Maxima Library

An anthology of stories Martin H Greenberg and Brittany A Koren

Assassins-are they born or made? Do they choose this role out of necessity, because they are forced to, or because they enjoy killling? And what do they do in their spare time?

These are just a few of the questions answered in this all-original collection of twelve tales by fantasy's finest-focusing on killers of all kinds. From Vree, Tanya Huff's well-known assassin from her Quarters novels, to a woman whose father's vengeful spirit forced her down dark magic's bloody path, to an assassin seeking to escape his Master's death spell, here are spellbinding stories of murder and mayhem, and the shadowy figures who sell death for a living.

Eleven stories from Shamus Award-winning crime novelist Ed Gorman that demonstrate both his range and his storytelling versatility.
The collection opens with “All These Condemned,” the story of two brothers and one shocking secret, and “A Girl Like You,” an almost mystical story about a young man coming to grips with the meaning of love. “The Way It Used to Be” features a small-town teenage bigot, while a famous 1920s mobster is the lead in the somewhat whimsical “The New Man.” The chiller “Judgment” is about a Catholic priest, and a very unlucky stick-up artist plies his trade in “Ghosts.”
One of Gorman’s favorite themes — lost love and its consequences — surfaces in “That Day at Eagle’s Point,” and a tabloid TV news piece provides the basis for the shocking title story.
In “Aftermath” a woman struggles to recover after being raped by a policeman, while the woman in “Eye of the Beholder” struggles with the effects of her own beauty. The final story, “Angie,” is a stunning, Hitchcockian take on a small-town good-time girl who isn’t quite what she seems.

In its brief existence, THE BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES has established itself as a peerless suspense anthology. Compiled by the best-selling mystery novelist Ed McBain, this year’s edition boasts nineteen outstanding tales by such masters as John Updike, Lawrence Block, Jeffery Deaver, and Joyce Carol Oates as well as stories by rising stars such as Edgar Award winners Tom Franklin and Thomas H. Cook. The 1999 volume is a spectacular showcase for the high quality and broad diversity of the year’s finest suspense, crime, and mystery writing.

An anthology of stories edited by Harlan Coben and Otto Penzler

Best-selling novelist Harlan Coben, a master of suspense and creator of the critically-acclaimed Myron Bolitar series, edits this latest collection of the must-reads in mysteries from the past year.

In his introduction to the The Best American Noir of the Century, James Ellroy writes, 'noir is the most scrutinized offshoot of the hard-boiled school of fiction. It's the long drop off the short pier and the wrong man and the wrong woman in perfect misalliance. It's the nightmare of flawed souls with big dreams and the precise how and why of the all-time sure thing that goes bad.' Offering the best examples of literary sure things gone bad, this collection ensures that nowhere else can readers find a darker, more thorough distillation of American noir fiction.

James Ellroy and Otto Penzler, series editor of the annual The Best American Mystery Stories, mined one hundred years of writing - 1910-2010 - to find this treasure trove of thirty-nine stories. From noir's twenties-era infancy come gems like James M. Cain's 'Pastorale,' and its post-war heyday boasts giants like Mickey Spillane and Evan Hunter. Packing an undeniable punch, diverse contemporary incarnations include Elmore Leonard, Patricia Highsmith, Joyce Carol Oates, Dennis Lehane, and William Gay, with many page-turners appearing in the last decade.