wildflowers under their fingernails. As Charlotte’s obsession with keeping her daughter close pushes her marriage to the brink, local DI Madeleine Wood embarks on a gruelling search for the killer.

From the five boroughs come five rebels of society—the gangster, the hustler, the raider, the gambler, the corrupt—each gifted with superhuman powers, and each mastering an ancient martial art discipline—judo, kendo, muay Thai, karate, kung fu—through a mysterious being from another reality, known only as The Master. The Master launches the five into a dangerous hunt for a golden crypto ledger hidden within the criminal underworld of New York City—a ledger holding wealth that can change not only each of their hard-boiled lives, but the order of the world.

Detective James Wolf earned the nickname Lone Wolf from his inability to work with a partner. He's a hard cop who doesn't mind bending the rules to the breaking point to make a case, which is why Internal Affairs is digging in his backyard, looking for buried bones. People are starting to wonder which side of the law the Lone Wolf really hunts for. With his career hanging by a thread, he needs a major show of good faith to stay employed and out of prison. That's when he gets the call....

Seventeen-year-old Tyler lives in one of Edinburgh’s most deprived areas. Coerced into robbing rich people’s homes by his bullying older siblings, he’s also trying to care for his little sister and his drug-addict mum. On a job, his brother Barry stabs a homeowner and leaves her for dead, but that’s just the beginning of their nightmare, because the woman is the wife of Edinburgh’s biggest crime lord, Deke Holt.

The year is 2072, and Deacon City, a metropolis mirroring the restless pulse of modern-day Los Angeles, evolves into a sprawling urban maze where danger lurks at every corner. Time slips by, thirty years since the last Mortal Kombat tournament, yet the city's underbelly still simmers with the embers of old rivalries. For its inhabitants, Deacon City is both a glittering beacon of opportunity and a treacherous pit of vice. Petty crimes and criminal activities have become woven into the fabric of daily life, thriving in the shadowy alleys and neon-lit streets.

After eight years spent locked up, Max has gotten very good at being a prisoner. He knows the guards, the inmates, and how to survive. But the parole board has decided that he has sufficiently reformed, and it's time for him to say good-bye. When Max reaches the outside world, he finds that freedom doesn't make anything easier. Based on his own experiences in prison, Edward Bunker first drafted No Beast So Fierce in the 1950s, while incarcerated in San Quentin State Prison.

Almena Guillory, better known as the Grizzly Queen of the West, has plenty to recommend her for the noose, but US Marshal Apostle Richardson enforces the law, he doesn't decide it. When a posse tries to lynch Almena ahead of her trial, Apostle refuses their form of expedited justice - and receives a bullet for his trouble. Before escaping, however, Almena unexpectedly saves his life by absorbing his wound through the use of dangerous flesh magic.

Fel and the other Maskers knew recovering the gifts of the past was worth the danger, so long as they could keep the worst of the bygone contraptions out of the wrong hands. They couldn't have predicted a wave of violence beyond Beffshire’s walls would summon a powerful inspector. Now he is convinced the Maskers are hiding something. Unfortunately for them, he’s right. But there is something shady about this inspector. Letting him claim their inventory might not simply destroy their legacy, it might deliver powerful artifacts directly into the clutches of forces with sinister aims.

Taz is the ruthless leader of an elite group of bandits who rule the streets of Oklahoma City. No one has met the mysterious boss who gives them their orders via laptop, but the arrangement works for everyone involved. Their criminal enterprise keeps them rolling in dough, allowing them to purchase property and businesses all over town. When Taz falls in love with Sacha, an ambitious young lawyer, he makes an unexpected enemy. Cliff, another lawyer at the firm, wants Sacha for himself, and he'll stop at nothing to win her back from the thug she's with.

Two children from Sierra Leone, Liberty and A’shai, are brought together by chance, only to be forced apart by the most inevitable and tragic fate. Ashley & JaQuavis bring us this classic love story set against modern life’s most horrifying realities.

