Books published by publisher Book Club

This is the first book of a new series of anthologies consisting of stories that first saw the light of day in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. Here are 30 stories by some of AHMM's most competent and illustrious tale-spinners, including Holly Roth, C. B. Gilford, Jean Potts, David Ely, Edward D. Hock, Nedra Tyre, Bill Pronzini, Hillary Waugh, and Borden Deal. Also included are 7 stories that won awards in AHMM's story contest in the '60s-Jack Ritchie's "The Third Call," Robert Bloch's "A Home Away from Home," Henry Slesar's "You Can't Blame Me," Donald Honig's "The Man We Found," Lawrence Page's "Final Arrangements," Clark Howard's Spook House," and Gilbert Ralston's "A Very Cautious Boy."

Paul Janson is a retired operative, now a highly sought-after and extremely selective security specialist. The spy game ended up costing him everything that was most important to him and it would take a lot to lure him back into it. Unfortunately, the one person to whom Janson's personal debt is so large that he could require anything of Janson is calling in his marker. Peter Novak, the legendary Hungarian immigrant and head of the Liberty Foundation, has been kidnapped and faces execution at the hands of terrorist extremists. It is up to Janson to rescue him before Novak is murdered. Janson puts together a top team immediately and manages the nearly impossible task of extricating Novak, but something goes horribly wrong - something that indicates that his operation has been compromised from the start - and only Janson himself survives. Now the major intelligence services think that Janson was responsible for Novak's death and are sending their finest operatives after him ...