Most Popular Books by Tod Goldberg

Raymond Carver meets Elmore Leonard in this extraordinary collection of contemporary crime writing set in the critically acclaimed Gangsterland universe, a series called "gloriously original" by The New York Times Book Review. With gimlet-eyed cool and razor-sharp wit, these spare, stylish stories from a master of modern crime fiction assemble a world of gangsters and con men, of do-gooders breaking bad and those caught in the crossfire. The uncle of an FBI agent spends his life as sheriff in different cities, living too close to the violent acts of men; a cocktail waitress moves through several desert towns trying to escape the unexplainable loss of an adopted daughter; a drug dealer with a penchant for karaoke meets a talkative lawyer and a silent clown in a Palm Springs bar. Witty, brutal, and fast-paced, these stories expand upon the saga of Chicago hitman-turned-Vegas-rabbi Sal Cupertine--first introduced in Gangsterland and continued in Gangster Nation--while revealing how the line between good and bad is often a mirage.

Reading the West Book Awards Nominee The “gloriously original” (The New York Times) and critically acclaimed crime series starring a Chicago hitman hiding out as a rabbi in the desert suburbs of Las Vegas comes to its thrilling conclusion Mafia hit-man-turned-rabbi Sal Cupertine is ready to get out of the life. But it’s not going to be easy. His once-brilliant plan to pass himself off as Rabbi David Cohen is unraveling. Enemies on both sides of the law are hot on his trail. His wife and son are unreachable in witness protection and are probably in danger. In order to find his family, get out of the desert alive, and salvage his long-sought-after happy ending, Sal is going to have to confront some very bad people from his past. Native American kingpin Peaches Pocotillo has wrested control of Chicago’s mob family while expanding his criminal empire in the west, and now seeks to settle an old score with Sal. These two antiheroes have a history that stretches back decades, and the blood feud between Peaches and Sal will lead them to a violent showdown deep in the heart of the low desert. As complications cast old revelations in a new light, including one that stretches back to the long-ago death of Sal’s infamous gangster father Dark Billy Cupertine, Sal must team up with some unlikely allies—and confront the reality of who he has become—in this stunning conclusion to the popular and critically acclaimed Gangsterland trilogy.

"Sal Cupertine is back—and better than ever. I love this guy." —Lee Child "Gangster Nation is a razor. It will slice you open and reveal your insides. And like the best of Tod Goldberg''s work, it''ll show you everything you are at your core." —Brad Meltzer, New York Times bestselling author of The President''s Shadow It''s been two years since the events of Gangsterland, when legendary Chicago hitman Sal Cupertine disappeared into the guise of Vegas Rabbi David Cohen. It’s September of 2001 and for David, everything is coming up gold: Temple membership is on the rise, the new private school is raking it in, and the mortuary and cemetery—where Cohen has been laundering bodies for the mob—is minting cash. But Sal wants out. He’s got money stashed in safe–deposit boxes all over the city. He’s looking at places to escape to, Mexico or maybe Argentina. He only needs to make it through the High Holidays, and he’ll have enough money to slip away, grab his wife and kid, and start fresh. Across the country, former FBI agent Matthew Drew is now running security for an Indian Casino outside of Milwaukee, spending his off–time stalking members of The Family, looking for vengeance for the murder of his former partner. So when Sal’s cousin stumbles into the casino one night, Matthew takes the law into his own hands—again—touching off a series of events that will have Rabbi Cohen running for his life, trapped in Las Vegas, with the law, society, and the post–9/11 world closing in around him. Gangster Nation is a thrilling follow–up to Gangsterland, an unexpected, page–turning examination of the seedy foundations of American life. With the wit and gritty glamor that defines his writing, Goldberg traces how the things we most value in our lives—home, health, even our spiritual lives—have been built on the enterprises of criminals.

