Best Selling Books by John Dunning

Booked to Die, the first book in John Dunning’s bestselling, award-winning Cliff Janeway series, is “a joy to read for its wealth of inside knowledge about the antiquarian book business and its eccentric traders” (The New York Times Book Review). Denver homicide detective Cliff Janeway may not always play by the book, but he’s an avid collector of rare and first editions. Bobby Westfall is a local bookscout, a gentle and quiet man who has sold enough valuable books to keep himself and his cats fed and housed. When Bobby is murdered, Janeway would like nothing better than to rearrange the suspect’s spine. But the suspect, local lowlife Jackie Newton, is a master at eluding the law, and Janeway’s wrathful brand of off-duty justice costs him his badge. Turning to his lifelong passion, Janeway opens a small bookshop—all the while searching for evidence to put Newton away. When prized volumes in a highly sought-after collection begin to appear, so do dead bodies. Now Janeway’s life is about to change in profound and shocking ways as he attempts to find out who’s dealing death along with vintage Chandlers and Twains. “One of the most enjoyable books I’ve read” (The Denver Post), Booked to Die is the first in the Cliff Janeway series. It is “a standout piece of crime fiction…Compelling page-turning stuff” (The Philadelphia Inquirer).

Denver cop-turned-bookdealer Cliff Janeway is lured by an enterprising fellow ex-policeman into going to Seattle to bring back a fugitive wanted for assault, burglary, and the possible theft of a priceless edition of Edgar Allan Poe''s "The Raven." The bail jumper turns out to be a vulnerable young woman calling herself Eleanor Rigby, who is also a gifted book finder. Janeway is intrigued by the woman -- and by the deadly history surrounding the rare volume. Hunted by people willing to kill for the antique tome, a terrified Eleanor escapes and disappears. To find her -- and save her -- Janeway must unravel the secrets of the book''s past and its mysterious maker, for only then can he stop the hand of death from turning another page....

Together for the first time in an omnibus edition are the first two Cliff Janeway novels--"Booked to Die" and "Bookman''s Wake."

DIVDIVFor a rare book, a desperate buyer turns to violence /divDIV/divDIVSix days a week, Joel Beer hunts for books in Denver. He stalks them in bookstores and thrift stores, at yard sales and estate sales, his eyes scanning spines quickly and ruthlessly, searching for the $0.25 gem that he can resell for $250. If he were the only scout in town, he might be able to make a living, but there are close to a dozen full-timers now—including his archrival, Popeye Lamonica—and Joel is having trouble paying his rent./divDIV /divDIVFacing eviction, Joel and his partner—a slow-witted vagrant named Lacy—go on the hunt. They are about to give up when they find an estate sale offering a $0.50 copy of Walter Behr’s Something for Nothing that is worth $500. But Popeye sees it, too. To make this treasure his, Joel will do whatever it takes—even if it means sacrificing his career./div/div

A wonderful reader for anyone who loves the great programs of old-time radio, this definitive encyclopedia covers American radio shows from their beginnings in the 1920s to the early 1960s.

By the 1920s, Denver had outgrown its frontier-town beginnings. But for some, life was still as perilous as the surrounding terrain. The insidious influence of the Ku Klux Klan was reaching its peak, and those who stood in its path feared for their safety. Denver is the saga of a family caught in this tempestuous time. To newspaperman Tom Hastings, his writing matters more than anything. As the book opens, President Harding has just died, and Hastings finds himself drawn toward the biggest story of his career. But his wife resents his allegiance to the newspaper and his Jewish stepfather is a target for the supremacist Kleagles—two good reasons not to persist in his pursuit of the story: that and the KKK has penetrated the highest levels of government in the state. Some eighty characters surround Tom Hastings: there’s his half-sister, the quiet, passionate Jewess Anna Kohl; David Waldo, a socialist and friend to Jack London; Willie Brown, a rising political star torn between his desire for elective office and the love of his life; and Marvel Millette, a Nellie Bly–like reporter in whom Tom Hastings finally meets his match. John Dunning creates flesh-and-blood figures, not only of these fictional characters but of historical personages as well. There is John Galen Locke, the Grand Dragon of the KKK, and Fred Bonfils, a founder of a newspaper dynasty built on tabloid sensationalism; President Calvin Coolidge, too, makes a gruff appearance. Denver is a panoramic novel as vibrant as the city for which it is named, as tumultuous as the era in which it is set. John Dunning never lets the reader lose sight of the men and women who live their lives on the pages of this saga. While crosses burst into angry flames and menacing droves of white-robed Klansmen gather against the torch-lit skies, passions, fears, joys, and hates are played out in Denver in the 1920s.

