Maxima Library

No suspense collection is complete without this anthology. Originally published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, the stories in this volume represent many of the biggest names in detective and suspense fiction: Ellery Queen, Harold Q. Masur, Celia Fremlin, Jack Ritchie, Patricia Highsmith and Bill Pronzini are only a few of the prize-winning authors in this amazing volume.

A Native American sheriff chases a gang of bloodthirsty bank robbers Were it not for the copper mine, San Miguel wouldn’t exist. A hardscrabble town hewn out of the Arizona desert, it’s long on sand and short on excitement. For fun its citizens go to Las Vegas twice a month, just after picking up their paychecks. Because most of the miners take their pay in cash, every two weeks more than a million dollars moves through San Miguel’s little bank, watched over by heavy security from the sheriff’s department. This week, the security is not strong enough. A team of shotgun-wielding men burst into the bank. They disable the guards with mace, killing one, and leave with the largest bank haul in Arizona history. Sam Watchman, a Navajo state trooper, is on their trail. But these men aren’t just robbers; they’re psychopaths. Watchman is in for the hunt of his life.

During World War II, a Russian refugee spies for the United States

Since the great upheaval of November 1917, Alex Denilov has known nothing but war. In the civil war that followed the Bolshevik Revolution, he fought for the old imperial order. When the Reds won out, he fled west, finding work in every war that followed. Now, in 1941, he trains paratroopers in the American Southwest, helping the US Army prepare for the coming war. But Uncle Sam has bigger plans for him. The army transfers Alex to special services, where he is reunited with old colleagues from the civil war. The group shares combat skills, knowledge of the Russian language, and an intense hatred of Communists. Their mission is to assassinate Stalin. But inside this group of killers, a traitor lurks, ready to kill Alex before he attempts to save Russia from itself.