Showing results by author "Les Standiford" in All Categories

Before Adam Walsh there were no faces on milk cartons, no Amber Alerts, no National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, no federal databases of crimes against children, no pedophile registry. His 1981 abduction and murder, unsolved for over a quarter of a century, forever changed America.

Millions have sat under the “big top,” watching as trapeze artists glide and clowns entertain, but few know the captivating stories behind the men whose creativity, ingenuity, and determination created one of our country’s most beloved pastimes. In Battle for the Big Top, New York Times best-selling author Les Standiford brings to life a remarkable era when three circus kings - James Bailey, P. T. Barnum, and John Ringling - all vied for control of the vastly profitable and influential American Circus.

From the introduction by Les Standiford: "The truth is that Miami, though naturally lovely, is a frontier town, perched on the border between the known and the rarely before experienced. The poet Richard Hugo once said that the natural place for the writer was on the edge, and 'edge' might well be the definitive word when it comes to this city... We are not only on the edge of the continent, we are to this country what New York was in Ellis Island's heyday, what the West Coast was in the middle of the 20th century.

Done Deal is filled with gripping characters, unforgettable encounters and unexpected twists. As the Miami sun shines down on a brutal world of corruption and violence, Johnny Deal is salvaging what is left of his family’s contracting business. His four-plex will be completed once he pays off a few more inspectors, and he is rejoicing in his wife’s pregnancy. But he’s about to find himself standing in the way of investors who will do anything, and eliminate anyone, that keeps them from the property they want.

When Presidential Deal hit the best-seller lists, fans of Les Standiford’s other books, including Done Deal, and Raw Deal rejoiced. They already knew what new readers would find: taut suspense, tough characters, and a superb sense of mood. Now in Black Mountain, Standiford combines high-country adventure with a tale of ruthless revenge.

If you like audiobooks laced with dark, gritty suspense, you won’t be disappointed by this addition to the adventures of Johnny Deal. Set in Miami, each novel in Les Standiford’s gripping series glows with the heat of danger and deception. In the wake of a major hurricane, Johnny Deal, a Miami contractor, is busy with renovations and enjoying new prosperity. But the ambitious plans of a Cuban sugar baron are about to remove the sweet taste of success from Johnny’s life. Hired thugs send Deal’s plans up in flames, but it’s not just the contracting business that is at stake.

Johnny Deal is about to receive a presidential award for heroically rescuing 20 people from Miami waters. At the ceremony, however, as the president’s wife stands in for her husband, terrorists attack the stage. Now Johnny and the First Lady are hostages, and Johnny’s chances to remain a hero are rapidly slipping away. As each scene unfolds, it is sure to satisfy your thirst for brawny, fast-paced suspense. Standiford crafts a fascinating vision of one man determined to keep his equilibrium amidst the twisted residents of the Florida underworld.

Les Standiford is the best-selling author of the famous John Deal suspense series, including Presidential Deal. The quickly paced plot, intriguing characters, and electric dialogue found in Deal With the Dead will please longtime fans and enthrall newcomers. John Deal is attempting to resurrect his late father’s failed building firm when he makes an awesome discovery. Now he faces the strong-arm tactics of the same secret organization that ruined his father.

While John Deal is busy with his thriving construction business, he is shocked to learn that his closest friend, Barbara, is dead. Although the police tag it as suicide, Deal is suspicious. And when Barbara’s sister, a beautiful film star, disappears, he is driven to find the relationship between the two cases. The link is one that will put Deal in the midst of Chinese gangsters and piles of tainted cash.

While Deal is trying to salvage his relationship with his estranged wife, Janice, a string of murders rocks Miami. The first victim is independent bookseller Arch Dolan, Janice's boss. But the next two are more powerful figures in the publishing world. Deal and Janice become investigative partners, if not romantic ones. And their search to find out who is behind the killings takes them into the midst of a deadly battle for a media empire.