Featuring brand-new stories by: Glenn Patterson, Eoin McNamee, Garbhan Downey, Lee Child, Alex Barclay, Brian McGilloway, Ian McDonald, Arlene Hunt, Ruth Dudley Edwards, Claire McGowan, Steve Cavanagh, Lucy Caldwell, Sam Millar, and Gerard Brennan.
From the editors' introduction:
"Few European cities have had as disturbed and violent a history as Belfast over the last half-century. For much of that time the Troubles (1968-1998) dominated life in Ireland's second-biggest population centre, and during the darkest days of the conflict--in the 1970s and 1980s--riots, bombings, and indiscriminate shootings were tragically commonplace. The British army patrolled the streets in armoured vehicles and civilians were searched for guns and explosives before they were allowed entry into the shopping district of the city centre...Belfast is still a city divided...
For all the shimmer and shine of the new Belfast, you can still walk a mile or two in almost any direction and find some of the worst deprivation in Western Europe. Those parts of the city have not moved on. While the middle class has enjoyed the spoils of the peace dividend, working-class areas have seen little improvement. The sectarian and paramilitary murals are still there: crude memorials to the fallen 'soldiers' of the conflict, to heroes and martyrs still revered. For a small outlay, you can tour these murals in a black taxi with a knowledgeable guide at the wheel, ready to tell you who died where. You can see Belfast's bloodstains up close and personal. This is the city that gave the world its worst ever maritime disaster, and turned it into a tourist attraction; similarly, we are perversely proud of our thousands of murders, our wounds constantly on display. You want noir? How about a painting the size of a house, a portrait of a man known to have murdered at least a dozen human beings in cold blood? Or a similar house-sized gable painting of a zombie marching across a postapocalyptic wasteland with an AK-47 over the legend "UVF: Prepared for Peace--Ready for War." As Lee Child has said, Belfast is still 'the most noir place on earth.'"

'Stuart Neville writes crime fiction that is edgy, compelling and always deeply humane' MARK BILLINGHAM Bringing together thirteen gripping and unsettling tales from one of Northern Ireland's bestselling crime authors, The Traveller & Other Stories is the perfect introduction to a modern master of thriller writing, featuring a Foreword by John Connolly Stuart Neville is a writer known for shining an unflinching light on his home country and its people. Ireland - north and south - in Neville's hands, is a land haunted by ghosts, both real and imagined. This collection is divided into two parts: New Monsters and Old Friends. And many of the characters from Stuart's novels, like Gerry Fegan from The Twelve, can be found haunting these pages. Childhood, innocence, guilt and redemption are all themes that are represented in Stuart's novels and in this collection, as John Connolly puts in his Foreword, 'here are monsters, both human and non-human. Here are hauntings, real or imagined. Here are old friends and older fiends.' Stuart's pleasure in the short story is evidenced in these tales, culminating in the previously unpublished novella, 'The Traveller', which sees Jack Lennon (from The Final Silence) and his daughter Ellen McKenna, pitted against the unnamed assassin who is targeting them. This is a collection of stories covering a decade of the author's writings and, as Connolly says, is 'the work of a prodigiously talented writer'. This is Irish noir at its best. 'Not to be missed' Publishers Weekly, starred review 'In the world of modern crime fiction, Stuart Neville is a supernova' Dennis Lehane 'Irish noir done to a turn, with just enough tearful sentiment to turn the screws tighter' Kirkus review

'This might well be his masterpiece' - MARK BILLINGHAM 'One of Ireland's finest crime writers' - STEVE CAVANAGH 'Chilling and compelling' - VAL McDERMID 'Terrifying' - CHRIS BROOKMYRE 'Thrilling' - CHRIS WHITAKER 'Stunning' - MARK EDWARDS 'Brilliant' - ADRIAN McKINTY 'Haunting' - LIZ NUGENT 'Superb' - WILL DEAN ____________________________ For Sara Keane, it was supposed to be a second chance. A new country. A new house. A new beginning with her husband Damien. Then came the knock on the door. Elderly Mary Jackson can't understand why Sara and her husband are living in her home. She remembers the fire, and the house burning down. But she also remembers the children. The children who need her, whom she must protect. 'The children will find you,' she tells Sara, because Mary knows she needs help too. Sara soon becomes obsessed with what happened in that house nearly sixty years ago - the tragic, bloody night her husband never intended for her to discover. And Mary - silent for six decades - is finally ready to tell her story . . . The House of Ashes is the stunning new 2022 thriller from the award-winning master of the genre, Stuart Neville - perfect for fans of John Connolly, Alex North and Brian McGilloway.

Gayla's only hope is about to turn into her worst nightmare Tricked into coming to Ireland with the offer of a good job, all Gayla wants to do now is run. As far and as fast as she can. Because her captors are close behind her, and they want her dead - no matter what. Two people are hunting her... Crime lord Arturus Strazdas has never had a woman he hasn't paid for and never had a friend who wasn't afraid of him. Now his brother is dead, and he's determined to find - and destroy - the woman responsible. ...And neither one will rest till she is dead On the other side of the city, Detective Inspector Lennon wants a quiet Christmas with his six year old daughter. But as the bodies start to mount up, he finds himself in a desperate race to save a woman's life, and track down two very dangerous killers. Stuart Neville's breakneck new thriller

