The Dark End of the Street: New Stories of Sex and Crime by Today's Top Authors [Paperback]

Jonathan Santlofer (Editor), SJ Rozan (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 11, 2010

In one fast-paced story, a strong and aggravated man considers the pretty woman at the bar while he fingers the knife in his pocket. But what becomes of his prey when they move to the bedroom? In another tale, a man remembers the victim of a ghastly murder who visited the same hair salon as he does. And a Don Juan of a protagonist has a hobby of marrying vulnerable women, getting access to their bank accounts, and then robbing them blind.

But there is much more to this collection than dark-haired vixens and crimes of passion. Some stories are brooding, some twisted; some bring righteous satisfaction, some linger in the back of your mind. What is truly on display is an impressive collection of literary talent: a group of some of the best writers we have, weaving fresh and memorable stories from a pair of classic themes. Taken as a whole, they are a rare treat for fans of great fiction, whether it's high literature, good old-fashioned suspense, or anything in between. Original black-and-white art by artist/author Jonathan Santlofer completes this innovative, exciting, and irresistibly intriguing book—a true literary gem.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As Rozan notes in her introduction, she and co-editor Santlofer have made selections from both banks of the stream dividing crime writing and literary writing for this superior anthology of 19 new stories on the twin subjects of sex and crime. Highlights include Laura Lippman's Tricks, in which a con man rips women off after seducing them, and Lawrence Block's Scenarios, which takes the reader inside the fantasies of a sadistic murderer. Stephen L. Carter's gift for intricate plotting is on display in The Hereditary Thurifer, perhaps the volume's most distinctive tale, in which the new white rector of a predominantly African-American Washington, D.C., congregation learns that the church was the site of an unsolved crime of passion. Other contributors include Madison Smartt Bell, Lee Child, Amy Hempel, Jonathan Lethem, Joyce Carol Oates, and Edmund White. (May)
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From Booklist

Nineteen new stories explore the undeniable connection between sex and crime. Represented are crime-fiction luminaries Lee Child, Lawrence Block, Michael Connelly, and Val McDermid, among others. Block takes a standard sexual-predator-on-the-prowl scenario and gives it a half-dozen little twists on the way to a completely unexpected ending. Child, stepping out from his testosterone-heavy Jack Reacher thrillers, presents a tidy little character study about, well . . . it’s not whom it seems to be about. In “The Perfect Triangle,” Connelly’s lawyer-narrator takes a law student–stripper as a client and learns there are similarities in the professions. Janice Lee exposes the sexual and financial tensions faced by two couples who decide to get away for a country weekend. “The Beheading,” by Francine Prose, is a short, haunting tale of a child unhealthily obsessed with decapitation. Uniformly fine writing will attract readers familiar with the marquee authors and introduce them to a talented group of lesser lights. --Wes Lukowsky

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA (May 11, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596916834
• ISBN-13: 978-1596916838
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #173,145 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Out Of The Shadows, June 4, 2010

By 

Ronald T. Roseborough "Ronrose" (Dover,De USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dark End of the Street: New Stories of Sex and Crime by Today's Top Authors (Paperback)

This is a collection of mystery stories from some of today's best writers. The theme of the stories revolves around sex and crime. The authors were allowed to run with this theme and some very different stories emerged. Some of the authors present us with story lines that at first seem very familiar, but hold onto your hat because the ride has just begun. By the end of the story we are in an entirely different ballpark, wondering how we got there. Some of the stories are outright violent or sexy and both can get very explicit. Many have a touch of the noir and are seldom sympathetic to the victim, although I did end up siding with one or two of the protagonists. Murder, identity theft, bondage, swindling, bigamy, and the pleasures and dangers to be found in your local beauty salon, all come into play to make this a fascinating collection.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Crimes of Passion, May 22, 2010

By 

Tom S. "filmfan3" (New York City) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Dark End of the Street: New Stories of Sex and Crime by Today's Top Authors (Paperback)

Here's a collection of brilliant stories that lives up to its name. Every title in this group is very, very dark--or, as the French say, "noir." The concept was to take some of the leading names in crime fiction and some of our best "mainstream" authors and mix them together, blurring the already blurred line between them. This amazing volume proves, once and for all, that great writing is great writing, no matter what "niche" or "genre" you care to call it.

