Recommendations based on "The L.A. Quartet The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, White Jazz; Introduction by Tom Nolan"

The bestselling legal thriller—and upcoming Netflix series—has charismatic defense attorney Mickey Haller taking on a slam-dunk court case involving a Beverly Hills playboy—but as it spirals into a nightmare, he finds himself in a fight for his life.Mickey Haller is a Lincoln Lawyer, a criminal defense attorney who operates out of the backseat of his Lincoln Town Car, traveling between the far-flung courthouses of Los Angeles to defend clients of every kind. Bikers, con artists, drunk drivers, drug dealers—they're all on Mickey Haller's client list. For him, the law is rarely about guilt or innocence, it's about negotiation and manipulation. Sometimes it's even about justice.A Beverly Hills playboy arrested for attacking a woman he picked up in a bar chooses Haller to defend him, and Mickey has his first high-paying client in years. It is a defense attorney's dream, what they call a franchise case. And as the evidence stacks up, Haller comes to believe this may be the easiest case of his career. Then someone close to him is murdered and Haller discovers that his search for innocence has brought him face-to-face with evil as pure as a flame. To escape without being burned, he must deploy every tactic, feint, and instinct in his arsenal—this time to save his own life.

A psychopathic killer targets San Francisco's most innocent and vulnerable. A young mother and her infant child are ruthlessly gunned down while returning to their car in the garage of a shopping mall. There are no witnesses, and Detective Lindsay Boxer is left with only one shred of evidence: a cryptic message scrawled across the windshield in blood-red lipstick. The same night, the wife of A-list actor Marcus Dowling walks in on a cat burglar who is about to steal millions of dollars worth of precious jewels. In just seconds there is an empty safe, a lifeless body, and another mystery that throws San Francisco into hysteria. Before Lindsay and her friends can piece together either case, one of the killers forces Lindsay to put her own life on the line - but is it enough to save the city?

It is fall in Philadelphia and the mutilated body of a man is found in one of the poorest neighbourhoods of the city. The victim has been viciously tortured to death. It's the work of a sadistic mind in free fall. When homicide detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano investigate, they soon realise that their crime scene is linked to the past. Eight years ago, another body was found in the same place, in the same position, killed in the same manner. That case was never closed. Apart from their killer's unusual calling cards, the crime scene photos - past and present - are identical. As another brutalised body appears, then another, it becomes horrifyingly clear that someone is recreating unsolved murders from Philadelphia's past in the most sinister of ways. And the killer is closer than they think...

Instant New York Times Bestseller“Small Mercies is thought provoking, engaging, enraging, and can’t-put-it-down entertainment.” — Stephen KingThe acclaimed New York Times bestselling writer returns with a masterpiece to rival Mystic River—an all-consuming tale of revenge, family love, festering hate, and insidious power, set against one of the most tumultuous episodes in Boston’s history.In the summer of 1974 a heatwave blankets Boston and Mary Pat Fennessy is trying to stay one step ahead of the bill collectors. Mary Pat has lived her entire life in the housing projects of “Southie,” the Irish American enclave that stubbornly adheres to old tradition and stands proudly apart.One night Mary Pat’s teenage daughter Jules stays out late and doesn’t come home. That same evening, a young Black man is found dead, struck by a subway train under mysterious circumstances.The two events seem unconnected. But Mary Pat, propelled by a desperate search for her missing daughter, begins turning over stones best left untouched—asking questions that bother Marty Butler, chieftain of the Irish mob, and the men who work for him, men who don’t take kindly to any threat to their business.Set against the hot, tumultuous months when the city’s desegregation of its public schools exploded in violence, Small Mercies is a superb thriller, a brutal depiction of criminality and power, and an unflinching portrait of the dark heart of American racism. It is a mesmerizing and wrenching work that only Dennis Lehane could write.

Instant New York Times Bestseller!“The final shattering installment in a gangland trilogy to equal The Godfather. If you like Scarface and Goodfellas, this is where it’s at.” — Stephen King“City in Ruins is Don Winslow showing the rest of us how it’s done. Winslow has saved the best for last.” — James Patterson“The Godfather for our generation.” — Adrian McKintyFrom New York Times bestselling author Don Winslow comes City in Ruins – his epic, genre-defining crime masterpiece . . . and the final novel of Winslow’s extraordinary career.Sometimes you have to become what you hate to protect what you love.Danny Ryan is rich.Beyond his wildest dreams rich.The former dock worker, Irish mob soldier and fugitive from the law is now a respected businessman – a Las Vegas casino mogul and billionaire silent partner in a group that owns two lavish hotels. Finally, Danny has it all: a beautiful house, a child he adores, a woman he might even fall in love with.Life is good.But then Danny reaches too far.When he tries to buy an old hotel on a prime piece of real estate with plans to build his dream resort, he triggers a war against Las Vegas power brokers, a powerful FBI agent bent on revenge and a rival casino owner with dark connections of his own.Danny thought he had buried his past, but now it reaches up to him from the grave to pull him down. Old enemies surface, and when they come for Danny they vow to take everything – not only his empire, not just his life, but all that he holds dear, including his son.To save his life and everything he loves, Danny must become the ruthless fighter he once was – and never wanted to be again.Ranging from the gritty back rooms of Providence, RI to the power corridors of Washington, DC and Wall Street to the golden casinos of Las Vegas, City in Ruins is an epic crime novel of love and hate, ambition and desperation, vengeance and compassion.

