Just Released From Pace Press
The Don Con
By Richard Armstrong
The Mafia comes to Comic-Con and outrageousness ensues, in the new fast-paced suspense caper The Don Con. A hilarious comic crime thriller in the tradition of Carl Hiaasen and Janet Evanovich, The Don Con. mixes suspense, razor-sharp pop culture satire and author Richard Armstrong’s dry comic style into a delightful cocktail of pure entertainment. Joey Volpe hit the high watermark of his acting career when he played a small role as a mobster on The Sopranos. If you blinked, you missed it. But now he’s unemployed, broke and forced to make a living by signing autographs at pop-culture fan conventions, or "Fan-Cons," for $35 a pop. His lack of income, along with his chronic womanizing, has put his marriage at risk, too. Joey’s life gets even worse when real mobster Tony Rosetti shows up in the autograph line with a plan to rob the next Fan-Con — an offer Joey can’t refuse. When the heist goes awry, Joey is left with a beef with Rosetti and two long years to plan. Partnered with a smooth-talking con man, Joey is using all his acting skills on new projects: Revenge. Money. And saving his marriage. Combining the intrigue of Ocean’s 11 and The Bank Job with pointed comic takes on The Sopranos, The Godfather, Comic-Con, Star Trek, The Sting and nerd culture, The Don Con is a crime thriller / screwball comedy that will leave readers breathless with excitement and laughter.
Upon This Rock
By David Eugene Perry
An American couple in Italy investigate the suicide of a cleric in the picturesque Italian city of Orvieto — and find themselves plunged into a conspiracy that may destroy the Catholic Church. In the stunning thriller Upon This Rock, San Francisco business executive Lee Maury and his husband Adriano come to Orvieto to soak in the city's beauty and rich history, but Lee becomes fascinated with a local tragedy, the suicide one year earlier of Deacon Andrea, a much-loved candidate for the priesthood. Growing obsessed with learning the truth behind Andrea's death, Lee and Adriano stumble upon a conspiracy of terrorism, human trafficking, and a plot to destroy one of the Church's most sacred shrines — all somehow linked across 500 years to Renaissance Pope Clement VII, who escaped to Orvieto after the sack of Rome in 1527. Before they know it, Lee and Adriano's dream vacation becomes a race to save innocent lives — and not get killed in the process.
As the Crow Dies
by Kenneth Butcher A bookish police detective and his roller derby star partner investigate a quirky mystery involving superintelligent animals, military conspiracy ... and murder. When a body is found in the River Arts District of Asheville, North Carolina, the officers on the case are Lt. Ira Segal, who carries Elmore Leonard paperbacks as security blankets, and his partner, military veteran and local roller derby star Sgt. Dinah "Dinosaur" Rudisill. Segal discovers that the victim worked for the mysterious start-up company Creatures 2.0, which trains animals to acquire uncanny capabilities including a raccoon who rolls cigarettes, pigeons who follow a priest to church, and a superintelligent crow who keeps bringing evidence to the detectives' attention. When the trail leads to a shadowy military contractor, more murders, and a threat to national security, Segal and Rudisill face a dangerous confrontation, and the only thing they can trust is each other.
Sunny Side Up
By Daniel Stallings The traditional murder mystery collides with an entirely different kind of detective hero in the new mystery novel Sunny Side Up. An engaging mixture of Agatha Christie–style intrigue and Millennial snark, Sunny Side Up takes a fresh approach to the traditional murder mystery with a modern sensibility and a working class amateur sleuth.
Whispers in the Wind
By Veronica Giolli
A Native American investigator returns to the reservation to find the truth behind her friend’s death — and discovers family secrets and dysfunction. When San Francisco fraud investigator Sunny Davis hears that her best friend Gina has committed suicide, it’s emotionally devastating… and the beginning of her determined pursuit to find the truth.
In the Midst of the Sea
By Sean Padraic McCarthy
A moody, atmospheric and terrifying horror thriller reminiscent of classic Stephen King, In the Midst of the Sea is an impressive debut novel by a gifted new writer. In the Midst of the Sea is a gripping story of supernatural horror and psychological realism that slowly reveals that the greatest danger is the people closest to you in your own home.
Cleanup on Aisle Six
By Daniel Stallings
The Minimum Wage Manhunter returns, bagging groceries — and a killer —in the delightful new mystery novel Cleanup on Aisle Six. After solving a murder at his last low-paying job as a cruise ship waiter (in the first Li Johnson mystery, Sunny Side Up), Li is fresh out of options. Li catches a lucky break when a kindly supermarket clerk gets him work at Esther’s Family Grocery. Li thinks he’s finally getting a chance to live a normal life. But then Li’s floor duster bumps into the body of the local newspaper’s famously vindictive restaurant critic, bludgeoned to death in the spice aisle.