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MURDER NEEDS A NAMEThe radio show has ended for the day, and the actors and writers are out for dinner, including their sponsor, Abner Ridenour. After the dinner breaks up, Jane and Abner announce their intention of eloping, so Catherine offers them her cottage for their honeymoon. Which doesn't sit well with Daudette, who still holds a torch for Abner. Or young John Severence, their announcer, who feels the same way about Jane. That night, Jane disappears. And the next day, Daudette is found murdered. Lt. Gridley Nelson has a large cast of suspects for the latter, and a nagging suspicion that the two crimes are somehow connected. But who is this Daudette, she of the phony French accent... and what has happened to Jane? MURDER NEEDS A FACEAn unidentified man is found dead in the Greenhedge courtyard, killed by a blow to the head from a bottle. Franca is wracked with guilt because that night she had thrown a milk bottle out of the window to chase away a yowling cat. But Lt. Gridley Nelson figures that this is a case of murder. The group of apartment dwellers are a close-knit group, however, and try to block his attempt to get a straight answer, much less the name of the victim. The reticent renters include the Murtees-a browbeat husband and his raucous wife. The Coopers-a blind father and his over-protective nightclub singing daughter. Mr. Curtis, the love-sick manager. And a rather seedy couple, Vinnie & Myrtle Booth. Someone here knows something about the mysterious body, but this group would rather die than talk.

FORGET MY FATESpecial Agent Eric Lund is in Northern Minnesota at Camp Midaywin, but he's not vacationing. He's there to investigate a lead on someone who is trying to blackmail a U.S. senator. What he finds is Mr. & Mrs. Fitts, the aged owners of the camp; Verne Anderson, a fellow fisherman; Althea Sharon, an older hiker who is writing her adventures; and Roger Winton and Mart Bryan, two young men who are both interested in fellow-camper Rose Dallam, sometimes writer and wealthy young heiress. Things take a serious turn when the body of woman none of them know is pulled from the lake. When Rose's half-sister Tevy arrives, Lund has more suspects than he knows what to do with.

24 HOURS TO KILLThey were bringing in Jack Kelty. Though young, he had killed two men during a botched robbery. Thanks to reporter Martin Hillary, he is now something of a hero. Hillary is pursuing the caravan, followed by Kelty's young gang. But as the police caravan drives Kelty to justice, a savage storm floods the area, stranding them all in the small town of Blue Valley. Most of the men of Blue Valley are fighting the flood elsewhere. Only a handful are left in town to deal with Kelty's arrival. There's Steve Michaels, engaged to Mayor Ben Blake's daughter Sue; and Ben himself, who quickly appoints Steve sheriff as the flood cuts the town off from the rest of the country-and Ben's younger daughter Gretchen, who is very curious about this renegade in their midst....very curious indeed. BLUE MASCARA TEARSJack Cummings is a San Francisco cop, an honest cop. Which is why he resents the way Knocko Cutter gets away with murder. Oh sure, nothing can be proved. But Cummings knows who killed the prostitute a few weeks ago, just like he knows who's behind the killing of a small time gambler in a downtown hotel. But Knocko has got the fix on his side. Cummings can't even trust his own partner. He doesn't even know if he should trust his captain. But one thing's for certain-he knows what he has to do. Cummings is an angry cop, a desperate cop, and he is going to get Knocko no matter what it takes.

SUDDEN FEAR Myra Hudson is the last in the long line of the Hudsons, and her fame, wealth and power are legendary. She has written seven plays in the last fifteen years, all of them successful. Now she watches the rehearsal for her latest, "Immoral Courage," and notices that one of the male leads, Lester Blaine, is too handsome for the part. So she has him removed. But there he is on opening night, charming his way past her defenses-and into her life.Their subsequent marriage seems perfect. Lester is the ideal husband, devoted and attentive. Then one day while listening back to last night's Dictaphone recordings Myra discovers a horrible secret. The machine had been activated when Lester and Irma Neves, Myra's protégé, had entered the room later that night-and secretly made plans to kill her.

