Eighteen [Mass Market Paperback]

Jan Burke (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 30, 2003

USA Today bestselling author Jan Burke delivers chills, suspense, shockers, and sharp wit in eighteen works of short fiction sure to satisfy longtime fans and newcomers alike. This positively addictive anthology is full of surprises -- a patchwork of settings and characters not soon forgotten, and mysterious twists and revelations not quickly shaken!

18

includes:

"Devotion"

Agatha Award nominee for Best Short Story

"Unharmed"

Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Readers Award and Macavity Award winner

"The Man in the Civil Suit"

Agatha Award winner

"The Abbey Ghosts"

Edgar Award nominee

...and also features her first Irene Kelly story,

"A Fine Set of Teeth."

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The acclaimed author of the Irene Kelly mystery series (Goodnight, Irene, etc.) and the Edgar award-winning novel Bones delivers this superb collection of short stories, hitherto available only in a limited trade edition from A.S.A.P. Publishing. These early works, which appeared in publications like Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, display an impressive range of styles, voices and settings. Burke offers ghost stories ("Ghost of a Chance"), romantic suspense ("The Muse"), a whodunit ("A Fine Set of Teeth"), a tale of revenge ("Miscalculation") and a humorous intrigue ("The Man in the Civil Suit"), and the voices she adopts are as disparate as an abused wife and an aristocratic gentleman (and, at one point, even a non-human narrator). It would be a challenge for readers to choose their favorite, as all the stories are carefully crafted gems: "Mea Culpa" follows a crippled boy as he deduces what his stepfather has in store for his mother; "Miscalculation," which is based on the wartime service of the Queen Mary ocean liner, effectively transmutes history into mystery; and "Unharmed" tells a surprising tale of domestic strife. Several of the stories won or were nominated for awards, and virtually all of them repay the reader handsomely.
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Review

Jeffrey Deaver Astonishing...wry...these stories are sure to delight.

Jonathan Kellerman A delightful collection of page-turners. at turns chilling, funny, poignant -- and always insightful. With these stories, Jan Burke's at the top of her game.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books (December 30, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743480511
• ISBN-13: 978-0743480512
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #874,342 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm the author of crime fiction novels and short stories. You can find out more about my writing on my Web site.

I'm also the founder of The Crime Lab Project, which works to increase awareness of the problems facing public forensic science labs in the U.S.

I live in Southern California with my husband, Tim, and our two dogs, Cappy (in the photo above) and Britches.

I want my epitaph to read, "Had a great time, thanks for inviting me." I hope not to be in need of that any time soon.

Oh yeah -- I'm a lifelong night owl. As another night owl once said, don't go to bed on the same day you've awakened.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fascinating wide range of genres, December 31, 2003

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eighteen (Mass Market Paperback)

Anyone who has not read a novel by the spectacular Jan Burke should try 18, an anthology of short stories that convey the wide range of her amazing talent. She writes contemporary, historical, and paranormal with the narrator being of either gender, and is comfortable in first or third person. The commonality is that each story is well written and fascinating.

Fans of Bones will want to read "Devotion" which showcases some of the same characters. After Detective Frank Harriman finds the murdered body of Victor Toller and learns his son is missing, he calls Ben Sheridan and asks him to do a search with his two SAR dogs Bingle and Bool.

The very popular Irene Kelly stars in "A Fine Set of Teeth". Irene and her husband Frank give musician Buzz Sullivan a lift to his music gig. They stay to hear the performance only to be awakened early the next morning to find out the lead singer has been killed.

In "MEA CULPA' a crippled young boy finds ways of protecting himself from his abusive step-father. However, when he discovers that the man is going to kill his mother, he must find a way to stop him. This intriguing story has a feel of Charles Dickens Victorian England even though it takes place in the United States.

Vampire lovers will want to read "The Haunting of Carrick Hollow", an atmospheric tale that is quite scary while ghost lovers will find "The Abbey Ghosts" actually enthralling.

The above is just a sample to whet the appetite. Readers will find themselves totally immersed in each and every story.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eighteen, August 2, 2006

By 

M. Brezinski "mystery buff" (Spokane, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eighteen (Mass Market Paperback)

Jan Burke is a wonderful writer. Eighteen is a great collection of short stories.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly great story-telling by Burke..., August 4, 2004

By 

K. L Sadler "Dr. Karen L. Sadler" (Freedom, Pa. USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eighteen (Mass Market Paperback)

This book was a great surprise to me. I picked it up thinking it was a mystery such as I've read by Burke before. I've enjoyed Burke's mysteries for years, but never thought of them as being great literature. They are just fun books to read. But this book thoroughly changed my mind about Burke's abilities.

First time I was in college, I majored in English Literature. I really enjoyed all of it including Chaucer, Shakespeare, Twain, Dickens, poetry by John Donne and Emily Dickinson...but I must have had a lousy teacher when it came to short stories. I hated the things. They were so often dark and I could not relate to the stories at all. I think there is one short story I still remember from that time about a boy on a rocking horse who couldn't stop rocking because as long as he did it his father/family won money. It was a really dark story...

I almost tossed this book aside when I realized it was a collection of short stories. I am glad that I didn't. I mowed through this book in two days straight and probably would have done it faster if I hadn't had other things to do. These stories are not all mysteries, and when they do involve mysteries, they are mysteries about what makes people tick. The last story was about a small boy whose abusive father dies. The local law enforcement wade through the evidence and a story is told in what is found about this boy and those people, such as his neighboring young teenager, who want to keep this boy safe.
All of these stories show great thought, and great effort, and great knowledge of humanity.

A really great addition to our American literature that will be missed by many unfortunately, the same way I almost missed it...

Karen Sadler