Books by Ryan Sayles

She is unstoppable. She murders the elderly, seeing it as compassion against their suffering. The police can''t curb her ritualized, angel of mercy rampage and as every new victim falls, the distance between them and her increases. Then the killer is caught in the act by the young, pregnant wife of Norm Braden. There is no option but to murder her too. As a widowed Norm struggles to return to his family, to his new normal, he is joined in grief by his wife''s twin sister. But, the killer is also having a difficult time recovering from the startling break in her ritual. Killing Norm''s wife has affected everything.So, one day she visits Norm, offering an olive branch. Maybe they can help each other move past it all. Their co-dependent, cat-and-mouse game begins. Revenge is within Norm''s grasp, but his religious beliefs force him to see the killer''s humanity despite her horrific shortfalls. The killer, a strange and exotic woman with a singular fixation on Norm, thinks she has found more than just the solution to her problems. She''s found her completion, her other half in Norm-if only she can replace the memory of his dead wife. If she can do that, she can continue murdering. Praise for TOGETHER THEY WERE CRIMSON:"Maybe it took me a long time to read Ryan Sayles. Too long it turns out. I''d seen the beautiful cover designs of his novels, grinned at some of the gut-punching titles like Maybe I Should Shoot You In the Face and The Subtle Art of Brutality. But now that I''ve read his newest hard-boiled offering, Together They Were Crimson, I can''t help but tell myself, ''Holy fuck, I''m gonna read every last word this guy writes.'' He''s that powerful, that talented, that damned good." -Vincent Zandri, New York Times bestselling Thriller and Shamus Award winning author of The Remains and The Embalmer"Together They Were Crimson tells the story of lives gone wrong, of lives perverted and bereft of mercy, and as only Ryan Sayles can do, ones that end in blood. Come for the prose, stay for the crimson. One step better: prepare." -Beau Johnson, author of All of Them to Burn"Sayles rides the line of balance between a procedural and a thriller, hitting all the right notes of both songs. Tense, driven, and satisfying!" -Frank Zafiro, author of the Charlie-316 series"Completely unlike all other serial killer novels I''ve read before. Sympathies cross the line repeatedly and pull me in further. Comparisons will be made, but this book is one of a kind." -Jeffery Hess, author of No Salvation, Beachhead, and Tushhog"Sayles is already notorious for writing hardboiled prose as if he were swinging a sledgehammer, but with Together They Were Crimson, we get to see another side of him, the violence is there, the tension is taut, but this time out, the story is carved into the page with the precision of a scalpel. Not to mention Sayles has given us one of the most memorable villains since Hannibal Lector. Sayles never fails to disappoint-or in this case surprise." -Brian Panowich, author of Hard Cash Valley and Bull Mountain

The real estate mogul is lying about something, but his wife really was raped twenty-years ago in an unsolved assault. Now she's long dead by her own hand, the case has gone cold, and the mogul starts dropping cash into former Saint Ansgar homicide detective turned private eye Richard Dean Buckner's wallet to find some answers. Just hours later Buckner's old homicide partner calls up. His grandmother was just killed in a drive-by that hit the wrong address. People that stupid need to be taught harsh lessons, and vengeance just so happens to be one of Buckner's finer skills. Everything circles the drain as Buckner finds himself at war with the worst gang the city has to offer as well as the slithering rapist who has resurfaced just to tie the loose ends from the twenty year-old crime. Buckner doesn't back down, and if that means getting himself carjacked so he can interrogate the gang bangers, pose as the mogul's secret lover and chase the rapist into a women's shower room so he can beat him mercilessly, so be it. Just another day.

The girl has gone missing. Again. But this time people are trying to kill her. Trying to burn down everything she has touched or left behind. The girl's surrogate father feels responsible and to assuage his guilt, he hires Richard Dean Buckner, former Saint Ansgar homicide detective turned private eye to ferret her out. Buckner was doing fine as a bare-knuckles detective for the PD until he was rendered "unserviceable" by a hit attempt. Early retirement doesn't sit well with that type of man, half predator and half savior. He takes the case, and from two ex-boyfriends who ruined their lives for the girl, her rapist dad, drug dealers she burned for thousands, an uncomfortable meeting at the local Incest Survivors group to whoever is setting fire to her life, Buckner is going to need all his guts, instinct and .44 Magnum to finish the job. Because in Saint Ansgar, what doesn't kill you only makes you wish it did. Praise for The Subtle Art of Brutality "Richard Dean Buckner is just the hero for our modern world: a righteous killer who can step outside convention and right the wrongs; and Sayles is just the writer to drive his story. This is how I like my fiction: unrelenting prose and kick-ass justice." -Joe Clifford, author of Lamentation "The brutality is in the prose. Course and violent, Sayles writes like he is seeking vengeance against the world. It's 21st century noir. Mickey Spillane on meth." -Tom Pitts, author of Knuckleball "As subtle as brass knuckles to the face. Buckner is a classic and Sayles is one to watch." -Eric Beetner, author of Rumrunners and The Year I Died Seven Times "...Richard Dean Buckner left me wanting more. He is a breath of fresh air in an antiques shop. A biker in a museum. A chaotic, reckless anomaly. You know I'm enjoying something when I deliberately slow down my reading pace to enjoy the novel longer. The Subtle Art of Brutality is a ridiculously strong first novel, starting the new darling of the P.I novels legacy." -Benoit Lelievre, blogger and reviewer at Dead End Follies "Gut twisting detective fiction done the way it is supposed to be done. RDB makes Dirty Harry seem a little soft." -Todd Morr, author of Jesus Saves, Satan Invests "The Subtle Art of Brutality is a nut busting slice of noir. All of the required hard-boiled elements are present and accounted for..." -Chris Leek, author of Gospel of the Bulley "The Subtle Art of Brutality is a testosterone-and-meth cocktail, a relentless blast of tough guy intensity. 21st-century hardboiled." -Warren Moore, author of Broken Glass Waltzes

Need an escape for a few minutes? Don't care if that escape smells like spent gunpowder or could fit into a chalk outline? Then look no further. In this new collection of short fiction, Ryan Sayles continues his streak of no holds-barred grit. An old hit man sharing a last drink with the ghost of one of his first victims. A grieving mother who knows exactly to whom she wants to give all her love. A college student more dangerous than the active shooter event in which he's trapped. A couple's last resort against terminal cancer that might be worse than the disease. Be glad these folks are the ones making-and paying for-the mistakes and you're only getting to read about them. If you've got a few minutes to kill, come on over. Killing is a guaranteed thing around here.