THE FIFTH GRAVEKarl Craven is a P.I. who hits town on a simple but well-paying job. He's been hired to get a young woman out of a local religious cult. He's also looking for his partner. Then he finds out that his partner's been murdered. Nor does it look like Penelope has any intention of leaving the cult. So all Craven has to do is rescue the girl and find out who killed his partner. But in a city this corrupt, he also has to stay one step ahead of a shady police chief and a vicious gangster. Then he meets Princess, a sexy bit of blonde poison whom he has no intention of resisting-and things really begin to get interesting.

READY WHEN YOU AREThis remarkable collection highlights the quality, range, and idiosyncratic creativity of Barry N. Malzberg's work both inside and outside of the science fiction genre.Some of these stories could have been published anywhere (and, in fact, two of them appeared in BEST MYSTERIES OF THE YEAR anthologies). Many of them read as if Samuel Beckett woke up one day and decided to write absurdist science fiction exploring the existential comedy and sorrow of modern life. Other stories can break a reader's heart. And often the comic and tragic live side by side in the same story.It's amazing to see what Malzberg was able to pull off while working within - and expanding - the confines of salable genre fiction. The fascinating introduction and afterwords explain what he was up to and why. But don't take our word for it. Read this splendid collection and find out for yourself.

SATAN IS A WOMANLarry Cole's brother Tad is sent up for life for the murder of a couple fellow hoods. Larry has always looked up to Tad, and knows that if he just had enough money, he could buy him a lawyer that could get him out. When he meets Joan, his new neighbor, Larry gets sidetracked by love. He's crazy with it. But Joan is full of surprises, and she has a plan-to rob the Beach Club. This isn't what Larry has in mind to raise cash, but Joan is persistent. If she didn't have her hooks into him so deep, Larry might be able to say no. Because even Hell is more preferable to what Joan has planned for him. 13 FRENCH STREET"Verne often said you were his best friend, Alex, maybe the only real friend he ever had. Because you disregarded things other men wouldn't put up with. So he never had any real friend, other than you. I'm his wife, yes. But you and me-that's something different again.""Then why did you push me away?""Because-not all at once.""Petra, this means I'll have to leave. It couldn't possibly go on."She laughed. Then she threw her head back and laughed still harder. She sobered. "You won't go, Alex. I won't let you."

SO DEADLY FAIRIt was dark and raining when Walter Johnson crawls out of the freight car that night. So when he sees a woman motioning to him from the window of a house across from the tracks, he decides to investigate. What he finds is a bloodied corpse, and the set-up with him as the killer. But Johnson doesn't intend to allow himself to be railroaded into a murder charge. He grabs the woman who tried to frame him, and takes off with her for California. Elizabeth is no victim herself. Sooner or later, she is going to have her way. She settles in with Johnson as a reluctant married couple, but Johnson knows that it's only a matter of time before she makes her break. He just didn't realize that this time he'd be accused of her murder.DIAMONDS DON'T BURNClara and her husband John have grown apart. Then John introduces her to his friend Roger, and she feels an immediate attraction. But Clara is torn. She doesn't want to become an unfaithful wife. Still, Roger is persuasive, and Clara finds herself meeting him in a New York hotel room. What neither of them could suspect is that a diamond robbery has been planned for the next room that night. Mike Grant has been working on this plan for some time, and nothing is going to get in his way. But how could he know that the man he has set out to rob would wake up, that he would be forced to shoot him? And that racing to escape he would bump into Clara, also trying to escape her situation? Who could foresee that their bags would get mixed up in the confusion?

BLONDE BAITChuck Odlum feels like a kept husband. His beautiful wife, Inez, owns a ski resort, where he has to answer to her every beck and call. All they do these days is argue. Chuck wants more out of life. Then Bunny Kemp shows up, blonde and inviting. But more than that, she has a tale to tell-about how her husband Orin has in his possession one of the missing bags of money from a recent New York kidnapping. Orin is on his way to the lodge, but is being tailed by a crooked cop who is onto him. Chuck wants Bunny and soon the feeling is mutual. Between them they figure out how they can keep the money for themselves. All they have to do is get rid of her husband, stay one step ahead of the cop, keep out of the way of the suspicious Inez-and the money will be all theirs. But things don't always work out as planned.