Widely acclaimed for his groundbreaking crime novels Booked to Die and The Bookman''s Wake, award-winning author John Dunning triumphantly returns with a riveting new thriller that takes us back to the summer of 1942, when radio was in its prime, when daylight saving time gave way to "wartime," when stations like WHAR on the New Jersey coast struggled to create programming that entertained and inspired a nation in its dark hour. Into this intense community of radio artists and technicians in Regina Beach, New Jersey, come Jack Dulaney and Holly Carnahan. They are determined to find Holly''s missing father, whose last desperate word came from this noisy seaside town. Holly sings like an angel and has what it takes to become a star. Jack -- a racetrack hot-walker and novelist who''s hit every kind of trouble in his travels from sea to sea -- tries out as a writer at WHAR and soon discovers a passion for radio and a natural talent for script writing. While absorbing the ways of radio, from writing to directing, he meets some extraordinarily brave and gifted people who touch his life in ways he could not have imagined -- actresses Rue, Pauline, and Hazel; actor-director Waldo, creator of the magnificent black show Freedom Road; and enigmatic station owner Loren Harford, among others. Jack''s zeal for radio is exceeded only by his devotion to Holly, who needs his help but who is terrified for his safety. Strange things are happening in Regina Beach, starting with an English actor who walked out of the station six years ago and was never seen again. And Holly''s father is gone too, in equally puzzling circumstances. As Jack and Holly penetrate deeper into the shadows of the past, they learn that someone will do anything, including murder, to hide some devastating truths. In a stunning novel that transcends genre, John Dunning calls upon his vast knowledge of radio and his incisive reading of history to create a poignant, page-turning work of fiction that sheds new insights on some of the most harrowing events of the twentieth century. Like E. L. Doctorow''s Billy Bathgate or Caleb Carr''s The Alienist, Dunning''s brilliant tale of mystery, murder, and revenge brings to life another time, another place, another world.

DIVDIVA powerful executive is confronted by a man claiming to be her son /divDIV/divDIVHer name is Dreamer Calhoun. Raised in South Carolina, she grew up dirt poor, married young, and was soon burdened with a child she could not care for. When her old life slipped away, Dreamer moved west, working on an assembly line and taking night classes until she could gain a toehold in business. Two decades later, she is the biggest name in town—a mogul with the world at her feet. But a boy named Bobby is about to drag her back down to earth./divDIV /divDIVEver since a newspaper article came out about her long-lost son, young men have been appearing, claiming to be Dreamer’s child. But something about Bobby Shields convinces her to listen to his story. He is an odd boy, an impudent drifter who sought Dreamer out on a psychic’s advice. She does not want to believe him, but Bobby Shields may have the power to change Dreamer’s life forever./div /div

As a young man, New York Times bestselling author John Dunning earned his living for several years working behind the scenes on the racetrack circuit. Now he brings his memories of the horse world and his expertise in collectible books to this mesmerizing new Bookman novel rich with the lore of both books and horses. . . . Denver bookman Cliff Janeway would have liked Candice Geiger. She loved books with a true bookwoman''s passion. Her collection of first-edition children''s books is the best that Janeway ever hopes to see. Sadly, Janeway and Candice Geiger will never meet. She died much too young. Now, twenty years later, her books remain a testament to an extraordinary woman''s remarkable vision. Janeway first learns about the juvenilia collection when Candice''s elderly husband, H. R. Geiger, passes away and Janeway travels to their Idaho home to assess the collection. The estate can''t be distributed until the books are valued, so there''s pressure on Janeway to do the job quickly. But one look at the books tells Janeway something''s wrong. Valuable titles are missing, replaced by cheap reprints. Other hugely valuable pieces remain. Why would a thief take one priceless book and leave an equally valuable volume on the shelf? The answer may lie in Candice''s story. The daughter of a wealthy industrialist, she married horse owner and trainer H. R. Geiger at a young age. They traveled the racetrack circuit with some success, as evidenced by winner''s-circle photographs -- in which Candice is always a mysterious background figure dressed in white. Two decades after Candice''s strange death, Janeway finds himself deep in a book mystery that may turn out to be much more than a cataloging exercise. It may even involve murder. Candice''s daughter, Sharon, may be one of the few people who can help Janeway discover the truth. Sharon has her own Idaho ranch where she takes in sick and injured horses. Janeway worries that her house contains something that could make her very vulnerable: half of her mother''s fabulous book collection. The trail of Candice''s shadowy past leads Janeway to California''s Golden Gate and Santa Anita racetracks, where he signs on as a racehorse hot walker. A novice at racetrack life, he tries to remain inconspicuous while listening to the chatter among the hands. He doesn''t like what he hears. And when he goes to the house where Candice died to look for answers, he finds more than he bargained for. With its rich mix of books and horses, The Bookwoman''s Last Fling is a classic entry in John Dunning''s acclaimed Bookman series of suspense novels, sure to bring this superbly talented author even more accolades.

