The Fatal Frontier [Mass Market Paperback]

ED /GREENBERG GORMAN (Author), Ed Gorman (Author), Martin Greenberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 8, 1998

A stunning anthology that brings the American West vividly to life, "The Fatal Frontier" showcases the exceptional talents of today's most popular mystery and crime storytellers--including Elmore Leonard, John Jakes, Marcia Muller, Brian Garfield, Loren D. Estleman, and Robert J. Randisi--in tales of deadly choices, flaring passions, and the hard battles of men and women living on the edge of survival.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Readers might be surprised to see stories by Loren Estleman, Marcia Muller and Joe Gores set in the old West. They shouldn't be. Bill Pronzini's introduction notes that the heroic figures of crime fiction can be traced to rugged American frontiersmen, an idea put forward by Dashiell Hammett (also the premise of Robert B. Parker's doctoral dissertation). Gorman and Greenberg have collected western crime stories by some of the best contemporary mystery and crime writers. Elmore Leonard's "The Boy Who Smiled" tells a classic tale of long-delayed frontier revenge. Gores scores with "Gunman in Town," a story of a smitten young man framed for a rape that never happened. Far from his usual upscale Boston precincts, Jeremiah Healy stages a western showdown with a twist in "To Tally the Dead." Livia Washburn literally combines old westerns with 20th-century detective stories in "Hollywood Guns," which features Lucas Hallam, a part-time PI who also works as a movie stuntman. Getting his gun repaired for a William S. Hart epic, Hallam is led by his knowledge of western lore into a real shoot-out. John Jakes, Brian Garfield and Jon L. Breen are among the 23 excellent writers heading down these mean trails.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Readers who enjoy both westerns and mysteries have certainly noticed the similarities between urban hard-boiled fiction and the Wild West adventures set in the late nineteenth century. Editors Gorman and Greenberg have assembled this collection to celebrate the literary evolution from cowboy to private eye. Although the authors of many of the 23 western stories included here--Elmore Leonard, Bill Pronzini, Marcia Muller, and Jeremiah Healy, among them--are now associated primarily with crime fiction, all have spent time on the range as well. Highlights include Leonard's "The Boy Who Smiled," an unsettling revenge tale, and H. A. DeRosso's "Vigilante," which offers a revealing look at a man who takes justice into his own hands. Each piece is capably introduced with an overview of the author's western writing career and its place in his or her overall body of work. Pronzini's general introduction traces the evolution of the cowboy to the private eye through the pulps and dime novels of the 1920s and 1930s. A fine collection sure to please fans of both genres. Wes Lukowsky --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Pinnacle Books (October 8, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786005971
• ISBN-13: 978-0786005970
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,152,007 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ed Gorman is an award winning American author best known for his crime and mystery fiction. He wrote The Poker Club which is now a film of the same name directed by Tim McCann.

He has written under many pseudonyms including "E. J. Gorman" and "Daniel Ransom." He won a Spur Award for Best Short Fiction for his short story "The Face" in 1992. His fiction collection Cages was nominated for the 1995 Bram Stoker Award for Best Fiction Collection. His collection The Dark Fantastic was nominated for the same award in 2001.

He has contributed to many magazines and other publications including Xero, Black Lizard, Cemetery Dance, the anthology Tales of Zorro, and many more.

Visit his blog at newimprovedgorman.blogspot.com