"Graveyard Shift" by James Reasoner; "The Long Silence After" by Ed Gorman
Browsing in the Dawn Treader bookstore in Ann Arbor in January, I grabbed a book from the shelves entitled HARD-BOILED. It was an anthology published in 1995, edited by Bill Pronzini and Jack Adrian, and published by Oxford University Press. I took it home and was delighted to find stories by two of our most faithful reviewers, but that isn't why I'm choosing these two stories today.
Although the stories are quite different, they share a theme: men attempting to redress the loss of a wife through criminal action. Though the outcomes are different, both stories are rich in atmosphere, tension, and character and a quality I love: uxoriousness. They rise above many short stories that depend almost totally on plot. Within a few pages, we know these men---or think we do. I highly recommend both stories as primers on how to write a short story as well as stories to be enjoyed
1 comment:
I believe I bought my copy when it was a new book, before I made the corresponding acquaintance of either writer (though I've met Marcia Muller, though not yet Livia J. Washburn/Reasoner, in a face to face encounter). It could be a good time to revisit the book, if I can locate my copy...
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