Max Allan Collins has 56 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 17 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.7★ across 12 ratings. The most-rated is Scarface and the Untouchable.
Stolen Away
Summary
March 1932. After the recently incarcerated Al Capone offers to negotiate the return of the kidnapped son of Charles Lindbergh, Nathan Heller of the Chicago P.D. is sent to Hopewell, New Jersey, as a police liaison. As a part of Lindbergh’s inner circle, Heller investigates crooks, cranks, socialites, and psychics in a frustrating, fruitless attempt to solve the case. Max Allan Collins makes the crime that captivated a nation the focal point of yet another fascinating and thoroughly spellbinding foray into his world of historical crime fiction. Four years later, in 1936, Heller - now a private detective, and considered an expert and insider on the Lindbergh case - is hired by the governor of New Jersey in an eleventh-hour quest to determine the guilt or innocence of Bruno Hauptmann, who sits on death row convicted of the murder and kidnapping of the Lindbergh child.
©1991 Max Allan Collins (P)2011 Brilliance Audio, Inc.
Quarry in the Black
Summary
Where does a hit man draw the line? With a controversial presidential election just weeks away, Quarry is hired to carry out a rare political assignment: kill the Reverend Raymond Wesley Lloyd, a passionate civil rights crusader and campaigner for the underdog candidate. But when a hate group out of Ferguson, Missouri, turns out to be gunning for the same target, Quarry starts to wonder just who it is he's working for. The longest-running series from Max Allan Collins, author of Road to Perdition, the Quarry novels tell the story of a paid assassin with a rebellious streak and an unlikely taste for justice. Once a Marine sniper, Quarry found a new home stateside with a group of contract killers. But some men aren't made for taking orders - and when Quarry strikes off on his own, God help the man on the other side of his nine-millimeter.
©2016 Max Allan Collins (P)2016 Skyboat Media, Inc.
True Crime
Summary
1934 Chicago dazzles with fast action and calculating, cold-blooded meanness as private detective Nate Heller combs Chicago’s North Side looking for John Dillinger. But things take a turn for the strange when self-aggrandizing G-Man Melvin Purvis shoots down a Dillinger double in front of the Biograph Theater. Full of muscle and oozing Chicago’s tough-guy persona to the hilt, Max Allan Collins’ Nate Heller is the ultimate private investigator - in the ultimate P.I. town. Heller’s undercover search for a farmer’s-daughter-turned-gun-moll has him on the dusty Depression backroads of middle America, in the company of Ma Barker and her boys, Baby Face Nelson, Alvin Karpis, and a very-much-still-alive Dillinger - whose outlandish plan to kidnap J. Edgar Hoover in downtown Chicago is one Heller tries to foil. Including appearances by fan dancer Sally Rand, boxer Barney Ross, and Heller's “godfather,” Frank Nitti, True Crime is a relentless classic.
©1986 Max Allan Collins (P)2011 Brilliance Audio, Inc.
Eliot Ness and the Mad Butcher
Summary
In the spirit of Devil in the White City comes a true detective tale of the highest standard: the haunting story of Eliot Ness' forgotten final case - his years-long hunt for "The Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run", a serial killer who terrorized Cleveland through the Great Depression and tormented Ness to his dying breath. "A careening read that’s full of surprises.... Collins and Schwartz deliver a nimble, taut tale. More importantly, they offer a portrait of a complex crime fighter who believed in science and reason at a time when most officers smacked suspects around with a blackjack, a portrait set against a backdrop of ethnic and class collisions, labor unrest, and political intrigue. Catnip for true-crime buffs." (Kirkus Reviews) In 1934, the nation’s most legendary crime fighter - fresh from taking on the greatest gangster in American history - arrived in Cleveland, a corrupt and dangerous town about to host a world's fair. It was to be his coronation, as well as the city's. Instead, terror descended, as headless bodies started turning up. The young detective, already battling the mob and crooked cops, found his drive to transform American policing subverted by a menace largely unknown to law enforcement: a serial murderer. Eliot Ness' greatest case had begun. Now, Max Allan Collins and A. Brad Schwartz - the acclaimed writing team behind Scarface and The Untouchables - uncover this lost crime epic, delivering a gripping and unforgettable nonfiction account based on decades of groundbreaking research. Ness had risen to fame in 1931 for leading the “Untouchables”, which helped put Chicago’s Al Capone behind bars. As Cleveland's public safety director, in charge of the police and fire departments, Ness offered a radical new vision for better law enforcement. Crime-ridden and devastated by the Depression, Cleveland was preparing for a star-turn itself: in 1936, it would host the "Great Lakes Exposition", which would be visited by seven million people. Late in the summer of 1934, however, pieces of a woman’s body began washing up on the Lake Erie shore - first her ribs, then part of her backbone, then the lower half of her torso. The body count soon grew to five, then 10, then more, all dismembered in gruesome ways. As Ness zeroed in on a suspect - a doctor tied to a prominent political family - powerful forces thwarted his quest for justice. In this battle between a flawed hero and a twisted monster - by turns horror story, political drama, and detective thriller - Collins and Schwartz find an American tragedy, classic in structure, epic in scope.
