From Publishers Weekly
When people are pushed to their absolute limit, what might they do? Absolutely anything seems to be the answer as demonstrated in these 19 original stories from members of the Mystery Writers of America. MWA has produced some outstanding anthologies, and while this one doesn't rank with the best, there are a few diamonds on display. The late Henry Slesar's (1927-2002) tale, "The Day of the 31st," reminds us of how good a writer he was, as a husband seeks vengeance on his wife's killer. Charlotte Hinger's "Any Old Mother," about a woman scamming mothers who gave up a child for adoption, is a crafty exercise in consequences. Elizabeth Foxwell's "No Man's Land" gives a glimpse of the tough gals who drove ambulances in France in WWII and demonstrates how they could handle just about anything thrown their way. Elaine Viets's "Red Meat" tells of a wife who gives her husband a perfect gift for his 60th birthday-a beautiful woman who'll whip him back into shape. Brendan DuBois's "Her Last Gift" shows how a potter molds a unique present for the man she blames for her husband's death. A woman investigates the accidental death of her best friend in Elaine Togneri's "Guardian Angel" and makes a life-changing discovery. Block provides an introduction but no story. Other contributors include Rhys Bowen, Marcia Talley and Jeremiah Healy.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
What could drive you over the edge?
Maybe if you or someone you love had been victimized? Or if your spouse was having an affair? Or your life just wasn't turning out the way you always dreamed it would?
You want justice. You want to make things right. But you're out of luck. You have to live with it. There just aren't any options.
Or are there?
In this Mystery Writers of America anthology, New York Times bestselling author Lawrence Block has collected nineteen suspense stories exploring such scenarios, by some of mystery's most popular authors...
Brendan DuBois € Noreen Ayres € Shelly Costa € Tom Savage € Tracy Knight € Aileen Schumacher € Elaine Viets € G. Miki Hayden € Elaine Togneri € Henry Sleasar € William E. Chambers € Stefanie Matteson € Charlotte Hinger € Dan Crawford € Rhys Bowen € Mat Coward € Marcia Talley € Elizabeth Foxwell € Jeremiah Healy
About the Author
Lawrence Block, a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master, has won the Edgar Allan Poe and Shamus Awards four times each, among other honors. He is known for his many books featuring P.I. Matthew Scudder, spy Evan Tanner, and burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr.
Blood On Their Hands FROM THE PUBLISHER
In this Mystery Writers of America anthology, New York Times bestselling author Lawrence Block has collected nineteen suspenseful short stories that reveal what people will do when they are pushed to the limit - and see no way out.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
When people are pushed to their absolute limit, what might they do? Absolutely anything seems to be the answer as demonstrated in these 19 original stories from members of the Mystery Writers of America. MWA has produced some outstanding anthologies, and while this one doesn't rank with the best, there are a few diamonds on display. The late Henry Slesar's (1927-2002) tale, "The Day of the 31st," reminds us of how good a writer he was, as a husband seeks vengeance on his wife's killer. Charlotte Hinger's "Any Old Mother," about a woman scamming mothers who gave up a child for adoption, is a crafty exercise in consequences. Elizabeth Foxwell's "No Man's Land" gives a glimpse of the tough gals who drove ambulances in France in WWII and demonstrates how they could handle just about anything thrown their way. Elaine Viets's "Red Meat" tells of a wife who gives her husband a perfect gift for his 60th birthday-a beautiful woman who'll whip him back into shape. Brendan DuBois's "Her Last Gift" shows how a potter molds a unique present for the man she blames for her husband's death. A woman investigates the accidental death of her best friend in Elaine Togneri's "Guardian Angel" and makes a life-changing discovery. Block provides an introduction but no story. Other contributors include Rhys Bowen, Marcia Talley and Jeremiah Healy. (July 1) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
The latest anthology from the Mystery Writers of America serves up 19 murderous new morsels. Some courses are more impressive in parts than as wholes. Stephanie Mattesonﾽs torpid husband and resentful wife, like the prissy librarian who gets his from Marcia Talley and Elaine Vietsﾽs personal-trainer triangle, could have used another twist or two. Aileen Schumacher makes things awfully easy for her construction-crew vigilante, and the avengers in Brendan DuBois and the late Henry Slesar seem to have read each otherﾽs stories. Tom Savage tacks a chilling conclusion onto an otherwise routine idyll of curdled domesticity. Noreen Ayres, Shelly Costa, and G. Miki Hayden create effective mood pieces in locales more memorable than their malevolence. The long-lost daughter in Charlotte Hinger runs a sweet scam, but you can see the end a mile away. Mat Cowardﾽs clever premise--senior citizens riding along in cop cars looking for their attackers--runs down instead of winding up. Dan Crawford hurls exciting incidents into a hijacking tale that not even cow blood can hold together. But Tracy Knightﾽs gleeful attack on the talking cure packs a mind-boggling amount of malevolence into a few pages, and Rhys Bowenﾽs ironic sketch of a Jew struggling to survive in Nazi Germany is perfectly judged. Best of all, Elizabeth Foxwell combines vivid WWI background with a diabolical plot. No drop-dead entrﾽe, but something worth a nibble on almost every plate that passes.
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