Books like 'Rusty Puppy'
Readers who enjoyed Rusty Puppy by Joe R. Lansdale also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
mystery action / adventure crime humor noir suspense hard-boiled lgbtq black-mc poc-mc
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Dutch by Teri Woods
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsJames Bernard Jr., a.k.a. Dutch, has become the most dangerous criminal in New Jersey. From his early skill as a car thief, Dutch recognized the opportunity to rule the streets and he seized it. Feared by all, and completely fearless, Dutch and his dangerous clique take over the lucrative heroin business of a local African drug lord... -
Dying for Revenge by Eric Jerome Dickey
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA fast-paced story about a steamy, seedy underworld of crime, 'Dying For Revenge' spans the entire globe and features hit man Gideon, a troubled character, dealing with a world of violence he can never really escape... -
At Dusk by AshleyNicole
Rated: 4.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThere’s a killer on the loose…A monster who hides in plain sight, waiting to make his move when you least expect it. When you’re tired. When you’re alone. When you’re not paying attention. At Dusk.Special Agent Harlan Tate of the FBI knows this particular killer’s work well– too well. The killer took somebody important from him when he was a teenager, then disappeared... -
Never Cry Mercy by L.T. Ryan
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsEven a drifter has to stop once in a while... Jack Noble has crossed the country, never staying too long in one spot. He's not running or hiding. He's buying time. Simply living until the day he can disappear and provide his daughter with a normal life. But when his Jeep dies outside a small Texas town, he finds a reason to stick around for a couple days. An old friend... -
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Where the Wild Roses Grow by Willow Rose
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe Queen of scream novels does it again! - It's laced with a terrifying nail-biting tension and characters that make your skin crawl. With her blankly staring eyes seeming to gaze into the sky, he put a red rose between her teeth and then gently pushed her into the water. She slowly sank into the slow, flowing river... -
Heartbeat: A Courageous Love Novel by Terreece M. Clarke
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMaya Anderson only knows success: set a goal, create a plan, achieve. Everything she can control she does, down to her color-coordinated closet. Then someone tried to kill her. Now, she has a new goal: stay alive. New town. New identity. No men... -
The Depth of Darkness by L.T. Ryan, Sean Patrick Hopkins
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsDetective Mitch Tanner's life hangs in the balance. He clings to the daughter in his care. He agonizes over the disappearance of his son and estranged wife. Twelve months has yet to turn up a solid lead.While investigating the apparent accidental death of Dusty Anne Miller, Mitch and his partner Sam Foster find themselves in the middle of a fiendish plan that strikes too close to home... -
Dark Night of the Soul by Kristi Belcamino, Sonja Field
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsGia Santella, the fast-driving, hard-drinking, karate-trained free spirit, has finally put her dark past behind her. UNFORTUNATELY, the past isn't done with her yet. The third book in a new, exciting series featuring an unforgettable new character by the Anthony, Barry & Macavity finalist and crime writer .. -
Butcher's Moon by Richard Stark, Joe Barrett
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe sixteenth Parker novel, Butcher’s Moon is more than twice as long most of the master heister’s adventures, and absolutely jammed with the action, violence, and nerve-jangling tension readers have come to expect... -
There's No Place like Home by Willow Rose
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsASIN moved from less recent editionWhat is the worst that can happen?Maria and Jonas Boegh asked themselves that very question when deciding to sign the papers for their new house. It might be expensive. They might be in over their heads a little financially, but they were never happier than on the day they moved in. Everything was perfect. It was the house of their dreams... -
The Blind Trust by Colin Conway
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsA quiet death in a small town. A double homicide in the big city. Only a murderer knows they’re connected. Whitman County Sheriff Tom Jessup wants a nice, safe county. Unfortunately, things are about to get deadly. A seemingly normal death points Jessup north where he finds Detectives Quinn Delaney and Marci Burkett investigating a double murder... -
School of Fish by Amy Lane
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsJackson Rivers has been learning how to take care of himself so he can be there for Ellery Cramer, but after eight weeks of healing, body and soul, he’s itching to get back to work. Finally Ellery gives him a simple task: pick up a file on a kid who probably didn’t commit murder but who refuses to participate in his own defense.Nothing is ever that easy... -
Fish in a Barrel by Amy Lane