PULP CHAMPAGNE"Lorenz Heller sought to accomplish the same goal he sought in writing his novels, that is, create crime fiction that offered a more complex and nuanced story featuring richer characterizations than was normally regarded as "appropriate" to the audience or "typical" to the medium."The thirteen stories included in this volume show Heller's work seeking a more mature expression of story, characterization and theme. These stories retain the pulp fiction characteristics of a simple story told using intriguing settings and engaging protagonists, but all the stories in this collection feature plots driven by character..."-Bill Kelly from his introduction

THE VELVET FLEECEWhen their mark in a Miami con drops dead, Silky figures it's time to head West to Hart City on the California coast. And since Rick is their point man, he gets the job of setting up the fix. It looks like a piece of cake, ripe for the serving. All he has to do is pose as the best friend of a rich young war widow's dead husband, and he's in. With the rubes in this town, Rick figures it's a cinch. Of course, there's Silky's girlfriend, Tory, who's bored with the boss and only has eyes for Rick. She's supposed to be in Havana, but Tory is no fool. She's followed Rick out west. And how he's got his hands full trying to keep the widow and Tory apart, while working a con of his own, only this time he's going to try to con Silky...

TRAILER TRAMPHer mind and her body were confused, tormented. She didn't know what she was doing. She shouldn't be here like this, in the arms of a strange man. She ought to run, but she couldn't. Everything she needed in life was here. Life, itself, was this very moment. Life was music and this man and her body-its desires. Life was now, this instant!TRAILER CAMP WOMANHank wanted this smooth, sophisticated woman, wanted her badly. He wanted to kiss her, make vicious, violent love to her, taste the passion she obviously held locked beneath the veneer of high class manners. He wanted to make her bow to his every whim and command. And finally, he wanted to possess her. That was Hank Mitchell. Any woman, once his, became nothing but a thing to him, a body he'd enjoyed. And he was determined to enjoy this woman, so different from anyone he'd known ...LOVE CAMP ON WHEELSShe had no reason to think Stan would want a permanent attachment to grow out of having shared a motel room with her for a couple of hours. She knew that men came fully equipped with a built-in double standard. A good woman simply did not go to bed with a man because that was the thing she wanted to do. Not in the good old U.S.A. American women were supposed to come antiseptically sealed in cellophane and mounted on a wholesome split-level pedestal. Then, as if inhibitions were turned on and off at the flick of a switch, they were expected to bring their husbands all the know-how of a street walker ...

TAKE ME AS I AMThey pulled off the heist, but now Monk has to lay low. So he hands off the bag full of money to Alma and tells her to head west. She's supposed to get in touch with Gramma, and turn the bag over to him. But Alma knows the cops are going to stop her along the way, so she picks up a young hitchhiker to act as a cover. And then the rendezvous with Gramma turns sour.Bill is on his way to California. The last thing he expects is to be picked up by a pretty single woman. But when she offers to give him a ride all the way to Sacramento, he figures his luck has turned. Alma is a little older than she is, but she seems to like his company. How could he know that he is now on the run with her from both the cops and Gramma's gang... and Monk.

