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This book came virtually out of nowhere for me. I visited a thrift store I had never been in before, and left with a plastic bag full to the rim of books for $3.00. This one in particular caught my eye. I knew after reading the introduction that I had made a fine selection, and that I was in for quite a ride. The anthology did not disappoint. Just about every story contained within is incredible, though not all of them would I strictly define as "crime." More suspenseful noir I'd say, but maybe
Sampled 5 random stories and found all of them to be amateurish and poorly written. Either Gorman can't tell, or his enthusiasm fogs his taste.
As is true of just about every short story collection, this is uneven. I would have given it 2 stars except for the amusing surprise of finding Harlan Ellison in a noir crime collection instead of his usual home in speculative fiction.
These are contemporary roman noir (black novel) stories. As with most anthologies a bit of a mixed bag but probably something for nearly every taste. The short story format gave me a chance to check out a host of new authors and to read old favorites like Harlan Ellison and Jim Thompson.
More interesting in the first half than the second, as the 'current generation' of writers (meaning those active in the late-1980s) begin to appear and the focus of the stories moves from crime solving to the psychology of crime. The drop off in quality comes most sharply with "A Killer in the Dark", a story of a man descending into his basement to save his child from a rattlesnake. I'll forgive that there was no 'crime' per se in the story, but it was hyped by the editor as the work of a master...
A very good collection. I am especially fond of the Edgar award winning story "Soft Monkey" by Harlan Ellison.
This collection has quite a few older (mid 20th century) stories, but the newer ones are excellent too. This book is from 1987, so new isn't really the word (it's as if I consider it new because I remember 1987, even though I was 10 half that year). Soft Monkey by Harlan Ellison (from 1987) was full of action, death and emotions. Tough by John Lutz was amazing, a perfect story. And the older ones? I adored Swamp Search by Harry Whittington. This has Jim Thompson's This World, Then the Fireworks
Faves:Loren D. Estleman, "The Used"William Campbell Gault, "Take Care of Yourself"Robert J. Randisi, "A Matter of Ethics"James Reasoner, "Death and the Dancing Shadows"Wayne Dundee, "Shooting Match"Joe R. Landsdale, "The Pit"
A great collection of hard-boiled roman noir.
Amazing will be the day wherein I read an anthology and enjoy every story it contains. That day has not yet arrived. Typically of anthologies, no matter the genre, The Black Lizard Anthology of Crime Fiction is a mixed bag. Most were solid, well-written and well-told, with nothing objectionable to them. A few too many fell flat, petering out at the end or not grabbing my attention in the first place. For me, the standout story of the collection was “Shut the Final Door” by Joe L. Hensley, which
What I learned from this book...Always keep an empty bottle and a loaded gun in your desk...maybe it was a loaded bottle and an empty gun...I dunno. Only a fool stares into the barrel of any of the above.
Perhaps 2.5 stars marked up to three by Goodreads. Twenty short stories from the 1950s to 1980s. As with so much of this sort of collection, some stories much better than others.
A wonderful collection of crime fiction. Would be writers could learn a thing or two from the stories in this book.
This is a collection of hard boiled, old style crime fiction, from a book published in 1987. The dozen or so stories were written from the 1950s to the 1980s by a variety of crime writers. Times have changed and some of the stories seem dated, as attitudes and descriptions of blacks and of women have changed over the past 30 years--or maybe not. There are still dark urban streets and blue collar taverns and mountain hollows where the attitudes and language would still be recognized. I rated it a...
Here's' about 20 crime stories written or published from the 1950's through the 1980's. The stories range from deep and dark to short and sweet, well, sweet for a crime story. At one point I had to take a break from the book as one of the stories was really dark. Twisted dark. Hopeless. When I picked it back up again, I read the first line of the next story. "At twenty-five minutes past midnight on 51st Street, the wind-chill factor was so sharp it could carve you a new asshole." That story was
Through it all, Gorman's enthusiasm for the genre shines through. There are quite a few editing mistakes; a handful of the stories are more science-fiction or horror than they are crime; and the stories themselves range from mediocre to great, but overall, it's not a bad anthology, and some of the earlier stories are great! When you finally reach Gorman's story near the back and begin to read it, you quickly realize that, perhaps, the purpose of this whole anthology was for Gorman to sneak one o...
This collection comes from the 70's and 80's and features better writing (certainly more contemporary) than the same publisher's "Big Book of Pulps". Good summer reading.