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsJackson and Ellery face their toughest case yet—against the criminal justice system itself.Jackson Rivers and Ellery Cramer have worked difficult jobs before, but usually it’s getting the facts that’s the problem. For their newest client, the trouble isn’t finding the truth—it’s corruption at the highest levels of the justice system... -
Rendezvous with Danger by Sharon C. Cooper
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAlandra Pargas, ex-CIA counter-intelligence officer, plans to wreak vengeance on the people who tried to kill her. A little rendezvous with danger is not what scares her, though. It's seeing the tall, dark, and dangerously sexy man she vowed to love forever that has her running for cover. Former U.S... -
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Operation Midnight by Sharon C. Cooper
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsNo bad deed goes unpunished… Former Navy SEAL turned private investigator, Cameron “Wiz” Miller, has loved only one woman, his ex-wife, Olivia. She’s beautiful, talented and the sweetest person he knows. With plans to remarry her, there is nothing she could ask of him that he wouldn’t do except … one thing. Olivia has loved Wiz since high school. He is her hero. Her protector... -
Tempting the Heiress by Nana Malone
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsOne error in judgment. That is all it took. They say don't mix business with pleasure, but I fell in love with the client and now I’ve lost her. But I would do it all over again if it meant keeping her safe. Now I’ll have to fight like hell to earn her trust again. If I don’t, it could cost both of us everything... -
Royal Playboy by Nana Malone
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsVengeance is best served piping hot. Prodigal Son. Black Sheep. Playboy Prince. I've been called lots of things. Merciful is not one of them. It doesn’t matter what you call me, as long as I get what I want… What I crave. And it’s not the crown. She is the Princess I didn’t see coming. The one I didn’t plan for. Until her, women came easy. Until her, I wasn't sure I had a heart... -
Gia and the Forgotten Island by Kristi Belcamino
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAn exciting new series character ...Gia Santella is a fast-driving, hard-drinking, karate-trained free spirit, who is gorgeous, sexy, and a young heiress. She also has a fierce temper and zero tolerance for people in power preying on the vulnerable ... especially when the injustice takes place in her neighborhood... -
Sunset Express by Robert Crais
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsProminent restaurateur Teddy Martin is facing charges in his wife’s brutal murder. But he’s not going down without spending a bundle of cash on his defense. So his hotshot attorney hires P.I. Elvis Cole to find proof that Detective Angela Rossi tampered with the evidence. Rossi needs a way back to the fast track after falling hard during an internal investigation five years ago... -
The Winter of Frankie Machine by Don Winslow
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe author of The Death and Life of Bobby Z. and The Power of the Dog now gives us a fierce and funny new novel—and a blistering new take on the Mafia story.Frank Machianno is a late-middle-aged ex–surf bum who runs a bait shack on the San Diego waterfront when he’s not juggling any of his other three part-time jobs or trying to get a quick set in on his longboard... -
Price of Honor by Radclyffe
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsHonor and duty are not always black and white—and when self-styled patriots take up arms against the government, the price of honor may be a life. Blair Powell and Jane Graves have much in common and even more that sets them apart in an invisible battle raging on home soil... -
Wicked Games by Aimee Nicole Walker
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsRyder Jameson and Lucien Clarke have a complicated past: Ryder conserves art; Lucien steals it. Their love-hate relationship spans six years and two continents and has endured multiple heists. Hoping to restore his tarnished reputation, Ryder returns home to Cincinnati to accept a position at an acclaimed museum... -
Free Fall in Crimson by John D. MacDonald, Carl Hiaasen
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsMcGee tracks killers who brutally murder an ailing millionaire. He renews unfinished adventure with Hollywood actress who leads him into a nasty nest of murderers involving a motorcycle gang, porn movies, and mad balloonists. And Mcgee relearns old lesson. Only close to the edge of death does he feel completely alive... -
A Storm Is Coming by LaShawn Vasser
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTHIS IS BOOK ONE OF TWO A Storm Is Coming is about a beautiful and tough as nails corporate attorney, Braylee Hinsdale, who must use every trick in the book to keep the handsome and powerful Alexandro Manchetti from losing everything. Alexandro is powerful, handsome, ridiculously sexy and has just suffered an unimaginable loss... -
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Beautiful Assassin by Stephanie Nicole Norris
