Michael Black: 43 books

It hasn’t exactly been a banner year for Chicago-based private detective Ron Shade. First, his main ladylove left for a new life in California. Then his faithful old Chevy turned over its second hundred thousand miles and died. Finally, Shade realized that his expensive downtown office was a luxury...

Come join us in a world where your fun, lovable holiday icons are transformed into twisted little horror fables for you to enjoy. Between presidents becoming zombies, Uncle Sam becoming a vampire, Cupid represented as hellspawn bent on ruining love, and many more, this collection is a hellish good time....

Could anything possibly be more fun than a pig parade!? You wouldn't think so. But you'd be wrong. A pig parade is a terrible idea. Pigs hate to march, refuse to wear the uniforms, don't care about floats, and insist on playing country music ballads. Those are just some of the reasons. And trust me, this hysterical book has plenty more!

Dividing the nation for four years, the American Civil War resulted in 750,000 casualties and forever changed the country's destiny. The conflict continues to resonate in our collective memory, and U.S. economic, cultural, and social structures still suffer the aftershocks of the nation's largest...

Experience the rebirth of cocktails and enjoy your favorite classics as you’ve never tasted them before! History tells us that once a cocktail achieved prominence at the bar, the impulse to invent variations has been irresistible. ReMixology is a celebration of time-honored cocktails, the fascinating...

Many hoped or feared that Antonin Scalia’s appointment to the Supreme Court in 1986 would guarantee a conservative counter-revolution that would reverse the liberal jurisprudence of the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren and which was continued to some extent under the Burger Court though...

The case wasn't just cold -- it was ice-cold. But the murder of Miriam Walker had a pretty high profile in the middle of a tough re-election campaign, so the Cook County sheriff assembled a task force to get results... and put Sergeant Frank Leal on it. Leal is still getting over the death of his partner and some wounds of his own, both emotional and physical.

As of 2016 the Department for Education (DfE) want to ensure all trainee teachers have an understanding of emotional development and attachment, and so this book presents the key concepts that are essential for training in this area to ensure all teachers are up to date. Attachment issues and...

Something's happening in the underworld of Cook County. Tensions are rising between two rival drug lords, and the streets are their battleground. Sergeant Frank Leal and his former partner, Olivia "Ollie" Hart, get involved when one of their informants turns up dead with his ear cut off. When one drug...

Things couldn't be worse for Sergeant Frank Leal. He's assigned a homicide at a seedy motel that suddenly develops into a heater. Leal's regular partner, Olivia Hart, is reassigned to the SWAT team. He's also saddled with a college intern tweeting his every move and Hart's replacement is a rubber-gun-squad...

Detective Roger Colby thought he ended serial killer Morgan Laird's murderous spree 28 years ago when Laird was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison. But Colby soon finds out that nothing is certain in today's ever-changing society. The wheelchair bound criminal has been released from...

Set in the latter half of the fabulous 1940s, Pope’s Last Case and Other Stories details the adventures of tough, hardboiled, ex-Private Eye Vince Pope and his lovely, rich, socialite wife, Laura. Vince, a veteran of WW II, has hung up his PI shingle in favor of a life of leisure, but old pals and...

Mighty Doc Atlas and his crew are about to embark on a quest to eradicate a mysterious masked vigilante known as The Wraith. But the kidnapping of a prominent newspaper magnate's daughter brings the governor knocking on Doc's door with a personal request to assist in the investigation. Soon, Doc finds...

Lawyers … Chicago-based Private Detective Ron Shade has a cop’s inherent distrust of them, even though it’s been years since he was relieved of his badge. Still, when his old friend, Rick Walters, who happens to be a member of the bar, needs help doing the legwork for a wrongful death lawsuit,...