LITTLE CAESARRico is a small, pale man, but he has guts, endurance and a steely single-mindedness. When Vettori sends the gang out to rob a local nightclub, Rico shoots a cop who pulls a gun on him. They get away, but Vettori is shocked. He had told Rico, no gunplay. That's when Rico realizes that Vettori has gone soft. He's too old to control the gang anymore. So Rico takes over. With the faithful Otero at his side, the rest of them quickly shift their allegiances. Now the world is Rico's. It's his gang, and he's calling all the shots. But there is always a weak link, someone who's ready to spill when the bulls get tough. And sooner or later the nightclub killing is bound to catch up with him.THE SILVER EAGLEHarworth comes from the school of hard knocks. He knows what it's like to be poor, and rejected. So when he takes his horserace winnings and invests them instead of turning them over again at the faro table, all of a sudden he finds himself well-to-do and in a new class. He decides to act the part as well, and sports a monocle and a walking stick. But Harworth isn't fooling the rich folks he falls in with, nor the gangsters who want to help him with his investments. To Helen and Louise, Harworth is an intriguing bit of rough trade. To Canovi and Molina, he represents a mark who can easily front for their crooked dealings. But where does Harworth himself fit in? To whose world does he really belong?

"Over the years, Booth would have a police record that stretched from the greater Los Angeles area up to Oakland, Berkeley, Stockton, and Portland, resulting in no less than five prison sentences, mostly served in either Folsom Prison or San Quentin. It was in the latter where Booth met Robert Tasker, who, at the time, was editing the prison's in-house literary magazine. Recognizing Booth's ability to spin tales of past exploits, Tasker urged his fellow prisoner to contribute to the magazine. Before long they were both sending pieces to H. L. Mencken's American Mercury. Mencken was more than receptive, having long harbored a fondness for stories by convicts, criminals, and low-lifes, with their no-nonsense, tough guy style of writing... "Booth seemed a natural writer when it came to putting his stories on paper. Though the result can be uneven, at times overly wordy, at other times too pulp-oriented, his writing, at its best, shimmers in its matter-of-fact honesty."-from the introduction by Woody Haut

THE GILDED HIDEAWAYRobert West wants a change in his life. And he's willing to stake it all for a chance to make that change. He steals a hundred thousand in cash from his uncle's business, leaves his wife and friends behind, and heads for Mexico. He knows about a lawyer down there, Santos, who can guarantee him safety. All he has to do is pay Santos enough, and West is free to live the good life. That's when he meets Mercedes. She is everything he wants in a woman-innocently captivating, willing to share her life with him. But in a land where anything can be bought for money, does Mercedes have her price as well? And once West meets that price, will he be able to live with himself in his new-found paradise? IN AT THE KILLWhen auctioneer Jonathan Knox finds out that a construction company has ripped up the pavement in front of city hall, then fixed the hole expecting the city to pay for it, he sees a golden opportunity. He knows that bails of paper were buried when the original sidewalk was laid back in 1906. And that within that paper might lurk some very rare stamps. So he buys the bundles, sight unseen, from the construction company. The only problem is, the bundles are missing. And when Knox starts searching for them, he uncovers a much larger plot, this one involving some old photos and a deadly game of blackmail. HEAT LIGHTNINGHolly Reed has been raised rough in the Kentucky hills and knows a lot more about men than her young years would indicate. She certainly knows that Brandy Elliot, the local bootlegger, is interested in her. He makes that plain enough. But she doesn't know love. Until the stranger comes to town, looking for a cabin. There's something about him that attracts Holly. She gladly agrees to help clean for him just to be near him. But the city-bred Larry Carter is not all he seems. There is someone else in town that shares a past with him. And soon Brandy gets an eyeful when he keeps watch on Larry's cabin. The hills already know lust, but before long, they will know violence as well.

THE ICE CREAM MANThailand, 1969. Kala, the 17-year-old daughter of Max's housekeeper, is now living with Max and his wife Jade since the return of her war-damaged father. Max and Jade live in a mansion, and Kala quickly becomes aware that she is becoming part of an uneasy triangle between Max and his barren and needy wife. Kala is also more than curious about the forbidden Garden behind Max's home. Surely Max couldn't have amassed his fortune with his ice cream business.Kala soon figures that the Garden is a front for something illegal. And as she gently weaves her way into becoming Jade's replacement and Max's confidant, Kala realizes she is being groomed as Max's business partner. Then she meets Eddie, a renegade CIA operative attempting to penetrate Max's cartel while posing as road manager for touring musicians. While war is being waged in nearby Vietnam, it's Eddie's job to guide English singer Duke DeLuxe around the various US Air Force bases and clubs in Thailand.Each of them has their own agenda here in the land of smiles. But what will triumph-business, or pleasure?

