Max Allan Collins Collection, Volume Three: A Noir Collection (Jack & Maggie Starr Books #1-#3)
From New York Times Best Selling author Max Allan Collins, A Noir Collection, featuring the following full-length novels:
A Killing in Comics (Jack & Maggie Starr 1)
In 1948, when the publisher of the blockbuster "Wonder Guy" comic strip is found dead, Maggie Starr joins forces with her stepson, Jack Starr, to uncover a killer among a host of suspects.
Strip For Murder (Jack & Maggie Starr 2)
Manhattan, 1953. Hal Rapp's Tall Paul, one of America's most popular comic strips, is now a Broadway musical, infuriating Rapp's longtime rival Sam Fizer, creator of the Starr Syndicate's biggest strip Mug O'Malley. Adding insult to injury is the casting of Misty Winters, Fizer's wife, as one of Rapp's hillbilly gals sashaying across the Great White Way. Then Fizer is found dead, his apparent suicide actually an obvious homicide—with all the evidence pointing to Rapp.
Starr Syndicate also had connections to the new musical, which added fuel to the fire between the cartoonists, but Jack and Maggie believe Rapp's been framed. Between loan sharks, jealous husbands, bitter artists, and Fizer's widow—who has taken a romantic interest in Jack—there are more colorful characters with murderous motives than in a month of Sunday funnies—
Seduction of the Innocent (Jack & Maggie Starr 3)
It's 1954, and a rabble-rousing social critic has declared war on comic books - especially the scary, gory, bloody sort published by the bad boys of the industry, EF Comics. But on the way to a Senate hearing on whether these depraved publications should be banned, the would-be censor meets a violent end of his own - leaving his opponents in hot water.
Can Jack Starr, private eye to the funny-book industry, and his beautiful boss Maggie unravel the secret of Dr. Frederick's gruesome demise? Or will the crackdown come, falling like an executioner's axe...?
Shoot The Moon (and more)
Recent almost-college-grad Fred Kitchen and his eccentric six-foot-four pal, Wheaty, pay off a poker debt with a prank – showing their stuff in the then-current fad of streaking.
Soon they are under arrest and in jail, killing time by playing cards with a couple of hardened criminals, unwittingly racking up a new debt...one that can only be paid off by participating in a bank robbery during a small-town festival.
Written as a tribute to the comic novels of his mentor Donald E. Westlake, Shoot the Moon is a fast, funny crime novel written early in his career by Max Allan Collins.
Order your box set today and embark on an unforgettable journey alongside Jake and Maggie Starr as they unravel the enigmatic tapestry of crime within the colorful world of comic books. Get ready to be captivated, entertained, and thoroughly enthralled!
The Max Allan Collins Collection Vol. Three: A Noir Collection contains the following complete and unabridged titles:
A Killing in Comics (Jack & Maggie Starr 1); Strip For Murder (Jack & Maggie Starr 2); Seduction of the Innocent (Jack & Maggie Starr 3); Shoot The Moon (and more)
“Collins has an outwardly artless style that conceals a great deal of art.” —The New York Times