Books by Eric Beetner

When Samantha awakes she is half buried in bricks and the smoke still swirls in the air. The car bomb didn't killed her-small miracle. Her unfocused eyes see a figure coming nearer. A shape she recognizes somehow. As the person passes by the orange glow from the car fire's light, she sees the face. Her face. But how? The other Samantha stands over her and regards her twin. Something is off about this new face. It is her, sure, but harder somehow. The new Sam turns and walks away, back toward the building she came out of before her car exploded. Back to see the two drug kingpins in the top floor offices. And somehow Samantha knows-back to take the deal she just turned down. Samantha Whelan is a DEA agent, and not always a straight and narrow one. She's been taking bribes and doing favors for Calder and Rizzo-twin brothers and big players in narco traffic in southern California-for years. She turned down a deal that night, a deal to make her millions, but it meant killing her fiancé, an assistant district attorney building a case against Calder and Rizzo. And it meant betraying her DEA brethren more deeply than she had so far. It was too much. So Calder and Rizzo tried to blow her up. What happened then...she split. Samantha became Samantha and Sam. Two halves of the same person. The good side and the bad side. The two opposing forces living within her for so long were now free to fight it out to see who will win control. So begins a nightmarish rocket ride for Samantha to save her life and the lives of everyone she holds dear before Sam, her bad half, can burn it to the ground. Praise for TWO IN THE HEAD: "Two In the Head is a straight shot between the eyes. A gangbusters plot, punch-drunk pace, and gut-punch action propel this black hearted thriller from Eric Beetner." -J. Todd Scott, author of The Far Empty and Lost River

Long time grifters Sam and Rachel love two things: each other and the grift. On the run from the mob, the two lovers move from one con to the next, winning some and losing others, but always finding a way to survive.Episodes 10-12 of Season Two begins with The Sound of Breaking Bones by Eric Beetner. In Mississippi, Sam and Rachel pose as a godly couple running an adoption service, but they quickly run afoul of a local deacon whose tendencies run more to the Old Testament than the New.Scott Eubanks penned Episode 11, Still Life with Suitcase. This debut author''s work finds Sam and Rachel in Florida, working a variation of the fiddle scheme. Their targets are new money but the art involved is from an old master. The danger itself, however, is elemental.Episode 12, Down Comes the Night, officially closes out season two. Series creator and editor Frank Zafiro picks up with Sam and Rachel right where they left off in Episode 11. Deciding to face the threat of pursuing mobsters head on, the couple devises a plan to finally be free and safe. The life of a grifter, however, holds little hope of either.

For the first time in print two novellas in the pulp paperback tradition of fast and no-punches-pulled noir.In White Hot Pistol Jacy needs to get out of town and away from her stepfather, Brian. The only one she can turn to is her estranged brother, Nash. But getting away won't be easy. Throw in a bag of cash, dark family secrets and a town cop who doesn't want them to leave-who also happens to be the very man they're trying to escape-and you've got a pulpy ride down the dark alleys of Noir. First time in paperback.In Blood on Their Hands Garret and his friends get more than they bargained for with a teenage prank gone wrong. Now killers are after them and the one man who could help them can never know. Friendships will be tested and these young men will see what they're really made of and if they'll even make it out of their teen years alive. It's a violent coming-of-age story and pulp fiction at its action-packed best. Never before published.Praise for Eric Beetner:"If Beetner had been around in the 1950s, he could've had a nice career writing for Gold Medal or Dell First Editions, and that's a high compliment from me." -Bill Crider, author of the Sheriff Dan Rhodes series"Eric Beetner is the standard by which all current hardboiled and noir writers should be judged." -Paul Bishop, author of Lie Catchers"Beetner is an old school talent, a crime writer's crime writer like Gil Brewer (although, in my humble opinion, he's better than Brewer), who writes stuff that is fast and funny and dark all at once." -Jake Hinkson, author of Hell on Church St. and No Tomorrow"Few contemporary writers do justice to the noir tradition the way Eric Beetner does. Others try to emulate and mimic; Beetner just takes the form and cuts his own jagged, raw and utterly readable path." -Gar Anthony Haywood, author of Assume Nothing, Cemetery Road and the Aaron Gunner series

