Jen Jordan

The basis for this anthology is simple- the appreciation and use of the most infamous swear word of them all. The introduction by Mark Billingham, which alone is worth the price of the book, explains the need for such a book, the celebration of language, all language, even THAT language. As he says "What a dark, disgusting and fabulous treat lies in store within the pages of this vile and appalling book."

The stories are ordered into six sections that range from the simply, pleasantly ironic to the strongly, stomach churning, last tale. You can actually feel yourself start to worry about how far the next one will go as you read them, an utterly delightful feeling of suspense. This organization technique adds the ultimate carrot to keep reading to the last page. You can not wait to try the next and the next and the next. The strength of the book is the editing choices of Ms Jordan. Sex and killing, it is all there, in its many forms and frights.

Now I could give you a quaint little synopsis of the stories, outline the plot or maybe just a few of the standouts. But this is a medly of murder and mayhem that each reader should analyze for him or herself. The book is guaranteed to provoke an emotion, though that will vary between stories and readers. It is noteworthy that none of the works sink to a level of working only to shock value, a tendancy that might be expected from the theme. Each is as different and unique as could be hoped for from an anthology, each one a distinctive work.

From Bleak House site (cut and pasted- I am lazy today and they did such a lovely job of listing them): "Contributors include Laura Lippman, Ken Bruen, Charlie Huston, Nathan Singer, Anthony Neil Smith, Jason Starr, Sarah Weinman, John Rickards, Libby Fischer Hellmann, Reed Farrel Coleman, Kevin Wignall, Olen Steinhauer, Otis Twelve, Russel D. McLean, Scott Wolven, David Bowker, Michael O'Mahony, Ray Banks, Ruth Jordan, Delphine Lecompte, and HP Tinker." (Although I am not sure why they use the word "include" because that is all the authors of the short stories included.) The authors are a nice, wide and talented assortment of crime, thriller and mystery writers, both well known and newer to the scene.

Oh fuck it, just read the book!… (plus d'informations)