©2020 Max Allan Collins and A. Brad Schwartz (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers
Do No Harm
Summary
Do No Harm is the latest mystery in the Nathan Heller series by New York Times best-selling author Max Allan Collins. It’s 1954, and Heller takes on the Sam Sheppard case - a young doctor is startled from sleep and discovers his wife brutally murdered. He claims that a mysterious intruder killed his wife. But all the evidence points to a disturbed husband who has grown tired of married life and yearned to be free at all costs. Sheppard is swiftly convicted and sent to rot in prison. Just how firm was the evidence...and was it tampered with to fit a convenient narrative to settle scores and push political agendas? Nathan’s old friend Elliot Ness calls in a favor, and as Nathan digs into the case, he becomes convinced of Sheppard’s innocence. But Nate can’t prove it and has to let the case drop. The road to justice is sometimes a long one. Heller’s given another chance years later, and this time he’s determined to free the man...even if it brings his own death a bit closer.
©2020 Max Allan Collins (P)2020 Recorded Books
Angel in Black
Summary
Los Angeles. The City of Angels. The perfect place for a honeymoon… and the worst possible time for a murder. Vacationing private investigator Nate Heller finds himself a suspect in the LAPD’s investigation of the notorious Black Dahlia murder case. Problem is the butchered starlet, Elizabeth Short, is an old Chicago flame of Heller’s — and only the P.I. himself knows she was blackmailing him for abortion money. Classic noir at its finest blended to extraordinary effect with historical facts, Max Allan Collins’ Angel in Black crackles with tight plotting and razor-sharp dialogue. With the help of a world-weary, alcoholic Eliot Ness, Heller links the murder to a notorious Cleveland serial killer... while doing his best to stay out of jail and salvage his already troubled new marriage. Along the way he encounters Chicago boxer Barney Ross, fellow suspect Orson Welles, and zany gangster Mickey Cohen.“The characters, historical and fictional, come delightfully to life... Collins paints a web of interconnections in a tightly woven plot and posits a radical solution to a crime that still resonates in literature and movies.” - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
©2011 Max Allan Collins (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.
The Legend of Caleb York
Summary
Revered for his bestselling detective novels, Mickey Spillane originally penned The Legend of Caleb York as a film script for his friend, Hollywood legend John Wayne. In the first in a bold new Western series, Max Allan Collins, Mickey Spillane's literary partner and executor, adapts that screenplay into a hard-hitting novel every bit as compelling as Spillane's immortal Mike Hammer stories. Crooked Sheriff Harry Gauge rules the town of Trinidad, New Mexico, with an iron fist. His latest scheme is to force rancher George Cullen into selling his spread and to take Cullen's beautiful daughter Willa for his bride - whether she's willing or not. The old man isn't about to go down without a fight. He sends out a telegram to hire the west's toughest gunslinger to kill the sheriff. But when a stranger rides into Trinidad, no one's sure who he is. Wherever he came from, wherever he's going, it's deadly clear he's a man who won't be pushed - and that he's a damn good shot.... With stirring authenticity and heart-racing drama, Spillane and Collins add Caleb York to the roster of unforgettable western heroes.
©2015 Mickey Spillane Publishing LLC. (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.
The Big Bang
Summary
In midtown Manhattan, Mike Hammer, recovering from a near-fatal mix-up with the Mob, runs into drug dealers assaulting a young hospital messenger. He saves the kid, but the muggers are not so lucky. In a New York of flashy discotheques, swanky bachelor pads, and the occasional dark alley, Hammer deals with doctors and drug addicts, hippie chicks and hit men, meeting changing times with his timeless brand of violent vengeance. Originally begun and outlined by Spillane in the mid-sixties, and expertly completed by his longtime collaborator Max Allan Collins, The Big Bang is vintage Mike Hammer on acid—literally. Hammer and his beautiful, deadly partner Velda take on the narcotics racket in New York, just as the streets have dried up and rumors run rampant of a massive heroin shipment due any day.
©2010 Mickey Spillane Publishing, LLC (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Kill Me, Darling
Summary
The course of true love never did run smooth for PI Mike Hammer. His secretary and partner, Velda, has walked out on him without explanation, and Mike is just surfacing from a four-month bender. But then an old cop turns up murdered - a cop who once worked with Velda on the NYPD Vice Squad. What's more, Mike's pal, Captain Pat Chambers, has discovered that Velda is in Florida, now the moll of gangster and drug runner Nolly Quinn. Hammer hits the road and drives to Miami, where he enlists the help of a horse-faced newspaperman and a local police detective. But can they find Velda in time? And what is the connection between the murdered vice cop in Manhattan and Mike's ex turned gun moll in Florida?