The drugs are missing and four lives are about to collide. Clyde just wanted to make a little extra cash on the side to raise his new baby. Now his life and the lives of his wife and newborn daughter are in jeopardy. Brent just wanted to do his job and be left alone. Now he's in a race against time for his life. Sean just wanted to escape the crime he committed in Detroit. Now he's stumbled into another. The money he embezzled is nothing compared the load of narcotics that fell into his lap. And Skeeter? Well, Skeeter wants the drugs back, and he'll use any means necessary to get them. When these four are let loose on a mad scramble to locate the drugs, they cut a path of mayhem and bloodshed across Virginia. Inept would-be criminals clash with ruthless drug dealers in a violent weekend where no one is safe. The only certainty: Everyone is in over their heads. "Hard boiled pulp, hot off the press. The writing team of JB Kohl and Eric Beetner give the middle finger to polite crime writing and splatter the pages of Over Their Heads with foul mouthed, two-fisted action delivered in a hail of bullets. Neo-noir, transgressive fans will cheer. Drawing room mystery readers may need smelling salts. Don't say you weren't warned." -Anonymous-9, author of Hard Bite and Bite Harder "Over Their Heads is a stripped down hot-rod of a novel. JB Kohl and Eric Beetner keep things fast and tight, with a gasp or a laugh on pretty much every page as an assortment of would-be badasses try to track down some missing drugs. It's a comedy of errors, scored with the sound of gunfire." -Jake Hinkson, author of The Big Ugly "Over Their Heads is a real tour-de-force from the writers that brought you One too Many Blows to the Head. A full-blown crime noir that will keep you on the edge of your seat!" -Bill Craig, author of the Marlow Key West Mysteries and the Decker P.I. mysteries

Meet the McGraws. They''re not criminals. They''re outlaws. They have made a living by driving anything and everything for the Stanleys, the criminal family who has been employing them for decades. It''s ended with Tucker. He''s gone straight, much to the disappointment of his father, Webb. When Webb vanishes after a job, and with him a truck load of drugs, the Stanleys want their drugs back or their money. With the help from his grandfather, Calvin-the original lead foot-Tucker is about to learn a whole lot about the family business in a crash course that might just get him killed. Praise for RUMRUNNERS: "By far the most fun I''ve had reading a novel in a long time." -Stuart MacBride, author of A Dark So Deadly "I stayed up half one night reading Rumrunners. Man, I love that book. Terrific. Dark magic." -Ken Bruen, author of the Jack Taylor series "Buckle up... Rumrunners is a fast and furious read." -Samuel W. Gailey, author of Deep Winter "Rumrunners just never lets up. It''s a fuel-injected, mile-a-minute thrill ride. I had a blast." -Grant Jerkins, author of A Very Simple Crime and Abnormal Man "Few contemporary writers do justice to the noir tradition the way Eric Beetner does. Others try to emulate and mimic; Beetner just takes the form and cuts his own jagged, raw and utterly readable path. Rumrunners is the latest example of his great storytelling skills, and his uncompromising commitment to the dark, often violent truth at the center of the human heart." -Gar Anthony Haywood, author of the Aaron Gunner series "Beetner is an old school talent, a crime writer''s crime writer like Gil Brewer (although, in my humble opinion, he''s better than Brewer), who writes stuff that is fast and funny and dark all at once." -Jake Hinkson, author of Hell On Church St. and The Big Ugly Praise for Eric Beetner: "To be blunt, he''s the 21st century''s answer to Jim Thompson." -LitReactor "Eric Beetner seems to have a formula that he has used for every book he has published: Fun plot + believable characters + witty dialogue + breakneck pace = novel that knocks your socks off." -Regular Guy Reading Noir "Beetner has a keen eye on how to plot a book that never allows the reader a chance to catch their breath." -Out of the Gutter

It''s 1971, and outlaw driver Calvin McGraw is grooming his 19-year-old son Webb to uphold the family name. Drugs, money, people-the McGraws drive anything and everything. When a delivery goes wrong, Calvin steps knee-deep in a turf war between his employer, the Stanleys, and a rival Midwestern crime syndicate, but his week gets a whole lot worse when Webb-on his first solo job-loses the cargo. Praise for LEADFOOT: "With Leadfoot, Beetner proves he is the one true master of the modern pulp novel." -Crimespree Magazine "Beetner populates Leadfoot with characters as rich and lively as any Elmore Leonard novel, and when Beetner punches the gas, you can almost see the McGraw''s middle fingers flying as they invite us all along for the ride." -Brian Panowich, author of Bull Mountain "A hell of a fun book. Crazy families, fast cars, a classic crime-it''s just an all-around good time. Fast, funny and thrilling on a classic level." -Steph Post, author of A Tree Born Crooked and Lightwood Praise for Eric Beetner: "To be blunt, he''s the 21st century''s answer to Jim Thompson." -LitReactor "Eric Beetner seems to have a formula that he has used for every book he has published: Fun plot + believable characters + witty dialogue + breakneck pace = novel that knocks your socks off." -Regular Guy Reading Noir "Beetner has a keen eye on how to plot a book that never allows the reader a chance to catch their breath." -Out of the Gutter

