Wilson Mystery

Hard-hitting crime fiction from the author of Tin Men: "Fans of Charlie Huston and Chuck Palahniuk will probably enjoy Darwin's Nightmare" (Sacramento Book Review). Wilson spent his entire life under the radar. Few people knew who he was or how to find him. Only two people even knew what he really did-working jobs for one very bad man, illegal jobs no one could ever know about. Wilson was invisible-until the day he crossed the line and risked everything to save the last connection to humanity he had, earning the hatred of a vengeful mob boss, a man who claimed he was Charles Darwin's worst nightmare. Moving even deeper into the underworld of Hamilton, Ontario, he became a ghost in the city-until one day he took on what seemed like a simple job. Steal a bag from the airport and hand it off. No one said what was in the bag, and no one mentioned who the real owners were or what they would do to get it back. But the bag would set into motion a violent chain of events from which no one will escape untouched . . . "A very good series." -Booklist "Merciless but honest about being monstrous, Wilson is worthy to stand next to Loren Estleman's Peter Macklin and Donald Westlake's Parker." -Publishers Weekly

Two years ago, Wilson made a deal: he let his old boss live in exchange for a clean slate. He's kept up his end of the bargain since then, and stayed off the grid-working on a fishing boat off of Prince Edward Island, Canada. Now, many miles from the city he once escaped, a man comes calling on Wilson with a gun in his hand and a woman in his trunk. And Wilson is pulled back into his old life as a "grinder"-working under the radar to quietly find out who is responsible for a dangerous mobster's missing nephews . . .

Wilson has tried to put his criminal past behind him-but now a random car accident has interfered with his plans and pushed him back in the crosshairs. Dirty cops have gotten their hooks in him and want to use him as bait, telling him the only way to stay out of cuffs is to put someone worse in them. Knowing that justice isn't blind in the city, Wilson picks a fight with the Russian mob to lure both the corrupt cops and brutal robbers into a trap, in a desperate attempt to scavenge his freedom again . . .

"Fans of Donald E. Westlake's Parker novels (written under his Richard Stark pseudonym) will be on familiar ground. . . . A very good entry in a very good series" (Booklist). Wilson should have just walked away when three men came looking for a way to boost a valuable piece of art. The art came off the wall, the alarm screamed thief, and Wilson walked away clean. But it turned out that job was an interview for an even bigger heist. A dangerous man wants Wilson to get him something more valuable than a painting. Problem is Wilson only has a week. Wilson and his crew cross the Canadian border to Buffalo, New York, to steal a two-hundred-year-old violin. A lot of people are interested in getting their hands on the instrument-and none of them are shy about killing to get it. The job starts like a bad joke-a thief, a con man, a wheel man, and a gangster get in line to cross the border-but the Buffalo job doesn't end with a punchline. It ends with blood . . .

A phone call brought Wilson and nine other men to a job in New York. At first, he couldn't see a way to make the heist work, but the score-millions of dollars in diamonds-motivated him to try. Wilson came up with a plan he knew would work . . . until the inside man got killed and took the job with him. With no way inside, the crew walks away without the diamonds. Now, on his own, Wilson is free to execute the job his way. He sets a con in motion that should run as predictably as a trail of dominoes-except the con doesn't rely on inanimate tiles, it relies on people. And when Wilson pushes all the pieces across the board, he finds that there are other players making their own moves against him. No one is willing to walk away because the job is about more than money. The job is about diamonds. And in this game, rocks beat paper every time.

Full of gory conflict, these three whodunits offer nonstop action, savage violence, and an unforgettable cast of characters The Wilson Mystery Omnibus brings together Mike Knowles's first three critically acclaimed novels just as the fourth gritty Wilson mystery, Never Play Another Man's Game (May 2012), hits shelves. In Darwin's Nightmare, we meet the reluctant mob enforcer Wilson who has spent his life under the radar. A simple job - steal a bag from the airport and hand it off - sets into motion a violent chain of events from which no one will escape untouched. In Grinder, a dangerous mobster's nephews are missing and the only suspects are his lieutenants. Wilson is pulled back in to quietly find out who is responsible and settle the score with screams. The third installment, In Plain Sight, finds Wilson in the crosshairs again - but this time the gun is in the hands of a cop. Justice isn't blind in the city; it's as bent as the tip of a bullet. The only way for him to stay out of cuffs is to help put someone worse in them.