After his estranged wife disappears, a husband returns to the remote lake house where their young daughter died, and he soon loses his grip on reality. Paul Luden has been haunted by a memory he can''t recall. Whatever happened to his marriage, to his two-year-old daughter, is too traumatic to remember, so his unconscious has chosen to block out key details. But when he receives a phone call from the small lake town where they''d lived, telling him that no one had seen or heard from his wife in ten days, he knows what he has to do. He and his nineteen-year-old girlfriend drive from L.A. to Washington State where he''s forced to confront his past. And as he pieces together his buried memories, Paul unravels mentally, falls into self-destructive trances and ultimately discovers the truth about his wife.

"[An] exciting and darkly funny crime novel." —C. Moon Read, Las Vegas Weekly, 1 of Our 20 Favorite Books of the Past Twenty Years Sal Cupertine is a legendary hit man for the Chicago Mafia, known for his ability to get in and out of a crime without a trace. Until now, that is. His first–ever mistake forces Sal to botch an assassination, killing three undercover FBI agents in the process. This puts too much heat on Sal, and he knows this botched job will be his death sentence to the Mafia. So he agrees to their radical idea to save his own skin. A few surgeries and some intensive training later, and Sal Cupertine is gone, disappeared into the identity of Rabbi David Cohen. Leading his growing congregation in Las Vegas, overseeing the population and the temple and the new cemetery, Rabbi Cohen feels his wicked past slipping away from him, surprising even himself as he spouts quotes from the Torah or the Old Testament. Yet, as it turns out, the Mafia isn''t quite done with him yet. Soon the new cemetery is being used as both a money and body–laundering scheme for the Chicago family. And that rogue FBI agent on his trail, seeking vengeance for the murder of his three fellow agents, isn''t going to let Sal fade so easily into the desert. Gangsterland is the wickedly dark and funny new novel by a writer at the height of his power—a morality tale set in a desert landscape as ruthless and barren as those who inhabit it.

Lonnie is drawn by Claire from his ordinary life of theft and blackmail into the world of L.A.''s ritzy nightlife. Along the way, he becomes an underground legend.

The perfect holiday gift for the crime fiction lover in your life! Curated by New York Times bestselling author Tod Goldberg, this collection of eleven delightful and twisted Hanukkah capers will entertain you through all eight nights of the Festival of Lights. In Stefanie Leder’s “Not a Dinner Party Person,” an unstable pharmaceutical rep tries not to kill anyone at her family dinner on the last night of Hanukkah; in Ivy Pochoda’s “Johnny Christmas,” a taciturn Gulf War vet commissions a tattoo from a man he knew from his prison days, a man not named Christmas but Goldfarb; in David L. Ulin’s “Shamash,” it’s the last night of Hanukkah, and a live-at-home adult son considers doing something drastic to get out of his elderly father’s Upper West Side apartment; in James D.F. Hannah’s “Twenty Centuries,” a pair of detectives solve a curiously unprompted murder during the holiday season. This captivating collection contains old-school slapstick comedy, hardboiled noir, gritty procedurals, and poignant reminders of the meaning of Hanukkah, offering something for almost every reader willing to take the journey through these twisted tales. With stories by: Ivy Pochoda, David L. Ulin, James D.F. Hannah, Lee Goldberg, Nikki Dolson, J.R. Angelella, Liska Jacobs, Gabino Iglesias, Stefanie Leder, and Jim Ruland, plus a foreword and story by Tod Goldberg.

A secret worth killing for, a woman with no past, and an act of treason that changed America: #1 bestselling author Brad Meltzer returns with The House of Secrets. "When Hazel Nash was six years old, her father taught her: mysteries need to be solved. He should know. Hazel''s father is Jack Nash, the host of America''s favorite conspiracy TV show, The House of Secrets. Even as a child, she loved hearing her dad''s tall tales, especially the one about a leather book belonging to Benedict Arnold that was hidden in a corpse. Now, years later, Hazel wakes up in the hospital and remembers nothing, not even her own name. She''s told she''s been in a car accident that killed her father and injured her brother. But she can''t remember any of it, because of her own traumatic brain injury. Then a man from the FBI shows up, asking questions about her dad -- and about his connection to the corpse of a man found with an object stuffed into his chest: a priceless book that belonged to Benedict Arnold. Back at her house, Hazel finds guns that she doesn''t remember owning. On her forehead, she sees scars from fights she can''t recall. Most important, the more Hazel digs, the less she likes the person she seems to have been. Trying to put together the puzzle pieces of her past and present, Hazel Nash needs to figure out who killed this man -- and how the book wound up in his chest. The answer will tell her the truth about her father, what he was really doing for the government -- and who Hazel really is. Mysteries need to be solved. Especially the ones about yourself."