Never before has killing someone benefitted such a good cause... In 2014, Crimespree Magazine held an internet-based flash fiction contest. The rules were simple: somewhere in the story you had to "Kill Dan Malmon." That was it. The story had to be brief, inventive, and somewhere, Malmon had to die. Now, thanks to Down & Out Books, those original stories, plus a few more, are being collected into one volume with all proceeds going to the MS Society. If you hate MS as much as we do, and if your feelings towards Dan Malmon are rather ambivalent anyway, then this is the volume for you. Featuring stories by Hector Acosta, Eric Beetner, Dana Cameron, Sarah M. Chen, Matthew Clemens, Angel Luis Colón, Hilary Davidson, Cory Funk, Danny Gardner, Paul J. Garth, Rob Hart, Ed Kurtz, S.W. Lauden, Russel D. McLean, Jeff Macfee, Erin Mitchell, Erica Ruth Neubauer, Brad Parks, Thomas Pluck, Bryon Quertermous, Todd Robinson, Alex Segura, Jeff Shelby, Nathan Singer, Josh Stallings, Jay Stringer, R.D. Sullivan, Bryan VanMeter, Holly West and Dave White. Praise for KILLING MALMON: "I've never quite understood why people keep killing off Malmon. But they make a good case. Several cases. Many, many cases-for a good cause! Killing Malmon for fun and non-profit!" -Lori Rader-Day, Mary Higgins Clark Award-winning author of The Day I Died "You can't spell marvelously grisly and a funky good time without K-I-L-L-I-N-G M-A-L-M-O-N. Do yourself a favor and dive in." -Shaun Harris, author of The Hemingway Thief "Look, I like Dan Malmon, so I feel kinda guilty enjoying the hell out of his many untimely demises. But this collection, which features some of the best crime writers on the planet, is a gonzo pulp confection that hits your system like a sugar high and leaves you smiling the whole way through." -Chris Holm, Anthony Award-winning author of The Killing Kind and Red Right Hand "Your mom is going to hate this." -Kristi Belcamino, author of the Gabriella Giovanni thriller series "Killing Malmon is an incredibly satisfying crime fiction sampler. Read it. I guarantee you'll leave with at least three new writers to check out (plus an inexplicable desire to protect and nurture Dan Malmon)." -Jess Lourey, TEDx presenter and Anthony- and Lefty-nominated author of the Witch Hunt thrillers and the Murder by Month mysteries "Come for the death of Dan Malmon, stay for the super-group of authors letting it all hang out, dropping tasty cut after tasty cut of pure noir." -Matthew FitzSimmons, author of the Gibson Vaughn series "Killing Malmon is like Murder on the Orient Express except (spoilers!) it's not by Agatha Christie, or on a train, or on its way to the Orient. Still, there's something wonderful and sweet watching thirty talented mystery writers line up to shoot, strangle, poison, dismember, and otherwise spell the demise of the one of the genuinely nicest guys in the business. If you're into that kind of thing like I am, read Killing Malmon." -Matthew Iden, author of the Marty Singer mystery series and The Winter Over "Life sure is hard for you." -Judy Malmon, Dan's mom "I love these stories!" -Diane Hackbarth, Kate's mom

Dale is a crooked cop. It started slow, but grew like a cancer and now he can't get out from under the thumb of Tat, a would-be kingpin in every vice he can turn a profit with.And now Dale's number is up-the top brass knows. But instead of getting busted, Dale gets an offer. The mayor's daughter is being held by Tat in his fortress built from an abandoned office tower. They want her back but if they storm the gates, Lauren is as good as dead. So they're sending Dale on what could very likely be a suicide mission: infiltrate Tat's fortress and bring her out alive.If the Mayor even really wants her alive…Floor by floor Dale and Lauren have to fight off an increasingly difficult and dangerous set of obstacles.Meanwhile, Dale's wife has her own troubles and some of the drug kingpin's goons are only adding to an already rough day.The clock is ticking down along with the floors of the building and escape is looking less and less likely. But to save her, and to save himself, he must make it all the way down.Praise for ALL THE WAY DOWN:"Last chances, double crosses, and a cop who has to shoot his way out of a fortified skyscraper-what's not to love? All The Way Down rips. It's fast and fierce, like a guitar solo that hits all the sharpest notes." -Meg Gardiner, author of Into the Black Nowhere"Eric Beetner's All the Way Down is everything a reader could want from an action thriller-fast, suspenseful, and the right kind of outrageous. The stakes ratchet up with each harrowing surprise for crooked cop Dale and reporter Lauren, as they work together to escape the urban fortress of the city's maniacal kingpin. If every suicide mission was this much fun, we'd all sign on." -Glen Erik Hamilton, author of the Van Shaw thrillers"Beetner's Dale Burnett is a dirty cop trying to rescue someone from the clutches of the ruthless criminal he's been accepting money from...and fifteen floors of non-stop action follows! Beetner is a master at throwing more and more trouble at his heroes, and in All the Way Down, Dale gets hit with everything imaginable. No, check that-you will not have imagined what happens on a couple of these floors. This book is an absolute blast." -Frank Zafiro, creator and editor of A Grifter's Song"Relentless." -Rob Hart, author of the Ash McKenna series