Cliff Janeway is back! The Bookman''s Promise marks the eagerly awaited return of Denver bookman-author John Dunning and the award-winning crime novel series that helped to turn the nation on to first-edition book collecting. First, it was Booked to Die, then The Bookman''s Wake. Now John Dunning fans, old and new, will rejoice in The Bookman''s Promise, a richly nuanced new Janeway novel that juxtaposes past and present as Denver ex-cop and bookman Cliff Janeway searches for a book and a killer. The quest begins when an old woman, Josephine Gallant, learns that Janeway has recently bought at auction a signed first edition by the legendary nineteenth-century explorer Richard Francis Burton. The book is a true classic, telling of Burton''s journey (disguised as a Muslim) to the forbidden holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The Boston auction house was a distinguished and trustworthy firm, but provenance is sometimes murky and Josephine says the book is rightfully hers. She believes that her grandfather, who was living in Baltimore more than eighty years ago, had a fabulous collection of Burton material, including a handwritten journal allegedly detailing Burton''s undercover trip deep into the troubled American South in 1860. Josephine remembers the books from her childhood, but everything mysteriously disappeared shortly after her grandfather''s death. With little time left in her own life, Josephine begs for Janeway''s promise: he must find her grandfather''s collection. It''s a virtually impossible task, Janeway suspects, as the books will no doubt have been sold and separated over the years, but how can he say no to a dying woman? It seems that her grandfather, Charlie Warren, traveled south with Burton in the spring of 1860, just before the Civil War began. Was Burton a spy for Britain? What happened during the three months in Burton''s travels for which there are no records? How did Charlie acquire his unique collection of Burton books? What will the journal, if it exists, reveal? When a friend is murdered, possibly because of a Burton book, Janeway knows he must find the answers. Someone today is willing to kill to keep the secrets of the past, and Janeway''s search will lead him east: To Baltimore, to a Pulitzer Prize-winning author with a very stuffed shirt, and to a pair of unorthodox booksellers. It reaches a fiery conclusion at Fort Sumter off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina. What''s more, a young lawyer, Erin d''Angelo, and ex-librarian Koko Bujak, have their own reasons for wanting to find the journal. But can Janeway trust them? Rich with the insider''s information on rare and collectible books that has made John Dunning famous, and with meticulously researched detail about a mesmerizing figure who may have played an unrecognized role in our Civil War, The Bookman''s Promise is riveting entertainment from an extraordinarily gifted author who is as unique and special as the books he so clearly loves.

From New York Times bestselling author John Dunning comes a riveting Cliff Janeway Bookman novel, combining captivating book lore with page-turning suspense. Occasionally, Denver bookman Cliff Janeway has one of those perfect days—he sells a couple of good books and he buys something even better—perhaps a tough-to-find Steinbeck in mint condition. Even the jacket is fine. Working from his store on seedy Colfax Avenue, Janeway doesn''t have enough of those days, but he''s not complaining. Things are looking up because of his new partner and friend, lawyer Erin d''Angelo. So when Erin asks Janeway for a favor, it''s hard to say no. She wants him to go over the mountain to the small town of Paradise where a former good friend, Laura Marshall, is in jail, accused of killing her husband. What happened at the Marshalls'' remote mountain home? Did Laura kill Bobby, or is she trying to protect her oldest son? And where were the three children when the shooting occurred? What did they see? Rich with the intricacies of book collecting that only an expert like John Dunning can offer, The Sign of the Book is a beautifully crafted, enthralling novel of suspense from the consummate bookman himself.

At a California racetrack, an ex-cop investigates the mystery of his mother’s suicide in this haunting novel from the two-time Edgar nominee. The old wooden tower looms over the racetrack, an eyesore that is too famous to tear down. To Wes Harrison, it is more than an architectural curiosity; it is a bitter reminder of Ginger North, the track employee who, three decades earlier, leapt from the tower to her death. Around the track, she is a legend, something to reminisce about in between races, but to Harrison, Ginger North is much more: she was his mother. A troubled ex-cop, Harrison drifts into the world of the racetrack as a way of connecting with his mother’s spirit. Armed with a few old case files, he takes a job on the grounds, seeking answers about Ginger’s death. Standing in his way are certain people—jockeys, trainers, grooms, and owners—who do not want the truth to come out. Conflict is natural among those who work with horses, but at this track, the competition could be deadly.

John Dunning''s stunning debut novel about missing pieces of the past, betrayal and murder.

When a circus tent fire results in the death of a young girl, reporter Dalton Walker searches for leads while juggling a second story about a young Amish woman who left her home to become a dancer in the Big Apple.