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsRetired hitwoman Celine Briggs loved few people in this world; Her husband Caleb, and her ex-handler, Brian Devereaux. When Celine took her marital vows, she exchanged the life of guns, drugs, and violence for the peaceful life as Caleb's wife. However, not all things buried stay hidden... -
Todo lo peor by César Pérez Gellida
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSigue la Guerra fría, sigue en pie el muro que divide Alemania en dos partes. Todo lo peor sucederá en estas circunstancias.Un asesino comienza a matar. Sus víctimas son homosexuales y sus crímenes parecen tener un componente religioso... -
Everybody Ain't Your Friend by Tanisha Stewart
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThey say you should keep your friends close, and enemies closer, but sometimes reality might be the other way around...Mia thinks her life is completely normal. She has a loving boyfriend, great and supportive friends, and a close relationship with her mother. Things take an interesting turn, however, when she is almost run down by a car one day.Then come the messages from an untraceable number... -
Easy as One Two Three by Willow Rose
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsASIN moved from less recent editionMads and Signe are very young when they get married. They are ready to take on the world, starting with their honeymoon to Egypt. Two years later, Mads is in a coma, and Signe has vanished from the face of the earth.Meanwhile, Emma Frost is looking for her daughter whom the police believe is guilty of the hit and run that left Mads Schou brain dead... -
The Dead Yard by Adrian McKinty
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhile on holiday in Spain, Michael Forsythe is arrested in the chaos of a soccer riot and hauled off to jail... -
The Green Ripper by John D. MacDonald
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsBeautiful girls always grace the Florida beaches, strolling, sailing, relaxing at the many parties on Travis McGee's houseboat, The Busted Flush. McGee was too smart--and had been around too long--for many of them to touch his heart. Now, however, there was Gretel. She had discovered the key to McGee--to all of him--and now he had something to hope for. Then, terribly, unexpectedly, she was dead... -
Pale Gray for Guilt by John D. MacDonald
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsTush Bannon was in the wrong spot at the wrong time. His measly plot of land just so happened to sit right in the middle of a rich parcel of five hundred riverfront acres that big-money real estate interests decided they simply must have.It didn’t matter that Tush was a nice guy with a family, or that he never knew he was dealing with a criminal element... -
Blind Eye by Stuart MacBride
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe first thriller in the No.1 bestselling DS Logan McRae series. Nothing keeps a crime hidden like fear… ‘Stuart MacBride’s thrillers just keep getting better’ Express ‘You can’t be an eyewitness if I cut out your eyes…’ Someone’s preying on Aberdeen’s growing Polish population... -
The Empty Copper Sea by John D. MacDonald
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratings"The professional's professional of suspense writers."THE NEW YORK TIMESVan Harder, once a hard drinker, has found religion. But that doesn't keep folks from saying he murdered his employer, Hub Lawless, whose body hasn't been found. To clear his name, and cear up the mystery, Van asks friend-in-need Travis McGee to find out what really happened... -
Malicious Pursuit by K.G. MacGregor
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsInjured and on the run, Spencer encounters Ruth, who must overcome her fear of being discovered - and of losing her daughter forever - to help a total stranger fight a battle for her life. With trust at a premium, the two women join forces to thwart their pursuers... -
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Lucky by Stella Marie Alden
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsI was hired to guard a pair of earrings. Unfortunately, they’re attached to pure, unadulterated trouble.LuckyTrouble starts with a blue-eyed stare that hits below the belt. You might think it ends with a girl-next-door but you’d be wrong. Bloody hell, she’s all woman and you’d swear she was about to do you. Not only that, she’s a bloomin’ genius... -
The Million Dollar Wound by Max Allan Collins
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrom a foxhole on Guadalcanal (shared with Barney Ross) to the glitzy underworld of Hollywood in the '40s, Nate Heller fights his memories and the Mob.Something happened at the Canal, something Heller's blocking out. What he can't block, though, is the wound he received--the "million-dollar wound," the one that got him home... -
Influence by Carl Weber
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhen famed attorney Bradley Hudson learns of his youngest son Langston’s arrest for drug trafficking, he immediately assembles a team of lawyers and investigators, including members of his own family, to build a defense... -
Last Ditch by G.M. Ford
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSeattle p.i. Leo Waterman knows the city like no one else. And he knows how to stretch the limits of the law, when necessary, to accomplish what needs to be done--a very useful talent Leo acquired from his late, larger-than-life father, once one of the region's most powerful and colorful political characters... -
