Dangerous Women: Original Stories from Today's Greatest Suspense Writers [Audiobook, CD, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Otto Penzler (Author), Lorenzo Carcaterra (Author), Michael Connelly (Author), John Connolly (Author), Thomas H. Cook (Author), Jeffery Deaver (Author), Nelson Demille (Author), J. A. Jance (Author), Elmore Leonard (Author), Laura Lippman (Author), Ed McBain (Author), Jay Mcinerney (Author), Walter Mosley (Author), Joyce Carol Oates (Author), Anne Perry (Author), Ian Rankin (Author), S. J. Rozan (Author), Andrew Klavan (Author), Ellen Archer (Narrator), Patrick Lawlor (Narrator), Michael Prichard (Narrator), Simon Vance (Narrator), Alan Sklar (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2005

Prepare to meet the most seductively female and the most shockingly fatal of femmes fatales, brought to you by seventeen of today's finest authors of mystery and suspense fiction. Award-winning editor Otto Penzler presents a collection of short and sizzling masterpieces of kisses and kiss-offs, gams and gats, published for the first time anywhere. In "Third Party," Jay McInerney takes you on a wild ride through the Paris night with a party girl built for speed and sin…"Rendezvous," Nelson DeMille's first short story in twenty-five years, plunges you into a Vietnam jungle where the bloodiest scourge of this man's army is no man at all…back in the U.S.A. of "Louly and Pretty Boy," Elmore Leonard introduces a Depression-era teenage gun moll who loves Pretty Boy Floyd more than she likes knocking off filling stations…and Michael Connelly's colorful and ironic "Cielo Azul" shows how a nameless woman left dead on a Los Angeles hillside can be the most lethal prey of all. These and a bevy of other very bad girls cast their criminal spells through the powerful voices of Lorenzo Carcaterra, Joyce Carol Oates, John Connolly, Thomas H. Cook, Jeffery Deaver, J. A. Jance, Andrew Klavan, Laura Lippman, Ed McBain, Walter Mosley, Anne Perry, Ian Rankin, and S. J. Rozan in stories as irresistible as the antiheroines that blaze through their pages."I'm not usually given to superlatives, but DANGEROUS WOMEN may be the best, most varied, and colorful mystery anthology of all time."-Janet Evanovich"Otto Penzler knows more about crime fiction than most people know about anything, and proves it once more in this brilliant anthology."-Robert B. Parker"Wow, what memorable dames! What terrific short stories! DANGEROUS WOMEN is a winning collection."-Susan Isaacs

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Mystery maven Penzler has gathered 17 stories from top writers for an all-original suspense anthology with results that are about the same as if a master chocolatier had assembled a new sampler box: everything of high quality but with enough variety to appeal to all tastes. All the contributors are true to their own very familiar voices. Ed McBain's "Improvisation," a chilling story of two young actresses who commit murder to learn what it feels like, is cut-to-the-bone sharp. In the haunting "Cielo Azul," Michael Connelly allows both detective Harry Bosch and profiler Terry McCaleb to brood, as only they can, about a murder victim never identified. In "Dear Penthouse Forum (A First Draft)," Laura Lippman uses an original format to showcase a truly frightening woman with a most unusual collecting mania who preys on men in airports. S.J. Rozan's "The Last Kiss" features a dangerous woman who's all the more dangerous because at first she seems so sympathetic. Jeffrey Deaver's "Born Bad" is a brilliant double play, with tight characterizations and an unforgettable plot twist. It's a joy to watch these talented authors, who also include J.A. Jance, Elmore Leonard, Walter Mosley and Joyce Carol Oates, embrace the short story form and produce magic.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Mystery guru Penzler (prolific editor, bookseller, and founder of Mysterious Press) has convinced 17 contemporary mystery writers to submit never-before-published short stories for this anthology. The lineup includes plenty of heavyweights: Ed McBain, Anne Perry, Elmore Leonard, Joyce Carol Oates, and Ian Rankin. Penzler's introduction showcases the entire squad and provides a witty look at dangerous women in mysteries past, such as Philip Marlowe's Brigid O'Shaughnessy and Conan Doyle's Irene Adler. The stories, just about all of which feature a woman gleefully luring a hapless male to destruction, often rely on abrupt power shifts, as in McBain's "Improvisation," which begins with a seductress in a bar saying, "Why don't we kill somebody?" Oates sustains suspense through a pathological love letter in "Give Me Your Heart," and Laura Lippman's "Dear Penthouse Forum (A First Draft)" delivers a twisted O'Henry ending. The cumulative effect is more than a little poisonous--best to take these small ampoules of crime one at a time. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Tantor Media; Unabridged,Library - Unabridged CD edition (January 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400131456
• ISBN-13: 978-1400131457
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 6.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,573,014 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #30 in Books > Books on CD > Authors, A-Z > ( L ) > Leonard, Elmore
  • #56 in Books > Books on CD > Authors, A-Z > ( D ) > Deaver, Jeffery
  • #83 in Books > Books on CD > Authors, A-Z > ( P ) > Perry, Anne

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating & Outstanding Short Fiction Mystery Anthology, January 29, 2005

By 

Jana L. Perskie "ceruleana" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dangerous Women (Paperback)

