Crime and Thriller Novels By New York Times Best-selling Author J. Carson Black
View J. Carson Blacks collection of novels and short stories
The Bluelight Special
Cyril Landry is back – and fighting for the little guy.
When Therese Hill tries to keep herself and her fellow jockeys safe, she’s nearly killed in a fall on the race track. But this is no accident, and it won’t stop there. Can her friend Cyril, using the highly selective and persuasive tools of his trade, level the playing field?
Superstitions
Raised by her father, cowgirl Billie Bahill grew up perfectly able to take over her father’s cattle business when the time came. But Billie has her own ideas about life, including the man she chooses to love. When her fiancé is lured by the Lost Dutchman Mine, Billie, pregnant with his child, rides into the rugged mountains after him.
The Desert Waits
A woman answers a cry for help…A husband betrays his wife one last time…The owner of an isolated hotel harbors a dangerous obsession…A man succumbs to a fatal attraction Four strangers converge in the Arizona desert–brought together by a brutal killing. Each of them has a secret. And all of them have reason to be afraid.
Dark Horse
When Dakota McCallister enters her late father’s filly in the All American Futurity with the help of her ex, a desperate killer lays a trap. On the eve of the race, Dakota learns the shattering truth: If she runs her filly to restore her father’s good name, the result could bring down Black Oak Farm and everything with it.
Roadside Attraction
Cochise County probation officer Maggie O’Neil doesn’t believe her best probationer, Freddie Valenzuela, would skip town without his dog Blue. When Freddie is found dead in his pickup truck–lodged high up in a tree–and his girlfriend found dead besides, Maggie must figure out what is going on in her county, and find a way to stop it.
Flight 12
A man waits in line to board Skyways Airlines Flight 12 to Rome. His eyes are bleak, his fists clenched. The woman behind him has a very bad feeling. … Months before, DPS detective Laura Cardinal investigates the death of a woman in Arizona, and her prime suspect will turn out to be the man on Flight 12.
Cry Wolf
When pathological liar Sean Perrin is found dead at a canyon trailhead, he leaves behind a string of lies. From violent death in a sordid motel room to a high-end prostitution ring in Las Vegas, DPS Detective Laura Cardinal follows Sean’s trail across a landscape of broken dreams and convincing lies—until she confronts the true evil behind the mask.
Dark Side of the Moon
When two newlyweds are found murdered at an Arizona campground, Laura Cardinal’s investigation leads to a man who will stop at nothing, to win—even a nuclear option. Still reeling from a tragedy of her own, she is plunged into a high-stakes conspiracy played out against the unforgiving backdrop of the Mojave Desert, where there are no second chances.
Darkness on the Edge of Town
Mobile devices are a conduit into a child’s life, not just for friends but for those who intend harm. When Laura Cardinal investigates the murder of a fourteen-year-old girl found in a town’s park bandshell, she knows immediately what she’s up against: a cunning sexual predator. But why is she plagued by the abduction of a schoolmate eighteen years earlier?
Darkscope
When Chelsea McCord peers through the viewfinder of an old box camera, she sees children in gunny sack clothes–children from the 1920s. As the past superimposes itself on the present, Chelsea learns the secret of her own family’s dark legacy. Pitted against a supernatural force and a psychopathic killer, Chelsea must fight to save her life—and her sanity.
Deadly Desert
From #1 bestselling author J. Carson Black, a box set of three complete novels—two of suspense and a ghost story of mystery and horror. Writing as Margaret Falk, Black set these books in the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts of her home state of Arizona and in southern New Mexico. Now for the first time in one volume: DARKSCOPE, DARK HORSE, and THE DESERT WAITS.
Hard Return
Five days a week, Cyril Landry watches from a distance as his daughter Kristal leaves school, his only chance to see her since he was declared dead. One day a gunman shoots up the parking lot, killing eight kids. Landry takes him out with a single sniper shot. Now he must find out if his family was targeted—and why.
Icon
When Hollywood superstar Max Conroy escapes drug rehab in Arizona, he becomes the target of bumbling kidnappers. But Max faces a far more dangerous foe. With the help of sheriff’s deputy Tess McCrae, he fights off a merciless enemy and makes a stand. He will destroy those who’d rather see him die like an icon than live like a man.
The Devil’s Hour
In 1997, the disappearance of three girls rocked Tucson, Arizona. Years later, one of those girls comes home—alive. Detective Laura Cardinal pieces together Micaela’s fragmented memories in hopes of learning the whereabouts of the other two children. But the killer isn’t through yet, and after the fiery death of someone close to her, Laura must face an implacable enemy.
The Laura Cardinal Novels
A New York Times and USA Today Best Seller
For the first time in one volume, the three novels that introduced J. Carson Black’s remarkable Arizona DPS investigator, Laura Cardinal.
The Shop
Aspen, Colorado: a pop star is brutally murdered in her luxury chalet. Gardenia, Florida: a police chief is shot to death in a seedy motel—a romantic rendezvous gone wrong? Detective Jolie Burke isn’t so sure. As circumstances change with terrifying swiftness, Jolie finds herself teaming up with hired assassin Cyril Landry against corruption in the highest levels of government.
The Survivors Club
Detective Tess McCrae investigates the grisly murder of an ex-cop in the ghost town of Credo. To an ordinary investigator, the evidence suggests a cartel drug hit. But Tess, with a nearly faultless photographic memory, is far from ordinary, and she sees what others miss: this is no drug killing. In this serpentine, stay-up-all-night thriller, nothing is what it seems.
The Tombstone Rose
In rough-and-ready Tombstone, Arizona, Charlotte Tate watches helplessly as her sister dies of consumption–and vows to survive. Headstrong, ambitious Charlotte is a theater headliner, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Wyatt Earp. Only rancher Jake Cottrell can see past her defiant exterior. Against the backdrop of the O.K. Corral Gunfight, Jake and Charlotte discover the meaning of love.
Spectre Black
When detective Jolie Burke flees home invaders, she contacts the only man she trusts: ex-Navy SEAL Cyril Landry. As Landry seeks Jolie in the New Mexico desert, he finds a town immersed in a quagmire of corruption–the ominous shape of something big. Hell comes in the form of a black Camaro, its deadly occupant bent on the destruction of all Landry holds dear.