DEATH OF A STRAY CATMarcella is a born victim. She brings out the worst in men. But someone has taken it too far and murdered the poor girl. Alex knew her from the previous summer, during a brief affair when his wife was away. So when her body is discovered in their beach house, he feels as guilty as if he had murdered her himself. But Walt, who had been carrying on with her too, is the one who doesn't have an instant alibi. So he's the one they arrest. But no one really thinks Walt would have strangled her. Everyone knew Marcella-anyone could have killed her. His friends Brad and Dwight certainly knew who she was. And Jimmy, her conniving husband, was supposed to have a meeting with her that day. Horace Pankey must have seen her as well-he was working on Alex's patio that afternoon. But who hated this stray cat enough to choke the life out of her? And why? AN AFFAIR OF THE HEARTKirk Banning and his wife Hilda run an advertising agency, but ever since Kirk's heart attack, Hilda has been trying to get him to slow down. His mistress, Lorraine Walsh, also wants him to slow down. But all Kirk wants to do is leave Hilda and marry her. Which seemed like a good idea to Lorraine a year ago, but now.... So when Kirk is found dead of an apparent heart attack in Lorraine's apartment, there is a scramble to cover up the situation to protect Hilda. But the bigger question is, what happened to his heart pills that he always kept with him, the pills that could have saved his life? Is it possible that someone didn't want Kirk to survive a second heart attack, and took measures to prevent it?

MURDERS IN SILKTie Bixby spots the woman with the red hat getting on the train. But the guy she's trying not to be seen talking to is strictly a lug. After she comes out of the ladies' room and announces that there is a man with his throat cut inside-that same lug-Tie figures she's up to her neck in trouble. That night, while visiting Pa, there is an explosion next door-an inventor is burned to death in the fire-and Tie sees the woman in the red hat fleeing the scene.He could tell the cops about her, but he decides to not to. He decides to play it cagey for awhile, and help her out. There is definitely a mystery here. Why does the inventor's daughter hate him so much? And why is a gangster's lawyer hanging around the scene of the crime? And who is the guy who was murdered on the train? Most importantly of all, what does the woman with the red hat have to do with all of it?

GUTTER ROADIf only Fred Bauman hadn't stopped that rainy night and offered the young woman a ride, his life wouldn't be such a hell now. How was he to know that Joanne was working a con on him when she enticed him in the front seat of his car? Now he's paying more blackmail than he can afford to keep her from crying rape. Fred certainly doesn't want his wife Ethel to find out about his crazy indiscretion. But what he doesn't know is that Ethel has issues of her own. To stave off sexual boredom, she keeps a hidden bottle of vodka for her afternoons, dreaming of a man who can offer her some excitement of her own. Joanne's simple con sets the wheels in motion, and they're all heading down a road that will change their lives forever. YOU CAN'T STOP ME When Lou Andreas is a teenager, filled with the lust of youth, all he wants to do is lose his virginity. But his first experience is a fiasco, and the young prostitute berates him for his failure. Filled with rage, Andreas finds another prostitute, and kills her. After that, sex and death become all mixed up in his head. He kills only prostitutes, but it becomes a compulsion. Then he meets Tony, and for a while Andreas knows what it's like to have a normal relationship. She is everything he could want in a woman. But Marian makes the mistake of falling in love-she wants marriage, which is the last thing on Andreas' mind. And besides, there are so many more streetwalkers who need killing...

EVIL INTENTIONS COMEWhen Pete Scarcelli agrees to represent sultry Justine Kingman in divorcing her husband Ben-the richest man in town-he has no idea what he's getting into. But he soon finds out that Justine has more plans than just divorce for her husband-deadly plans. When Pete initially refuses to go along, Justine reveals a secret from her past that changes his mind.As he begins to plot with Justine, Pete also has to navigate around Sally Carruthers, a prosecutor and Pete's foe in the courtroom, but a potential lover outside of it. Her father, the chief of police, doesn't want Pete anywhere near his daughter. And then there's Jack Greese, a hardboiled private eye who's not above working both sides of the street.As Pete is drawn deeper and deeper into blackmail and murder, he learns the hard way that only the devil stands between him and Justine. And the devil is a slippery fellow indeed.