An Arrangement of Love by Kenya Wright
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsHe kissed me. And not just any kiss. He kissed me like he owned me, as if he bought me last night and my orgasm was the payment. His tongue didn't explore my mouth instead it taunted me, gliding in and out between my lips in a rhythm that reminded me of hot sex. He shifted his hand to the back of my head and trapped me to him. My bag and its contents dropped to the floor. . -
Breakout by Richard Stark
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsParker's back in jail, but not just any old jail; it's the correctional center, where people without bail wait before and during their trial. So Parker's first order of business is to build a network among these cons and break on through to the other side... -
Drowned Hopes by Donald E. Westlake
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsJohn Dortmunder, anti-hero of such comic crime classics as The Hot Rock and Good Behavior , returns home at dawn after another failed burglary. He is horrified to find his apartment occupied by an old cellmate everyone supposed (and hoped) had been locked up for life. Tom Jinson needs Dortmunder's help. Nearly thirty years ago, before his last prison stretch, Tom pulled a big job up near Albany... -
Why Me? by Donald E. Westlake
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsBe careful what you steal . . . A fast-paced crime caper from the Edgar Award–winning author and “funniest man in the world” (The Washington Post Book World).The Byzantine Fire is much more than a ninety-carat ruby. As a stone it’s worth over a million dollars, a value vastly increased by its pure gold band—but its history makes it priceless... -
What's The Worst That Could Happen? by Donald E. Westlake
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsDortmunder is in the midst of a routine burglary of a Long Island mansion when who shows up toting a gun but the owner, nasty billionaire Max Fairbanks. Worse, Fairbanks takes Dortmunder's supposedly lucky ring. Highly insulted, Dortmunder and his gang execute their own peculiar reign of terror, and although they acquire quite a bit of Fairbanks' swag, they never quite get the ring back... -
The Way We Die Now by Charles Willeford
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhen Miami Homicide Detective Hoke Moseley receives an unexplained order to let his beard grow, he doesn't think much about it. He has too much going on at home, especially with a man he helped convict ten years before moving in across the street... -
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Cold River Rising: A Native American Mystery and Thriller Series by Enes Smith
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIF YOU LIKE 'SURVIVAL' - THE #1 BESTSELLING COLD RIVER RISING IS A MUST READ! A Political Action Thriller by #1 Amazon bestselling author Enes Smith. The screenplay for a feature film is complete! Cold River Rising is a story of Native American college student Tara REd Eagle, a tribal member who has the uncanny ability of a Shaman - she can sketch events before they happen... -
Backflash by Richard Stark
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsParker's got a couple of rules that have helped keep him alive throughout his long career. One of those is never to work on a boat. But with a gambling boat cruising down the Hudson, stuffed to the gunwales with cash, Parker’s got a plan, a team, and a new rule: a shot at a big enough score makes any rule worth breaking... -
The Seventh by Richard Stark
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhy not?Just because no one had ever tried it before? What better place for a heist, if it was timed right, than a football stadium?There'd have to be money in the box office; the game was a sellout. Every eye in the place would be glued to the action down on the field. Even the getaway would be a cinch... -
The Long Cold Winter by Colin Conway
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsA thirty-year old case. A body discovered in the snow. For one grieving detective, it's going to be a long, cold winter.After the passing of his wife, Major Crimes Detective Dallas Nash is handed a cold case to ease him back into the job.Three decades prior, a teenaged girl was strangled to death... -
The Turquoise Lament by John D. MacDonald
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsOne of the most enduring and unusual heroes in detective fiction." THE BALTIMORE SUN Now that Linda "Pidge" Lewellen is grown up, she tells Travis McGee, once her girlhood idol, that either she's going crazy or Howie, her affable ex-jock of a husband is trying to kill her. McGee checks things out, and gives Pidge the all clear... -
Bright Orange for the Shroud by John D. MacDonald
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTravis McGee is looking forward to a "slob summer," spending his days as far away from danger as possible. But trouble has a way of finding him, no matter where he hides. An old friend, conned out of his life savings by his ex-wife, has tracked him down and is desperate for help...
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