Thursday, June 23, 2011

E-book Bargain of the Week: Top Suspense

Top Suspense ($2.99) is a strong collection of short stories from some of the top mystery and thriller writers.

The twelve authors each have their own stories in here, plus the final story, "The Chase," which is written by the entire group--an experiment that turns out surprisingly well and might be the collection's best example of classic suspense.

One of my favorites is Ed Gorman's, "The Baby Store." In the not-so-distant future (isn't this already happening kind of?), rich parents design their children to their specifications. Gorman zeroes in on one couple and the problems cause when their perfect child turns it, well, not so perfect. A disturbing tale reminiscent of one of my favorite authors, Philip K. Dick.

I also really enjoyed "Death's Brother" by Bill Crider, about a professor who has an affair with one of his students. Bill has a dark sense of humor and, although you probably expect that this affair won't work out so well, the story takes some surprising twists and turns.

Every entry in Top Suspense is by a master of the craft of storytelling -- David Zeltserman, Max Allan Collins, Vicki Hendricks, Libby Fischer Hellmann, the list goes on. A brilliant collection from a group of authors I'm sure we'll be seeing more of.

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