THE TEMPTRESSIn which Lieutenant Al Wheeler must solve the murder of the private detective-who was tailing the rich woman's daughter and her jazzed-up boyfriend-who might have been involved in a shady blackmail racket-who certainly had something to do with the kinky uncleLAMENT FOR A LOUSY LOVERIn which Lieutenant Al Wheeler is paired with sexy Mavis Seidlitz to solve-the murder of the TV western actor who gets in the way of a real bullet-the mystery of the producer's missing diamond ring-the dilemma of the doomsaying astrologer who has been set up to take the fallTHE STRIPPERIn which Lieutenant Al Wheeler fails to prevent a high-rise suicide that leads him to-a suspicious lonely hearts club run by a couple right out of an ancient daguerreotype-a shy florist with a penchant for loud showgirls -and the star of the show, the voluptuous stripper known as Deadpan Doris

BABY GODIVAYoung Godiva is an innocent in the world of men. She still carries her two dolls with her wherever she goes. And even though she is the daughter of a minister, she loves to verbally tease. When she taunts Carly Moore at the swimming hole in the woods, she lands both of them in a situation that could mean a whole lot of trouble for young Carly. There is a storm, and the big Crazy Tree falls over, pinning Godie within its branches. Unable to free her, Carly panics and runs. All the townsfolk know is that Godie is found with her dress up, her scalp torn, and blood on her thighs. And when Carly is found hiding, they all cry rape, and lock him up. At his trial, even Godie testifies against him. All Carly can do is tell what he knows, that he thought he saw someone in the bushes, that he didn't rape Godie, that he is innocent. Can anyone save Carly from the electric chair? And what really happened at the swimming hole?

How Love Came to Professor Guildea: Professor Guildea is an extremely unsentimental man-he doesn't need nor want anyone's affection. He has his work, and that is enough. Until one evening when he sees a figure in the park, and crosses the street to investigate. No one is there, and yet Guildea is convinced that someone follows him back into his house... a strange presence with a curious and very irritating attraction to him. A Tribute of Souls: Alistair Ralston, the young Laird of Carlounie, has a feeble soul matched to his pinched and pallid body. But his desires are Gargantuan, as is his hate for those more fortunate. And so one day he takes a book of magical incantations into the woods and makes a pact with the grey traveller: three souls to Satan in exchange for a renewed body. He is brought back to Carlounie in a fever. When he recovers, he is a new man-powerful, driven. It is time to use this power... The Lost Faith: Olivia has known most of her life that she has the power to heal. It all comes down to faith. After she heals young Fernol West-victim of a head injury-her fame spreads to England, where she and Fernol are hosted by the noted eccentric, Lord Sandring. When Olivia meets Sir Hector and is asked to cure his skeptical sister of her blinding headaches, her real test of faith begins.Enter the mysterious realm of Robert Hichens. These three stories and four more weird tales of the unexpected-await you...

DR. GATSKILL'S BLUE SHOESPeter Hanley is a cop. Right now, he's an inmate in a mental institution. It's either the mental institution or prison. You see, Peter may have killed someone, a woman with flaxen hair and jade green eyes who calls herself Narcissa. Strangled her, in fact. But he can't remember. So Peter is injected with sodium amytal and talks to the doctor, Dr. Gatskill. He remembers falling in love with Narcissa. He remembers her icy kisses. But he doesn't remember killing her. So he and Dr. Gatskill take it one step at a time. Maybe if he can recall the events that led up to Narcissa's fatal evening, he will be able to figure out what happened to her. But all he can see is the image of her lying across the smoky blue sofa, her face a grimace of fear...