A secret worth killing for. A woman with no past. An act of treason that changed America.#1 bestselling author Brad Meltzer returns with THE HOUSE OF SECRETS When Hazel Nash was six years old, her father taught her: mysteries need to be solved. He should know. Hazel''s father is Jack Nash, the host of America''s favorite conspiracy TV show, The House of Secrets. Even as a child, she loved hearing her dad''s tall tales, especially the one about a leather book belonging to Benedict Arnold that was hidden in a corpse. Now, years later, Hazel wakes up in the hospital and remembers nothing, not even her own name. She''s told she''s been in a car accident that killed her father and injured her brother. But she can''t remember any of it, because of her own traumatic brain injury. Then a man from the FBI shows up, asking questions about her dad-and about his connection to the corpse of a man found with an object stuffed into his chest: a priceless book that belonged to Benedict Arnold. Back at her house, Hazel finds guns that she doesn''t remember owning. On her forehead, she sees scars from fights she can''t recall. Most important, the more Hazel digs, the less she likes the person she seems to have been. Trying to put together the puzzle pieces of her past and present, Hazel Nash needs to figure out who killed this man-and how the book wound up in his chest. The answer will tell her the truth about her father, what he was really doing for the government-and who Hazel really is. Mysteries need to be solved. Especially the ones about yourself.

BASED ON THE HIT USA NETWORK TV SERIES Covert spy Michael Westen has found himself in forced seclusion in Miami-and a little paranoid. Watched by the FBI, cut off from intelligence contacts, and with his assets frozen, Weston is on ice with a warning: stay there or get ''disappeared.'' Driven to find out who burned him and why, he''s biding his time helping people with nowhere else to turn. People like socialite Cricket O''Connor whose own husband has vanished, along with her fortune...

BASED ON THE HIT USA NETWORK TV SERIES Once a hard-case gangbanger, famous philanthropist Father Santiago is being pressured to aid his former gang or have his crimes exposed. He can''t go to the cops, but he can go to his old friend--burned covert operative Michael Westen.

BASED ON THE HIT USA NETWORK TV SERIES Ex-covert op Michael Westen has a new client: Paolo Fornelli is Helmsman for a yacht in the Hurricane Cup-a winner-take-all race financed by the super-rich and preceded by a week of highstakes gambling, high-risk business, and high-class attitude. Now Paolo''s family has been taken hostage, and if Paolo ever wants to see them again, he must make it to the final race-and lose. To find the kidnappers, Michael will have to infiltrate high society and enter a deadly game against deadlier opponents in a world where money isn''t the only thing worth killing for...

From the author of the acclaimed novel Living Dead Girl, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, come twelve haunting stories about people caught somewhere between love and madness. Simplify mines the often surreal terrain of people on the margins of life: from the man with a photo of Elvis bleeding on his wall in "Comeback Special," to the profoundly troubled boy genius of the title story "Simplify," to the family that must traverse "The Distance Between Us" to finally get to the truth about their son the murderer, each story hums with sharp drama, mystery, wonder, and startling humor. Simplify, the first collection of short fiction by Tod Goldberg, portrays a world where redemption, hope, and violence are never too far apart.

BASED ON THE HIT USA NETWORK TV SERIES Michael Westen is still in Miami, trying to survive as a spy without a country. Brent Grayson is a nineteen-year-old college kid who claims to own a company that doesn''t really exist. And Michael has to save Brent''s father from loan sharks and fend off sinister Russian businessmen who see every takeover as an opportunity to be hostile.