©2015 Mickey Spillane (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Kiss Her Goodbye
Summary
Mike Hammer has been away from New York too long. Recuperating in Florida after the mob shoot-out that nearly claimed his life, he learns that an old mentor on the New York police force has committed suicide. Hammer returns for the funeral—and because he knows that Inspector Doolan would never have killed himself. But Manhattan in the seventies no longer feels like home. Hammer’s longtime partner, Velda, disappeared after he broke it off for her own safety, and his office is shut down.When a woman is murdered practically on the funeral’s doorstep, Hammer is drawn into the hunt for a cache of Nazi diamonds that makes the Maltese Falcon seem like a knickknack and for the mysterious woman who had been close to Doolan in his final days. But drug racketeers, who had it in for Doolan, attract Hammer’s attention as well. Soon he is hobnobbing with coke-snorting celebrities at the notorious disco, Club 52, and playing footsie with a sleek lady DA., a modern woman on the make for old-fashioned Hammer. Everything leads to a Mafia social club where Hammer and his .45 come calling, initiating the wildest showdown since Spillane’s classic One Lonely Night.
©2011 Mickey Spillane Publishing, LLC (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Masquerade for Murder
Summary
Mike Hammer, the iconic PI created by hard-boiled crime master Mickey Spillane and written by New York Times best seller Max Allan Collins, returns in Masquerade for Murder. Hammer is at a high society party when a wealthy and well-respected man, Colby, is hit by a car and badly injured. When all he expected was a night on the town, Mike is hired to find out who was driving the car. His search leads him on a trail of murders, the victims often exhibiting the same kind of strangulation as the cause of death. How are they connected to an accident involving Corby, and why is the man himself acting so strangely?
©2020 Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins (P)2020 Skyboat Media, Inc.
Fate of the Union
Summary
When a retired colleague dies of an apparent suicide, ex - Secret Service agent Joe Reeder knows there must be far more to the story. Why did the man leave a desperate message for Reeder moments before dying? And what could possibly make such a seasoned veteran fear for his life? FBI Special Agent Patti Rogers has a mystery of her own to solve: she's leading a task force investigating a brutal series of similar but seemingly unconnected murders across the DC area. Are they serial killings or something even more sinister? Could Reeder and Rogers be tracking down different facets of the same conspiracy? And how do the continued assassination attempts on a presidential hopeful figure into an unprecedented attack on the heart of government? The answers to these questions are uncovered in this riveting sequel to the bestselling Supreme Justice.
©2015 Max Allan Collins (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.
Supreme Justice
Summary
After taking a bullet for his commander-in-chief, Secret Service agent Joseph Reeder is a hero. But his outspoken criticism of the president he saved - who had stacked the Supreme Court with hard-right justices to overturn Roe v. Wade, amp up the Patriot Act, and shred the First Amendment - put Reeder at odds with the Service's apolitical nature, making him an outcast. FBI agent Patti Rogers finds herself paired with the unpopular former agent on a task force investigating the killing of Supreme Court Justice Henry Venter. Reeder - nicknamed "Peep" for his unparalleled skills at reading body language - makes a startling discovery while reviewing a security tape: the shooting was premeditated, not a botched robbery. Even more chilling, the controversial Venter may not be the only justice targeted for death. Is a mastermind mounting an unprecedented judicial coup aimed at replacing ultra-conservative justices with a new liberal majority? To crack the conspiracy and save the lives of not just the justices but also Reeder's own family, rising star Rogers and legendary investigator Reeder must push their skills - and themselves - to the limit.
©2014 Max Allan Collins (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.
Seduction of the Innocent
Summary
Comics kill. Or so the esteemed Dr. Werner Frederick would have people believe - people like the Congressmen holding hearings on banning violent crime and horror "funny books". And when the crusade provokes a most un-funny murder, Jack Starr - comics syndicate troubleshooter - has no shortage of suspects. Was it the knife-wielding juvenile delinquent or the naked seductress? Perhaps a frustrated publisher or an outraged cartoonist. Or was it a comic book reader…? No One Delivers Like Max Allan Collins. Inspired by the real-life 1950s witch-hunt against Tales From the Crypt publisher EC Comics, Seduction of the Innocent pulls back the curtain for an insider’s view of the history of comics.
©2013 Max Allan Collins (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc.
