HARD BOILED BROOKLYN (2006)

With "Killing O'Malley" by Tony Spinosa (Reed Farrel Coleman)

Edited by Reed Farrel Coleman

Publisher: Bleak House Books

 An anthology of slash and burn short stories set in the County of Kings, this collection boasts an all-star line up of today’s hottest crime fiction writers including: Ken Bruen, Jason Starr, Peter Spiegelman, Peter Blauner, S.J. Rozan, Jim Fusilli, Charlie Stella, Joseph Wallace, Gabriel Cohen, Naomi Rand, Glenville Lovell, Michele Martinez, Tim Sheard, Ralph Pezzullo, Tony Spinosa, and Maggie Estep.

CONTENTS

"Dead Man" by Joseph Wallace
"The Last Pick" by Jason Star
"House Envy" by Naomi Rand
"Waiting for Gallo" by Charlie Stella
"Stones" by Ken Bruen
"The Bocce Ball King of Farrugut Road" by Robert Randisi
"Sunset" by S.J. Rozan
"Hit and Run" by Glenville Lovell
"Killing O'Malley" by Tony Spinosa
"Brenda, My Star" by Jim Fusilli
"Right is Right" by Gabriel Cohen
"The Last Honest Man in Brooklyn" by Michelle Martinez
"Location, Location, Location" by Peter Spiegelman
"All Bleeding Stops Eventually" by Tim Sheard
"Boneshaker" by Maggie Estep
"Step Up" by Ralph Pezzullo
"Going, Going, Gone" by Peter Blauner

REVIEWS

These 17 original stories by writers with a past or present connection to Brooklyn are indeed hard-boiled. Several have children as perpetrators, victims, or horrified onlookers, which makes the collection particularly dark. In Robert Randisi's "The Bocce Ball King of Farragut Road," a five-year-old witnesses a brutal mob murder. The violent side of women, often out for retribution, also is amply on display. However, S.J. Rozan's "Sunset" is more clever than dark; in it, no one dies. Other authors include Peter Blauner, Charlie Stella, Jim Fusilli, Naomi Rand, and Ken Bruen. A worthy competitor to Akashic's Brooklyn Noir titles, this will be relished by readers with a taste for the dark. For collections where gritty crime fiction is popular. -Library Journal

Hardboiled Brooklyn is a rocky ride full of surprises that linger in my memory. The stories all get right to the point and provide insights into a Brooklyn state of mind, each word ringing true. May Reed Farrel Coleman next turn his editing sights on the Bronx or Manhattan. —Stuart Kaminsky

Reed Coleman and friends serve up Brooklyn the only way it should be–Hard-Boiled. —James O. Born

WHERE TO BUY

Bleak House Books, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and fine bookstores.