A poor art student living in New York stumbles on a bag of diamonds . . . but they come at a price in this unforgettable novel from "America's #1 storyteller" (Forbes).Matthew Bannon, a poor art student living in New York City, finds a duffel bag filled with diamonds during a chaotic attack at Grand Central Station. Plans for a worry-free life with his stunning girlfriend Katherine fill his thoughts - until he realizes that he is being hunted, and that whoever is after him won't stop until they have reclaimed the diamonds and exacted their revenge.Trailing him is the Ghost, the world's greatest assassin, who has just pulled off his most high-profile hit: killing Walter Zelvas, a top member of the international Diamond Syndicate. There's only one small problem: the diamonds he was supposed to retrieve from Zelvas are missing. Now, the Ghost is on Bannon's trail but so is a rival assassin who would like nothing more than to make the Ghost disappear forever.From the world's #1 writer comes a high-speed thrill ride of adrenaline-fueled suspense you'll never forget.

An unforgettable true story of friendship, loyalty, violence and revenge, set against the unmistakable backdrop of New York City. Now a major film starring Dustin Hoffman, Brad Pitt, Robert de Niro and Kevin Bacon.Four boys - lifelong friends who shared everything - in the confines of New York City's Hell's Kitchen, content with playing as many pranks as they can without getting caught. Until one disastrous afternoon.When a harmless scheme goes terribly wrong, the boys are left facing a year's imprisonment in the Wilkinson Home for Boys, and the beatings and abuse they find there will change their lives forever.In the years that follow, one will become a lawyer, one a reporter, and two will grow to become hitmen for-hire. But for all of them, the legacy of Wilkinson - the pain, fear and anger - still rages on within. Only revenge will erase it.One final, audacious stand against a corrupt system. If they are caught this time, the only thing to lose is their lives.

A CLASSIC NOVEL BY THE MASTER OF HARD-BOILED CRIME, THE HIGH WINDOW IS RAYMOND CHANDLER'S THIRD STORY FEATURING LACONIC PI PHILIP MARLOWE.'He lay crumpled on his back. Very lonely, very dead. The safe door was wide open. A metal drawer was pulled out. It was empty now. There may have been money in it once.'Los Angeles PI Philip Marlowe's on a case: his client, a dried-up husk of a woman, wants him to recover a rare gold coin called a Brasher Doubloon, missing from her late husband's collection. That's the simple part. It becomes more complicated when Marlowe finds that everyone who handles the coin suffers a run of very bad luck: they always end up dead. That's also unlucky for a private investigator, because leaving a trail of corpses around LA puts cops' noses seriously out of joint. If Marlowe doesn't wrap this one up fast, he's going to end up either in jail or in a wooden box in the ground . . .'Chandler's books should be read and judged, not as escapist literature, but as works of art' W.H. Auden'Chandler grips the mind from the first sentence' Daily Telegraph'One of the greatest crime writers, who set standards others still try to attain' Sunday Times'Chandler is an original stylist, creator of a character as immortal as Sherlock Holmes' Anthony Burgess

In this #1 New York Times bestseller from the world’s most popular storyteller, with explosive charges and shocking evidence, Alex Cross is about to face the trial of the century. The inspiration for #1 hit streaming show, Cross.   Alex Cross is on the wrong side of the law. Charged with gunning down followers of his nemesis Gary Soneji in cold blood, he is being turned into the poster child for trigger-happy cops. Cross knows it was self-defense. But will a jury see it that way?   When his former partner Sampson shows up needing his help, Cross jumps at the chance, even if it may end up costing him what's left of his career. When a string of young, blonde women go missing, the investigation leads Cross and Sampson to the most depraved, darkest corners of the internet, where murder is just another form of entertainment.   As the prosecution presents its case, and the nation watches, even those closest to Cross begin to doubt his innocence. If he can't convince his own family that he didn't pull the trigger with intent to kill, how can he hope to persuade a jury? But even with everything on the line, Cross will do whatever it takes to stop a dangerous criminal . . . even if he can't save himself.   Struggling to prove his own innocence and uncover the truth lurking online, Cross must risk everything to save his most at-risk patient of all: himself.

Powerfully told, elegantly wrought, George P. Pelecanos's The Big Blowdown is a knockout.Washington DC, 1946. For Joey Recevo and Pete Karras, two kids from one of Washington's rougher neighborhoods, the easiest work to find after the War is all criminal---providing a little muscle for a local boss. But Karris is soft on his fellow immigrants, and the boss can't let his mob get soft, so one of his boys gives Karras a painful lesson. Three years later, it's the same mob that figures big Nick Stefanos's grill needs protection---and this decision will once again bring Joey and Pete face-to-face. In this final confrontation, the two of them will find the meaning of friendship, the heart of honor, and the cost of both.