Murderers' Row: Original Baseball Mysteries, Volume 1
Summary
Seven original baseball short stories in the mystery and murder genres, written by an all-star lineup of writers, each of whom understand the game's lore and tactical nuances as well as its deep roots in American life. Compiled by Otto Penzler, the proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City and regarded as the world's foremost authority on crime, mystery and suspense fiction. Stories include: "Keller's Designated Hitter" by Lawrence Block - Professional hitman John Keller is after a pro ballplayer whose hitting average hasn't kept up with his expensive contract. "Pinch Hitter, A Nathan Heller Story" by Max Allan Collins - Fact and fiction mix in this preposterous and amusing whodunit. When bold Bill Veeck brings the first midget, Eddie Gaedel, into baseball as a pinch-hitter and he is found dead, private eye Nat Heller investigates. "Two Bagger" by Michael Connelly - Connelly pens a gripping and emotional father-son story of an ex-con who meets a pair of cops while at a Dodger game. "Strike Zone" by K.C. Constantine - Ex-pitcher goes on a stone-throwing rampage. "A Family Game" by Brendan DuBois - Youth baseball causes great turmoil in the life of a former mobster under witness protection in a small rural town. "Chickasaw Charlie Hoke" by Elmore Leonard - The little lies of an aging former ballplayer become vividly painful when he exaggerates about his pitiful career. "Sacrifice Hit" by John Lescroart - What ghastly adult passions arise when a Little League benchwarmer, who saw more time in the dugout than in the game, suddenly dies of a rattlesnake bite while his team is preparing for the game that will decide who will go to the Little League World Series.
©2001 Otto Penzler (P)2001 / 2017 New Millennium Entertainment / Phoenix Books
Hot Lead, Cold Justice
Summary
Legendary crime writer Mickey Spillane's celebrated tin-star hero Caleb York returns in the explosive Western saga by New York Times best-selling author Max Allan Collins. This time, the revered New Mexico gunhand unloads his .44 in a brewing storm brutal enough to freeze the blood. A killer blizzard sweeping across the Southwest threatens the livelihoods of everyone in the town of Trinidad. But it's two gunshots that fell Sheriff Caleb York's unlucky deputy. As sure as the blood pooling in the snow, York knows it was a case of mistaken identity. The bullets were meant for him. It's the first nasty step in a plan rustled up by former Quantrill's Raider Luke "Burn 'Em" Burnham - eliminate the law, corral a team to rob a bank in booming Las Vegas, New Mexico, then lay low. With a treacherous local merchant for cover, and York out of the picture, all they'll have to do is wait for the calm. Then they get wind of one little hitch: not only is York still alive, but he's gunning for justice - and revenge. As the winter weather bears down, the stir-crazy outlaws aim to finish what they started-take down York and disappear into the blinding storm. As a chilling cat-and-mouse begins, York isn't about to let Burnham and his damnable gang get away. It'd be a cold day in hell if he did.
©2019 Mickey Spillane Publishing LLC (P)2020 Recorded Books
Deadly Beloved
Summary
Till Death Do Us Part Marcy Addwatter killed her husband - there's no question about that. Shot him dead in the motel room where he was trysting with a blonde hooker. Shot the hooker, too. But where the cops might see an open-and-shut case, private eye Michael Tree - Ms. Michael Tree - sees a conspiracy. For Ms. Tree, digging into it could mean digging her own grave...and digging up her own murdered husband's. Based on the longest-running private-eye comic book series of all time, Deadly Beloved brings you an all-new adventure of the legendary Ms. Tree - the groundbreaking female P.I. who put the 'graphic' into graphic novel...
©2007 Max Allan Collins (P)2008 Speaking Volumes
Quarry in the Middle
Summary
First there was The Last Quarry, then there was The First Quarry - now look who's caught in the middle. The enigmatic hit man Quarry - star of seven celebrated novels and an award-winning feature film (The Last Lullaby) - is back in this violent, steamy tale of warring crime families. When two godfathers set out to bump each other off, guess who winds up with both contracts….
©2015 Skyboat Media, Inc. (P)2015 Blackstone Audio
King of the Weeds
Summary
In what Mickey Spillane had planned to be the final Mike Hammer novel, Hammer finds himself up against a clever serial killer targeting only cops. A killer Mike Hammer's old friend Captain Pat Chambers had put away many years ago is suddenly freed on new, seemingly indisputable evidence, and Hammer wonders if this outwardly placid, very odd old man might somehow be engineering cop killings that all seem to be either accidental or by natural causes. At the same time, Hammer and Velda are dealing with the fallout - some of it mob, some of it federal government - over the $89billion cache the detective is (rightly) suspected of finding not long ago.
©2014 Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins (P)2014 Blackstone Audio
Quarry's Vote
Summary
When retired hitman Quarry turns down a million bucks to murder a presidential candidate, he becomes a "loose end" that the conspirators need to tie off. With his peaceful life in ruins, Quarry launches his own campaign - for vengeance. This audiobook is the fifth book in Max Allan Collins's cult classic Quarry Series. They don't come harder-boiled than Quarry.
©1987 Max Allan Collins (P)2013 Audible Inc.