From the award-winning author, who Stephen King called 'a master of the short story' comes this unforgettable 20th-anniversary celebration of Hard Case Crime. Taking you from Brazil at Carnival to Times Square at midnight and from Tijuana, Mexico to ancient China, exploring the dark heart of crime in the tradition of Raymond Chandler, Cornell Woolrich, and Graham Greene.

Since debuting 20 years ago, Hard Case Crime has won acclaim for publishing the best in hardboiled crime fiction - not least of all the work of founding editor Charles Ardai, which has won the Edgar, Shamus and Ellery Queen Awards, been selected for 'Best of the Year' anthologies, and earned praise from publications like the Washington Post and Chicago Tribune and authors ranging from James Crumley and George Pelecanos to Megan Abbott and Stephen King.

Collected here for the first time anywhere are the author's 20 finest stories, including his Edgar-winning The Home Front, about death and repentance during World War II; the Shamus Award finalist Nobody Wins, about a brutal gangland enforcer searching for the woman he loves; and year's-best selections such as A Bar Called Charley's, about a travelling salesman's most grueling night on the road.

Ardai will take you to some of the most dangerous places in the world - and the darkest corners of the human heart.

'Charles Ardai is a very smart and very cool fellow.' Stephen King

'The best thing Hard Case is publishing right now? Ardai'sown books.' San Francisco Chronicle

'Ardai's best stories walk a tightrope between noir fatalism and surprising invention. Some of them boast unsettlingly original premises [and] endings bound to startle the most hard-bitten fans... Readers who limit themselves to one story a night are in for a lot of sleepless nights.' Kirkus Reviews