The best way to illustrate the success of this venture is simply to introduce the entire cast of contributors: Madison Smartt Bell, Lawrence Block, Stephen L. Carter, Lee Child, Michael Connelly, Lynn Freed, James Grady, Amy Hempel, Janice Y. K. Lee, Jonathan Lethem, Laura Lippman, Patrick McCabe, Val McDermid, Joyce Carol Oates, Francine Prose, Abraham Rodriguez Jr., S. J. Rozan, Jonathan Santlofer, and Edmund White. Rozan and Santlofer were the editors who conceived the project, and Santlofer's beautiful ink-and-pigment illustrations really set the mood. Between them, these 19 artists have come up with 19 dark, vivid, classy tales of sex and violence, and they're all so good that deciding which is your favorite will be quite a challenge. Bravo, everyone!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sometimes dirty and good, sometimes boring and confusing., April 18, 2011

By 

Lena Tumasyan "loyal patron" (NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dark End of the Street: New Stories of Sex and Crime by Today's Top Authors (Paperback)

This collection definitely had some hits, but also some flops. From the title, I was looking forward to reading some dirty, flirty, naughty, and criminal stories. Some were, others not so much.

Some hits were:
ME and Mr Rafferty - short, sweet, and BADASS ending.
Perfect Triangle - about sex, crime, and strippers.
Midnight Stalking was fabulous, about sex and crime in 1939 (perfectly matches title of book).
The Salon - dirty and bad, in a good way.
Creative Writing Murders - deliciously sinister, and noone seen it coming.

Some flops were:
Dragon's Breath - just totally disconnected and bad.
Hereditary Thurifer - essentially, 28 wasted pages. It went nowhere, no crime, just bored out of my mind reading it.
Greed - about apples, husbands, and wives. Makes NO sense, another waste.
Deer - about a dead deer in a pool. What's the crime in that? No sex either.

There were a few bizarre ones thrown in:
Sunshine - about rape of a Baboon Girl - just so wrong in so many ways!
Toytown Assorted - a woman fantasizes about leaving her 50's life, killing her neighbor, and to go to Miami none of which actually happens. Reminds me of the movie "revolutionary road" without the suicide.
The Beheading - a young girl dreams that her neighbor is a child killer. WHAT? no seriously.... what young girl dreams that up? But that's why it totally deserves to be in this collection.
Celebration - man gets trapped by nympho and looses his former life. Gross yes brutal yes, but good? not really.

Then there were stories that actually made you think:
Scenarios - a unique spin on an author's input.
The Story of the Stabbing - this was long but very much worth it. It shows the progression of a stabbing crime in NYC from the 70's through the family of a young girl. Every year the stories get more and more exaggerated, racist, absurd, till they reach the point of blatant lie and more.
Daybreak - about a Chinese girl sold as a mail order bride and manages to kill her captor before he kills her. GREAT revenge, love the inside from inside the minds of BOTH characters. Unhappy with the ending, but oh well. Still a very good read.

This one story I have to separate from the rest not bc it's good or bad, but bc it's sooo hyper local: Ben and Andrea and Evelyn and Ben. About a suburban man who works for his wife's father's company. He slaves away in disgusting conditions while the father reaps all the benefits, and decorates his daughter with them, which of course hurts Ben. This is just so twisted. It's hyper local bc many of the towns they mention are Long Island and NYC towns.

There were a few other stories that i didn't mention, but these are the ones that really stood out.

I give this collection a 3 out of 5 bc there were some REALLY good stories - exactly what the title ordered. But there were also boring confusing endless flops. I did expect more "film noir" woman-comes-to-detective- to-investigate-a-cheating-husband type of stories, but naaaaaah nothing like that at all. I think if the editors choose to create a second volume to this collection they need to get REAL dirty or i'm afraid it will be a dull read.