Death comes too late / by Charles Ardai.

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Title:

Author:

Ardai, Charles, author.

Titan Books (Firm), publisher.

ISBN:

9781803366265

Edition:

First Hard Case Crime edition.

Physical Description:

397 pages ; 20 cm.

Series:

A Hard Case Crime book ; HCC-162

Hard Case Crime book ; HCC-162.

Contents:

home front -- Game over -- day after tomorrow -- case -- Goin' West -- shadow line -- Nobody wins -- Jonas and the frail -- deadly embrace -- Don't be cruel -- Mother of Pearl -- fall of man -- Fathers and sons -- Sleep! Sleep! Beauty bright -- Masks -- My husband's wife -- Secret Service -- bar called Charley's -- free man -- investigation of things.

Abstract:

"Collected here for the first time anywhere are the author's 20 finest stories, including his Edgar-winning "The Home Front," about death and repentance during World War II; the Shamus Award finalist "Nobody Wins," about a brutal gangland enforcer searching for the woman he loves; and year's-best selections such as "A Bar Called Charley's," about a traveling salesman's most grueling night on the road."-- Provided by publisher.

Subject Term:

Death -- Fiction.

Criminal investigation -- Fiction.

Criminals -- Fiction.

Detective and mystery stories, American.

Enquêtes criminelles -- Romans, nouvelles, etc.

Criminels -- Romans, nouvelles, etc.

Genre:

short stories.

Detective and mystery fiction.

Noir fiction.

Nouvelles.

Added Corporate Author:

Titan Books (Firm),

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Avon-Washington Township Public Library	Adult Mystery Fiction Book Paperback	120791003131782	F ARD	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF HARD CASE CRIME -
20 UNFORGETTABLE STORIES BY HARD CASE CRIME FOUNDER CHARLES ARDAI
"A MASTER OF THE SHORT STORY." - STEPHEN KING

Since debuting 20 years ago, Hard Case Crime has won acclaim for publishing the best in hardboiled crime fiction - not least of all the work of founding editor Charles Ardai, which has won the Edgar, Shamus and Ellery Queen Awards, been selected for 'Best of the Year' anthologies, and earned praise from everyone from the Washington Post and Chicago Tribune to Megan Abbott and Stephen King.

Collected here for the first time anywhere are the author's 20 finest stories, including his Edgar-winning "The Home Front," about death and repentance during World War II; the Shamus Award finalist "Nobody Wins," about a brutal gangland enforcer searching for the woman he loves; and year's-best selections such as "A Bar Called Charley's," about a traveling salesman's most grueling night on the road. From Brazil at Carnival to Times Square at midnight, from Tijuana, Mexico to history's first gunshot in 11th-century China, Ardai will take you to some of the most dangerous places in the world - and the darkest corners of the human heart.

Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

Ardai celebrates the 20th anniversary of his publishing imprint, Hard Case Crime, by reprinting 20 of his own noir tales from 1990 to 2023. Any collection this big is bound to be a mixed bag, but even the lesser stories here illuminate the formulas they depart from. "The Investigation of Things," in which two Chinese brothers compete to solve the murder of a Buddhist monk, shows that Ardai's gifts aren't best suited to whodunits. The cancellation of a boy's promised trip to see the circus in "The Day After Tomorrow" pushes Ardai's ability to plot a short-short story to the limit. And "Nobody Wins," which chronicles the gratuitously calamitous effects of a private eye's search for his missing fiancee, has a title that would have been perfect for this whole volume. Ardai's best stories walk a tightrope between noir fatalism and surprising invention. Some of them boast unsettlingly original premises. A fed pursues a doomed relationship with the grieving mother of a boy he arrested and got killed in "The Home Front"; "Game Over" follows a roll of quarters intended as a birthday gift; "My Husband's Wife" showcases the coolly amoral voice of a conference attendee's wife as she commits an escalating series of infractions. Other stories present endings bound to startle the most hard-bitten fans. "The Case" follows the adventures of a suitcase bomb that hasn't (yet) exploded; a bodyguard's search for a lubricious charge who's disappeared from under his nose leads to a bloodbath in "Jonas and the Frail"; the man who hires a trio of contract killers in "Masks" turns out to have a shocking motive; and the ending of "A Free Man," neatly balancing disillusionment and sentiment, provides a fitting close to the volume. Readers who limit themselves to one story a night are in for a lot of sleepless nights. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.