BASED ON THE HIT USA NETWORK TV SERIES Ex-covert op Michael Weston owes favors to Barry, the local money launderer. Now Barry wants to call those favors in. Barry has a friend, Bruce, who is an ex-legendary gentleman thief. But with an ailing mother to support, Bruce has returned to his illegal vocation. Unfortunately, his most recent job involved stealing from the notorious Ghouls motorcycle gang, and they''re looking for some serious payback. Unless Michael can convince them otherwise...

A perfect balance of humor and pathos, Other Resort Cities is Goldberg at his best.

Er zijn drie jaar verstreken sinds in Gangsterland huurmoordenaar Sal Cupertine onderdook in Las Vegas om voortaan als rabbijn David Cohen door het leven te gaan. Zijn maffiazaakjes lopen uitstekend en het geld stroomt binnen. Geld dat Sal alias David nodig heeft om zijn gezin op te kunnen halen uit Chicago en naar het buitenland te vluchten. Intussen is voormalig FBI-agent Matthew Drew nog altijd van plan om Sal Cupertine te vinden en zo de dood van zijn oud-partner te wreken. In een casino komt hij onzacht in aanraking met Ronnie Cupertine, Sals neef en het hoofd van de Familie, de grootste misdaadorganisatie van Chicago. Dat veroorzaakt een kettingreactie van gebeurtenissen waardoor rabbijn David Cohen voor zijn leven moet gaan vrezen.

A collection of new (previously unpublished) and classic ghost stories with a foreword by Colin Dickey and featuring stories by Reggie Oliver, Nugent Barker, Sybil Ward, Erckmann-Chatrian, Glen Hirshberg, M.R. James, PJ Manney, Alexander Pushkin, Lisa Morton, F. Marion Crawford, J. Lincoln Fenn, Elizabeth Gaskell, Kate Maruyama, Sabine Baring-Gould, Eddie Generous, Frances Power Cobbe, Tonya Hurley, H.G. Wells, Nicole Sconiers, Auguste Villiers de L''Isle-Adam, Eric J. Guignard, Ramsey Campbell and Tod Goldberg.

A unique, ground-breaking collection of lively, informative, and provocative essays & interviews from some of the most acclaimed and bestselling authors of tie-in books & novelizations about what they do and how they do it.Tie-in novels are books based on pre-existing media properties -- like TV shows, movies and games -- and they regularly top the national bestseller lists. But as popular as tie-ins books and novelizations are among readers, few people know how the books are written or the rich history behind the hugely successful and enduring genre. Contributors include Donald Bain, Max Allan Collins, Tod Goldberg, Elizabeth Massie, William C. Dietz, Aaron Rosenberg, Paul Kupperberg, Jeff Mariotte, Raymond Benson, Robert Greenberger, David Spencer, Greg Cox, Burl Barer, Jeff Ayers, Nancy Holder, Brandie Tarvin, Alina Adams and William Rabkin.EDITORIAL REVIEWS: "There have always been formidable writers doing tie-ins, but they have generally been dismissed, not unreasonably, as quickies tossed off for a fast buck. That image has been improved somewhat by the quality work of editor Goldberg, the late Stuart Kaminsky, Max Allan Collins, and some of the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers members contributing to this volume. With it''s helpful how-to tips and articles, the book is primarily directed towards other writers, and established pros at that. But many fans and scholars will enjoy the inside-the-business stuff." Jon Breen, Mystery Scene Magazine "Tied-In doesn''t focus solely on television tie-ins. It also covers movie novelizations, comic book tie-ins and computer game tie ins. But that actually makes it even more valuable and more interesting. Tied-In is a fascinating exploration of the media tie-in business." -- Television Obscurities Blog"This is really interesting and entertaining stuff. I was genuinely surprised at how much fun I had reading this book, and I''m sure most of you would like it, too" -- Bill Crider''s Pop Culture Magazine "I say this without a whit of exaggeration Tied-In is the most fascinating, entertaining and honest book about the writing life I''ve ever read..." --Ed Gorman, founder of Mystery Scene Magazine

Guidebook to Las Vegas watering holes, clubes, pick-up spots, theme restaurants, strip clubs, bars, fight clubs, and other places.