The film, "Fatal Attraction," features a dangerous woman - lethal, in fact. "The Maltese Falcon's" Brigid O'Shaughnessy is certainly a hazard. "What makes a woman dangerous?" Is she irresistible? Seductive? Does she wound with her eyes? Is she a femme fatale, "aware of her power, or utterly innocent of it?" Otto Penzler, editor, bookseller, and founder of Mysterious Press, asks this question in his Introduction to this short fiction anthology, "Dangerous Women." The answer is subjective - a matter of opinion. Seventeen outstanding authors, some of the best writers in the mystery/suspense genre, answer the question here, creatively, diabolically, deliciously. Lying, manipulation, seduction, horror, murder, secretiveness, suicide - they're all covered in these stories. "Dangerous Women" is an outstanding, wicked, absolutely amazing collection. Consistent excellence is what makes this book so special and sets it apart from the rest. Ed McBain, Michael Connelly, Joyce Carol Oates, Anne Perry, Elmore Leonard, Walter Mosley, Laura Lippman, Nelson DeMille, Thomas Cook, Andrew Klaven, John Connolly, Lorenzo Carcaterra, J. A. Jance, Jay McInerey, S. J. Rozen, Jeffrey Deaver and Ian Ranki, are all at their best here.

In Ed McBain's "Improvisation," a man approaches a tall, willowy blonde at a bar and asks her - "So, what do we do for a little excitement tonight?" The woman, a stranger, suggests, "Why don't we kill somebody?" Their mating ritual lightens up, but only momentarily. Michael Connelly's Detective Harry Bosch, says, in "Cielo Azul," that his LAPD partner always believed "the most dangerous women are beautiful in life, heartbreaking in death." "A black and silver diamond-headed spider, the so-called 'happy spider,' " who spins her web with venom, is Joyce Carol Oates' kind of woman in "Give Me Your Heart." Talk about a woman scorned! Walter Mosley's "Karma" loved somebody so much she'd die for him. "Rendezvous," Nelson DeMille's first short story in twenty-five years, takes you into a sweltering Vietnamese jungle where the most lethal enemy is not a man at all. Ian Rankin writes about a prison warden fascinated by the steamy prison mail he censors in "Soft Spot." Jeffrey Deaver's "Born Bad" is chilling! Every one of these stories is a gem, along with those I have not mentioned.

This is the perfect book to take on a trip....or on the train to work...or for reading during lunch hour. You can read a short story as satisfying as any novel, and put the book down without feeling that you have left at a crucial moment in the narrative. You can read selectively, or read only one story at a time. They are all winners. "Dangerous Women" is probably the best and most exciting mystery anthology I have ever come across. Highly recommended!
JANA

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Female Villains and Heroes Within, March 16, 2007

By 

James N Simpson (Gold Coast, QLD Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Dangerous Women (Hardcover)

A sensational collection of short stories with great female characters by leading authors including Connelly, Deaver, McBain, Lippmann, Leonard, Perry. Like all compilation collections by different authors you have superb masterpieces along with stories which aren't that great. There are enough masterpieces within though to make Dangerous Women a must read!

The first story Improvisation by Ed McBain starts of with the response by a beautiful blonde (Jessica) to a guy's (Will) bar pickup line of "What do we do for a little excitement tonight?" "Why don't we kill somebody?" Will thinks she's flirting and as she pints out an unattractive loner woman to be the victim he suggests ways how they do this then still thinking its all a game asks the victim to join them.

Improvisation is not the only masterpiece within. Laura Lippman's Dear Penthouse Forum (A First Draft) has a stranded passenger who needs to sleep overnight in the terminal being offered money for a hotel by an older good samaritan lady which his conscience just won't let him take. She then offers him to stay in her guestroom at her nearby house he decides he can do this since he'll give the lonely woman certain favours in return.

Rendevous by Nelson De Mille has a Vietnam veteran recounts the tale of a beautiful sniper who targets the squad he led on patrol as lieutenant and they feared more than any male counterpart.

Ian Rainkin's Soft Spot has a pathetic prison censor named Denis who reads all incoming and outgoing mail. Like all the guards he would like a piece of the beautiful Selina who is the wife or jailed mobster Blaine. Becoming obsessed with her he learns she is having an affair and is selling Blaine's house obviously about to do a runner. He may well be able to blackmail her for his pleasure to keep certain things from her husband.

Born Bad by Jeffry Deaver has a daughter who never got along with her parents who chose never to raise a hand to discipline her. As she got older they became more and more disappointed in her rebellious lifestyle. Now she is grown up, the mother is a widow and has tracked down her daughter. The daughter has accepted to see her but the mother does not know if she has accepted because she has turned her life around or if the rage has developed further and she will want to kill her.

If you enjoyed this collection and are looking for more sensational books with great female characters also check out either the Jessica Jones or Anna Fehrbach series by Christopher Nicole. Gerald Hammond has also written his fair share of great female leads. Kate White's Bailey Wiggins character is another series worth checking out as well.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic femmes fatales... you will not want this to end!, January 19, 2005

By 

Chandler (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dangerous Women (Paperback)

I am so glad I got this one. The characterizations and plots between the covers are unsurpassed. Jeffrey Deaver's story is such a wonderful read, and the whole anthology is a terrific collection of new, hip stories by the best crime writers alive today. Laura Lippman's story is incredible - what a surprise! Some ironic, some humorous in different ways, but always worth savoring. Ed McBain/Evan Hunter as always plays at the top of his game as is Elmore Leonrad -- and Andrew Klavan rocks!!! I was amazed at the level of his skill and spirit with that dangerous woman. Of course, Joyce Carol Oates and Michael Connelly are always a treat and boy, do they know femmes fatales! If you like the women of noir, you won't want this one to end!