Butcher's Dozen

Max Allan Collins

Oct 2011 · Speaking Volumes

About this ebook

After slamming the door on Capone, Eliot Ness and the Untouchables became legend. Now that's in the past, and Ness travels solo through Depression-ravaged America to clean up a battered town called Cleveland... a city in the firm grasp of fear. A rampaging madman has been on the loose for two years, a butcher who has already hacked up a dozen victims without leaving so much as a shred of evidence, with the exception of various, well-placed body parts. This case could cost Ness everything—his job, his reputation, his life—but he can't rest until this brutal murderer is caught. With one rookie cop, a headline-crazed reporter and a gorgeous woman who just doesn't know when to quit, Ness goes undercover to hunt for an elusive killer who is almost as gifted with a knife as Ness is with a mystery.

About the author

Max Allan Collins – NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING author Max is a prolific American mystery writer who has been called "mystery's Renaissance man". He has written novels, screenplays, comic books, comic strips, trading cards, short stories, movies and historical fiction. He wrote the graphic novel Road to Perdition (which was developed into a film in 2002). He has also written two novel sequels to Road to Perdition - Road to Purgatory and Road to Paradise. He has also served as the creative consultant for a number of major productions, and has written books and comics based on the TV series franchise CSI. More recently, he has written a book, Buried Deep, based on the TV Series Bones. Praise for Max Allan Collins Fans of Collins (Road to Perdition) will be delighted to find him resurrecting Quarry, the ruthless hit-man he put to rest years ago, after six Quarry novels and a small handful of short stories. Now living and relaxing in the Minnesota woods, Quarry is lured out of retirement by a Chicago media magnate who wants a seemingly-harmless young librarian dead. But when he winds up falling for his target, one Janet Wright, Quarry begins second-guessing his assignment and experiences an uncharacteristic change of heart that almost gets him killed. Stemming from Collins' screenplay for the award-winning short film A Matter of Principal, this novel covers a lot of ground in a small space—a credit to the distinct, wry voice Collins has given Quarry, who doesn't waste anything, least of all words: "Louis cracked open the door and peered out and said, `What is it?' and I shot him in the eye." Compact enough to be read in a couple of sittings but bristling with suspense and sexuality, this book is a welcome addition to the Hard Crime Case library and, if there's any justice, will spark sales of Collins' back-catalogue titles. —Publishers Weekly