What do you get when you pair the beach with some of today''s most talented writers? The Silver Waves of Summer is a collection of short stories by a dozen of today''s best storytellers, including New York Times best sellers, international best sellers, Edgar and Shamus Awards winners, and more. With a blend of styles ranging from literary fiction to crime noir, the beach is the common denominator in this incredible collection of summer stories.The anthology includes stories by Charles Ardai, Oliver Brennan, Tod Goldberg, Naomi Hirahara, Liska Jacobs, Michael Scott Moore, Rob Roberge, Samantha Tkac, Alex Webb Wilson, Antoine Wilson, Steve Wynn, and David M. Olsen.

WIN, LOSE, OR DIE.Whether it''s child''s play or for the highest stakes, whether we stick to the rules or cheat, we all play games -- for fun, for thrills, for love or money, to prove we''re the best or make an opponent knuckle under. And the games we play, with cards or dice or nothing but our wits, reveal something deeply personal about the players.In this powerful new anthology, Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster Lawrence Block has assembled an all-star team for the ultimate game night. Sit down at the checkerboard with S.A. Cosby, assemble jigsaw puzzles with David Morrell, or play marbles for the fate of the world with Joe R. Lansdale. In Jeffery Deaver''s hands, an innocent game of Candyland takes twists the Parker Brothers could never have imagined. Science-fiction grandmaster Robert Silverberg uncovers painful truths about destiny while betting on the turtle races in a Caribbean resort. And Lawrence Block himself out-Hitchcocks Hitchcock with his classic story of murder victims swapped by strangers on a handball court.From hide-and-seek to Russian roulette, from mahjong to Mouse Trap, it''s a game lover''s dream -- but beware: your turn is coming, and while winning isn''t everything, sometimes losing can be deadly... And here''s Publishers Weekly''s starred review: "One of the most impressive of the 17 crime stories involving games in this stellar anthology from MWA Grand Master Block (In Sunlight or in Shadow: Stories Inspired by the Paintings of Edward Hopper) is Block''s own "Strangers on a Handball Court." It riffs on Patricia Highsmith''s Strangers on a Train, as the title suggests, and provides a wholly fair plot with a gut-wrenching surprise. Even knowing that multiple twists are coming doesn''t negate their impact in Jeffery Deaver''s devious "The Babysitter," which opens with a classic trope: the innocent everyperson who stumbles on a deadly secret. When the charges of 17-year-old Kelli Lambert get bored playing Candy Land, Kelli''s search for another board game leads her into peril after the parents of the kids she''s watching suspect she''s spotted their secret plans to torch a casino so they can establish their own casino. David Morrell shines with the subtle and creepy "The Puzzle Master," in which a couple become addicted to jigsaw puzzles by a particular artist, only to find potentially ominous clues linking disparate bucolic scenes. The wide range of stories and games in them begs for a sequel."

Brad Meltzer - die Nummer 1 aus den USA. Eine Frau ohne Erinnerung. Ein Geheimnis, für das jemand tötet. Eine Verschwörung. Als Hazel Nash sechs Jahre alt ist, lehrt ihr Vater sie einen Grundsatz: Geheimnisse müssen gelöst werden. Er weiß es ganz genau, denn er hat eine TV-Sendung, in der er alle Verschwörungen der Welt entlarvt - "House of secrets" macht ihn zum Star. Jahre später ist Hazel eine anerkannte Archäologin. Nach einer Autofahrt mit ihrem Bruder und ihrem Vater erwacht sie ohne Erinnerung. Ihr Vater ist bei dem Unfall ums Leben gekommen, ihr Bruder wurde verletzt. Dann taucht ein Agent vom FBI auf und will Genaueres wissen: Ein Mann, den ihr Vater wegen seiner Sendung besucht hat, ist ermordet aufgefunden worden. Zurück in ihrem Haus, findet Hazel Waffen, die sie nicht kennt, und sie hat ein Tattoo am Hals, von dem sie nichts wusste. Ihr kommt ein ungeheuerlicher Verdacht. Was hat sie mit dem Tod ihres Vaters zu tun? "Brillant - ein moderner Agenten-Thriller, der dann am besten ist, wenn er die Grenzen des Genres überwindet." Publishers Weekly.