FALLEN ANGELEric Stanton is a drifter and a con artist. After he gets kicked off a bus from L.A., he finds himself in the small coastal town of Walton. This is where he meets Stella, a local waitress. She's down on her luck, too, so they make a good pair. So good that Stanton decides to pull a grift on a naïve young woman named Emmie with a large inheritance. Stanton figures that with her $10,000 in his pocket, he and Stella can make a fresh start somewhere else. What he doesn't figure is that Emmie will actually fall for him. Then Stella is found murdered. And Mark Judd, the cop in charge of the investigation, is getting pretty rough with his interrogations. It'd make anybody sweat. And Stanton is beginning to sweat plenty...

When they find Rollo Novak and his wife Katrina their bodies are nude, hanging side-by-side next to their pool... murdered. Enter Detective Lieutenant Ivy Bourque and her forensic team. It's not going to be an easy case to solve. There are no DNA samples of anyone but the victims at the crime scene, and only footprints to show that anyone else had been there. The butler, a Slovene like Novak, heard and saw nothing.The victims appear to be blameless. But is Novak a secret oligarch? Were he and his wife killed by multiple murderers? The footsteps seem to suggest so.Novak's business partner Karlos Vega is one suspect. But how would he benefit from Novak's death? And then there is Novak's son Atlas, who does benefit, but has an airtight alibi. Bourque encounters many suspects, including Novak's ex-wife and a pair of ex-pats from the old country, but none of them have a motive. Why would someone want to kill the benevolent rich man without an enemy in the world?

OBJECT OF LUSTMarian Dewitt is feeling restless. Her husband Dee is away a lot, and the years haven't been kind to their marriage. When Lewis Leland saves her from a near-drowning, she finds herself curious about the young man. She allows him to take her up until the hills one afternoon. But she is spotted by a group of young boys, her daughter's friends. Marian flees the scene, mortified but grateful for the distraction. Because there is something strange about Lewis-something not quite right. Lewis is too cold and calculating. Soon he begins following Marian, spying on her, even ransacking her house. Lewis knows that soon she will be his-and there is nothing Marian can do about it!

RAFFERTYThey all trust Jack Rafferty. His wife Martha never questions him. Jill, his mistress, is completely charmed by him. Even gangster Tommy Faricetti knows that Rafferty will always do right by him. But Rafferty has dedicated himself to making organized labor his career-by whatever means necessary-and his only real loyalty is to himself. Now a Congressional Committee has got him on the witness stand, asking him questions about his past, probing the secrets that his friends and loved ones trust him with. He knows that the union is behind him. But he also knows the only person who can save Jack Rafferty is Rafferty himself.TO FIND A KILLERLt. Marty Ferris is the kind of cop who sees things in black and white. He's a good cop but has no patience for human failings. So when he begins to suspect that his wife is seeing someone on the side, he has her investigated, and finds out that she has a criminal past. Love turns to hate, and Ferris begins to plan his revenge. So when nightclub singer Billy Chamlers is found murdered, he decides to set up one of the suspects. Sam Duffy, her seedy agent, seems a good fit. But ex-con Willy Holiday is even better. It doesn't take much to badger them both into submission. In Ferris' world, they're all guilty... and one of them is going to murder his wife.

HIGH CONCEPTS ... an eclectic mix of science fiction and fantasy, from the darkly serious to the trickily humorous, in a broad range of subject matter. Tales of space exploration and adventures on other worlds. Tales of aliens among us. Interpolations of what life on earth might be like in the near and far future. Variations on such established fantasy tropes as vampires, werewolves, zombies, ghosts and genies. And a handful of experimental concoctions that defy classification.Thirty-four stories from the pages of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Analog, Fantastic, Amazing Stories, Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Beyond, Jim Baen's Universe and Venture Science Fiction as well as a host of original anthologies... several stories written in collaboration with Barry N. Malzberg... vintage tales from the late 1960s and early 70s, and current ones from the 20-teens, four of them appearing here for the first time. Enter the high concept world of Bill Pronzini...