Standing between Bo and Slick and $642,000 from the bank job: Prison. A hurricane. A horny cop. A naked priest. An angry cab driver. Two wanna-be criminals. A speeding train. A hot soldering iron. A peeping tom. A fed-up girl. A gun dealer. A homeless lady. An empty shotgun. A girlfriend with other plans. One pissed-off mom. Two pissed-off drug dealers. A bitchy landlord. And 48 crazy hours. When this is all over, they'll either be rich, in prison or dead. (Previously published as Run for the Money.) Praise for CRIMINAL ECONOMICS: "Balls out insanity!" -Owen Laukkanen, author of The Professionals and Kill Fee "Proper noir. Definitely my kind of characters. Barely a moral scruple among the lot of them." -Allan Guthrie, author of Hard Man, Savage Night and Two-Way Split "Beetner writes with tension to spare and the story is marinated in his sick sense of humor, making this gleefully nasty noir fly by in just a few sittings." -Nerd of Noir, Spinetingler Magazine

We know a healthy appetite for well-written short stories exists and we want to help make things better. Our goal with Down & Out: The Magazine is to be a little different than other magazines by standing on the shoulders of the giants that have come before us, or at least tiptoe along the arrows in the backs of the pioneers of modern magazine publishing. Each issue will feature a story based on a series character like this issue's brand-new Moe Prager story by Reed Farrel Coleman. If you're a fan of Moe, who is now retired, you'll want to read this fantastic story. We also have new tales by established and well-known writers. This debut issue includes series stories by Eric Beetner, Michael A. Black, Jen Conley, Terrence McCauley, Rick Ollerman, and Thomas Pluck. J. Kingston Pierce, fresh off his former beat from Kirkus Reviews, introduces "Placed in Evidence," his non-fiction column only to be found here. Finally, we'll take a bit of the long road as we answer the question of what happened to crime fiction after Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler moved on from the pulps in "A Few Cents a Word." This issue we re-introduce Frederick Nebel with the first of his Donahue series, "Rough Justice." This is a fun one. For fans of good writing, good literature, and good crime...welcome.

The final installment of the trilogy that is "like if you took Lawrence Block's famous hitman, Keller, and made him the lovechild of Elmore Leonard and Quentin Tarantino." (Criminal Element).Lars and Shaine have returned to a quiet life on the islands, but for Lars there is unfinished business. When he gets information that will lead him to exact revenge on behalf of his young protégé, the young woman he's grown to think of as a daughter, he decides to take action in secret.When he lands in a hospital Shaine is called in from a thousand miles away and she must take the lead in the last job of Lars' storied career of death for hire.Facing his own aging body, Lars struggles to take a back seat to the youngster he has trained in his image. They'll face a local drug boss along with an old enemy as they work to fire the last bullet they'll ever need to-before one finds them first."Told with heart, humor, and sizzling cinematic prose, Eric Beetner's The Devil Doesn't Want Me is crime fiction at its most entertaining and marks the arrival of a bold new talent." -Peter Farris, author of Last Call for the Living

Two years after they escaped the mainland with their lives and little else, save for well over a million dollars in the bank, Lars and Shaine have carved out a nicely spartan existence in Hawaii. Two years without pulling a trigger on another human being. Until Lars's former employer calls about a job.What follows is a coming of age forged in fire and a deepening bond built on the edge of life and death. Forced to confront the past and wonder about the future, Lars and Shaine are about to see what kind of team they make."This book is like if you took Lawrence Block's famous hitman, Keller, and made him the lovechild of Elmore Leonard and Quentin Tarantino." -Criminal Element"The Devil Doesn't Want Me is a runaway train of violence and mayhem, packed full with a collection of one-of-a-kind characters all speeding toward an explosive and inevitable end. Beetner is a maestro with his action scenes, filling the novel with cinematic set pieces, but the real heart of his story is Lars, an aging hit man forced to confront his own morality as the world goes to hell around him. A great read." -Owen Laukkanen, author of The Forgotten Girls