The gripping new DCI Serena Flanagan thriller from the bestselling author of Those We Left Behind 'Stuart Neville is...a crime-writing star' Mark Billingham DCI Serena Flanagan is asked to sign off the suicide of a severely disabled businessman. It should be an open and shut case. But something doesn't feel right, and soon the grieving widow's relationship with a local vicar sounds an alarm. With no evidence to back her up, however, have Serena's instincts led her down the wrong path? Under pressure at home and ignoring orders from her superiors, she must discover the truth. It's an investigation that may cost Serena her job - and her family. PRAISE FOR STUART NEVILLE: 'Stuart Neville...never forgets the human heart that beats inside the bleakest darkness' Val McDermid 'In the world of modern crime fiction, Stuart Neville is a supernova...I can't wait to see where he takes me next' Dennis Lehane 'There's a chilling core to this pitch dark and powerful thriller' Sunday Mirror

'This might well be his masterpiece' - MARK BILLINGHAM 'One of Ireland's finest crime writers' - STEVE CAVANAGH 'Chilling and compelling' - VAL McDERMID 'Terrifying' - CHRIS BROOKMYRE 'Thrilling' - CHRIS WHITAKER 'Stunning' - MARK EDWARDS 'Brilliant' - ADRIAN McKINTY 'Haunting' - LIZ NUGENT 'Superb' - WILL DEAN ____________________________ For Sara Keane, it was supposed to be a second chance. A new country. A new house. A new beginning with her husband Damien. Then came the knock on the door. Elderly Mary Jackson can't understand why Sara and her husband are living in her home. She remembers the fire, and the house burning down. But she also remembers the children. The children who need her, whom she must protect. 'The children will find you,' she tells Sara, because Mary knows she needs help too. Sara soon becomes obsessed with what happened in that house nearly sixty years ago - the tragic, bloody night her husband never intended for her to discover. And Mary - silent for six decades - is finally ready to tell her story . . . The House of Ashes is the stunning new 2022 thriller from the award-winning master of the genre, Stuart Neville - perfect for fans of John Connolly, Alex North and Brian McGilloway.

Requiems for the Departed Irish Crime, Irish Myths. It has been said before, that every story has already been told. Maybe so. But if you've got the gift of the gab, you can tell the same tale as often as you like and still give it a life of its own every time. Requiems for the Departed flaunts that gift seventeen times over. The children of Conchobar are back to their old mischievous ways; ancient Celtic royalty and druids and banshees are set loose in the new Irish underbelly. Requiems for the Departed contains seventeen short stories, inspired by Irish mythology, from some of the finest contemporary writers in the business.

Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Best Thriller Sooner or later, everybody pays. Gerry Fegan, a former paramilitary contract killer, is haunted by the ghosts of the 12 people he has slaughtered. Every night, on the point of losing his mind, he drowns their screams in drink. His solution is to kill those who engineered their deaths. From the greedy politicians to the corrupt security forces, the street thugs to the complacent bystanders who let it happen, all are called to account. But when Fegan's vendetta threatens to derail a hard-won truce and destabilise the government, old comrades and enemies alike want him dead. 'The Twelve is the best first novel I've read in years. It crackles. It grabs you by the throat. This is some guy to watch out for in a dark alley' - James Ellroy

A RICHARD AND JUDY BOOK CLUB PICK DCI Serena Flanagan is forced to confront a disturbing case from her past: the murder conviction of a 12-year-old-boy who has just been released from prison DCI Serena Flanagan hasn't heard the boy's name in years. Not since the blood on the wall and the body in the bedroom. Not since she listened as he confessed to brutally murdering his foster father. But now Ciaran Devine is out of prison and back in her life. And so is his brother, Thomas - the brother that Flanagan always suspected of hiding something. When Ciaran's probation officer comes Flanagan with fresh fears about the Devines, the years of lies begin to unravel, setting a deadly chain of events in motion. 'Deeply chilling, but full of tenderness...utterly compelling... The best book yet from a hugely talented writer' Sunday Mirror 'A quietly superb, sensitive plot' The Times 'A must read' Irish Times 'DCI Serena Flanagan is the hero for whom we've all been waiting' Megan Abbott

DI Jack Lennon and DCI Serena Flanagan must join forces to investigate a series of murders reaching back decades Rea Carlisle inherits a house from an uncle she never knew - and with it a leather-bound book containing fingernails, locks of hair and a list of victims. Horrified, Rea turns to the only person she can think of: old flame DI Jack Lennon. But Lennon has his own troubles, and they only get worse when a brutal murder places him in the crosshairs of one of the force's toughest detectives: DCI Serena Flanagan. Lennon soon realises that running isn't an option, and an alliance with Flanagan is the only way to find a killer with nothing left to lose. 'A thriller writer at the top of his game' Sunday Independent 'Packs a real punch' Guardian 'Neville's best yet' Sunday Mirror 'Confirms Neville's place in the first division of crime writers' Spectator

Rea Carlisle has inherited a house from an uncle she never knew. It doesn't take her long to clear out the dead man's remaining possessions, but one room remains stubbornly locked. When Rea finally forces it open she discovers inside a chair, a table - and a leather-bound book. Inside its pages are locks of hair, fingernails: a catalogue of victims.

Horrified, Rea wants to go straight to the police but when her family intervene, Rea turns to the only person she can think of: DI Jack Lennon. But Lennon is facing his own problems.

Suspended from the force and hounded by DCI Serena Flanagan, the toughest cop he's ever faced, Lennon must unlock the secrets of a dead man's terrifying journal.

A German businessman is the third to die: murdered in a seaside guesthouse. A note pinned on his body is addressed to Colonel Otto Skorzeny, Hitler's favourite commando and once the most dangerous man in Europe. It warns Skorzeny that they are coming for him next. Lieutenant Albert Ryan is ordered by the Irish Minister for Justice, Charles Haughey, to protect Skorzeny, but Ryan defied his parents and scandalised his home town to join the British Army and fight the Nazi regime. Can Ryan bring himself to protect a man who caused the deaths of thousands: a man who now lives safely in Ireland in the lap of luxury?