A city full of lies, deceit, and cold-blooded murder, Detroit plays widow to drug cartel after drug cartel, and the Last Kings are the latest to take over the throne. It seems that nothing can crumble their empire, but when an unexpected series of events take place and blood is shed, everything spirals out of control. Can Sadie and Mocha survive the game as the head women in charge, or will disloyalty and treachery threaten to end them for good?

An offbeat suspense tale about an unemployed man who is mistaken for a professional vampire slayer. Lost and frustrated after missing out on a job interview, Ryan is offered a job by a mysterious woman in the office parking lot. Only one hitch, the woman thinks that Ryan is a hitman and the "job" is killing her sister-in-law whom she insists is a vampire.

As he struggles to control his drug empire and keep his cutthroat girlfriend in check, Kiley Jacoby Abrams has the next several months cut out for him. If that's not enough, he's got more setbacks than one man can handle: an arrogant and troublesome brother, a sneaky playa-hating friend, another friend who turns to him for everything, and a woman who only claims to have his back. Kiley's life is full of secrets from the past. Moving from Los Angeles to St. Louis doesn't allow him the change his heart desires....

Cass is a known high roller in the city, and his reign in the heroin trade has lasted for years. People on the street call his gorgeous estate the "White House" because of his political connections and power. His home is untouchable and off-limits to the local hoodlums. But all this changes the night he meets Draya, an opportunistic beauty queen. She meticulously orchestrates a robbery, which goes smoothly - until the tables turn. Five people walk into the house, but only one walks out.

In her masterful new novel, Ivy Pochoda creates a kaleidoscope of loss, power, and hope featuring five very different women whose lives are steeped in danger and anguish. They’re connected by one man and his deadly obsession, though not all of them know that yet. There’s Dorian, still adrift after her daughter’s murder remains unsolved.

The self-appointed saviour of Lagos' sex workers, Amaka may have bitten off more than she can chew this time as she finds herself embroiled in a political scandal. When a plane crash kills the state gubernatorial candidate, the party picks a replacement who is assured of winning the election: Chief Ojo. But Amaka knows the skeletons that lurk in Chief Ojo's closet, including what took place at the Harem, the secret sex club on the outskirts of Lagos that he frequents.

Alastair Stone needs a break. He’d gladly trade a big chunk of his newly-acquired fortune for a few uninterrupted weeks of rest, but that’s not going to happen. On top of dealing with his new magical status and a relationship heading in unexpected directions, he soon learns the bombshell revelations about his family aren’t even close to over yet. As if all that weren’t enough, an ancient and malevolent set of magical game pieces has resurfaced, leaving a trail of murder and mayhem in its wake.

Identical twins Kenya and London return in the highly addictive Essence best-selling Say U Promise series, and now things have gone from bad to worse for the tragically troubled sisters. They are caught in the middle of a deadly drug war that was started by one of them, and the streets run red as lives are drastically changed forever. With an illegitimate baby on the way and a price on her head, one twin fights to avoid the dangers of the game she despises, while facing the vindictive wrath of her sister for what is deemed to be the ultimate betrayal.

Every hustler's reign ends in one of two ways: prison or death. Refusing to let that prediction become a reality, Julius "Jules" Carter creates new rules to an old game. Strategically, he forms one of the most notorious drug operations Harlem has ever seen. Jules thinks the game is his biggest challenge - until he meets Tish. Young and ambitious, Tish is determined to escape from Harlem's allure, but her love for Jules has her rooted. It isn't long before she's tangled in Julius' web of lies and deceit.

Cole Blake is more than just a roguish ladies' man. He's also a dedicated worker - so dedicated, in fact, that he's willing to blackmail his boss with a falsified sex tape in order to keep his job. And his proactive efforts don't end there. After hours, he uses his Dynari abilities to moonlight as a vigilante, keeping his neighborhood safe from drunks, dealers, and would-be thieves.