For the last seventeen years, Lars-a hitman for an East Coast crime family-has been on the hunt for Mitch the Snitch. Mitch, an accountant who turned on Lars's employer, is living in witness protection and has been evading Lars for almost two decades.In comes Trent, a young gun who has been sent to replace the aging gun for hire. With his old boss gone, Lars realizes he has lost the desire to kill his long-time target.When things come to a head with Trent, Lars finds himself on the run with Mitch's teenage daughter Shaine, trying to stay one step ahead of angry mobsters and the FBI, as they make their way from New Mexico to California.Praise for THE DEVIL DOESN'T WANT ME:"Beetner is a maestro with his action scenes, filling the novel with cinematic set pieces, but the real heart of his story is Lars, an aging hit man forced to confront his own morality as the world goes to hell around him. A great read." -Owen Laukkanen, author of The Forgotten Girls"Eric Beetner is quickly becoming one of my favorite new crime writers. If you're a fan of fast paced, well-written hardboiled crime fiction, you're going to love this book." -John Rector, author of The Ridge"Told with heart, humor, and sizzling cinematic prose, Eric Beetner's The Devil Doesn't Want Me is crime fiction at its most entertaining." -Peter Farris, author of Last Call for the Living"Hell of a crime novel & highly recommended" -Spinetingler Magazine.

Reese has tried to live a good, honest life. But life has other plans. From the boss's wife who wants him to do something terrible to the sleazebags trying to set him up, when things go downhill, they go fast and Reese finds himself fighting for his life as the hard luck piles on. His only way out might be to throw away the moral code he's been living by, face trouble head on and prove you can only push a man so far before he pushes back-hard. Praise for NINE TOES IN THE GRAVE: "If dead bodies, a dystopian view of the world and whip-crack dialogue are your thing, then this tale may just be for you." -Crime Fiction Lover "Beetner is an old school talent, a crime writer's crime writer like Gil Brewer (although, in my humble opinion, he's better than Brewer), who writes stuff that is fast and funny and dark all at once." -Jake Hinkson, author of No Tomorrow and Hell on Church Street "Nine Toes in the Grave reads like a runaway train going downhill, relentlessly gathering speed as one bad decision builds upon the last. One part noir, one part humor, one part action, one part philosophy, viciously shaken, served straight up. Where Reese ultimately ends up may surprise you, however. Beetner unquestionably knows how to write an adrenaline-fueled adventure, and he's never been one to be beholden to tradition when he does. With Nine Toes in the Grave, Beetner shows that coming full circle doesn't necessarily get you right back where you started." -Reviews by Elizabeth A White "A stripped-down, old-school blast of noir." -Rob W. Hart, author of New Yorked "This book does everything right and further demonstrates that Beetner has a keen eye on how to plot a book that never allows the reader a chance to catch their breath. It is criminal how entertaining Beetner makes this book. Why criminal? Because murder, double crossings, and a woman with no heart shouldn't be this fun to read about." -Out Of The Gutter

Nominated for the 2017 Anthony Award for Best Anthology/Collection For the first time, more than two dozen crime and mystery authors have joined together to use the strongest weapon at their disposal - words - in a call for reasonable gun control in the U.S.A. In this collection you get all the thrills and excitement you come to expect from a great crime story, but without any guns. From best sellers and writing legends to the brightest stars of the next generation of crime writers, the twenty-five authors here have taken pen in hand to say enough is enough. Gun violence has got to stop and this is our way of speaking out - by showing that gun violence can be removed from the narrative, and maybe from our lives. It's not anti-gun, it's pro-sanity. And above anything else, these are thrilling crime stories that will surprise and shock, thrill and chill - all without a gun in sight. The writers are from both sides of the political aisle and many of the authors are gun owners themselves. But everyone felt it was time to speak out. Featuring the talents of J.L. Abramo , Patricia Abbott, Trey R. Barker, Eric Beetner, Alec Cizak, Joe Clifford, Reed Farrel Coleman, Angel Luis Colón, Hilary Davidson, Paul J. Garth, Alison Gaylin, Kent Gowran, Rob Hart, Jeffery Hess, Grant Jerkins, Joe R. Lansdale, S.W. Lauden, Tim O'Mara, Joyce Carol Oates, Tom Pitts, Thomas Pluck, Keith Rawson, Kelli Stanley, Ryan Sayles, and Holly West. Proceeds from the sales of Unloaded will benefit the nonprofit States United To Prevent Gun Violence (ceasefireusa.org).