i really kind of marvel at what some people can do with just a few pages. how much detail they can impart, and how invested a reader can get.

there were a lot of really great stories in this collection. only a couple that didn't resonate with me. quite impressed overall, and have a few new names to add to my ever-growing list of books and authors to read.

my favorites here were william gay and steve hockensmith; i will most definitely be reading more of them in the future. ( )

The Best American Mystery Series are all excellent collections of Mysteries in the short story form.. a difficult art form where each sentence, each plot line has to be close to perfect or it stands out like Wall Street financiers in a soup line. Each year has a different working editor who winnows down the list of nominees to the twenty or so who make the cut.. in 2001, the editor is Lawrence Block. Each year may have one or at the most two stories that are simply not quite as excellent as the rest.. a matter of preference. Among this years authors are the well knowns such as Joyce Carol Oates, T. Jefferson Parker, and Bill Pronzini as well as relative lesser lights who are still capable of minor masterpieces in this demanding craft. ( )