Favorite Kills (Top Suspense Anthologies) [Kindle Edition]

Harry Shannon (Author), Bill Crider (Author), Vicki Hendricks (Author), Max Allan Collins (Author), Paul Levine (Author), Libby Hellmann (Author), Dave Zeltserman (Author), Lee Goldberg (Author), Joel Goldman (Author), Ed Gorman (Author)

Book Description

We're back. We hope you're sitting down, and that you've finally caught your breath from Top Suspense, our first bestselling anthology. You're about to take another screaming thrill ride with twelve master storytellers. Each Top Suspense Group author is an award winning, highly acclaimed pro whose compelling and unforgettable tales have been published all over the world--and, in some cases, have even become blockbuster movies and TV shows.

In this book, Favorite Kills, we've collected our very best short stories. All major prize-winning tales and personal favorites, each one a knock-out punch of suspense.

So hold on tight my friend, or better yet, tie yourself down. You're in for another breathtaking wild ride of seething sex and unexpected twists, dark humor, and certain death. And when it's all over, and you're sitting there spent and satisfied, soaked in a flop sweat of terror and exhilaration, we're gonna be right there to bring you even more.

Favorite Kills includes:

Archie's Been Framed by Dave Zeltserman
Night Nurse by Harry Shannon
Solomon & Lord Drop Anchor by Paul Levine
Number 19 by Naomi Hirahara
Sweet Dreams by Vicki Hendricks
House Rules by Libby Fischer Hellmann
Angie by Ed Gorman
Knife Fight by Joel Goldman
Jack Webb's Star by Lee Goldberg
Restraint by Stephen Gallagher
Top of the World by Bill Crider
A Matter of Principal by Max Allan Collins

About the Top Suspense Group:

Whether you're looking for mystery, horror, thriller, western or crime fiction, you can always count on the award-winning authors at TOP SUSPENSE to deliver a great e-reading experience with their dozens of highly-acclaimed books. The Top Suspense authors are established professionals whose books have been published world-wide, graced national & international bestseller lists, and sparked the imaginations of Hollywood's top filmmakers (the Oscar winning "Road to Perdition") and television producers (the Emmy-winning "Monk"). Top Suspense authors: Max Allan Collins, Bill Crider, Stephen Gallagher, Lee Goldberg, Joel Goldman, Ed Gorman, Libby Fischer Hellmann, Vicki Hendricks, Naomi Hirahara, Paul Levine, Harry Shannon and Dave Zeltserman.

Product Details

• File Size: 961 KB
• Print Length: 232 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Top Suspense Books (February 2, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00757WMQQ
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,204 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #11 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery > Anthologies
  • #76 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Anthologies
  • #82 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Anthologies & Literary Collections > General

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great short fiction is not a dying art form February 5, 2012

By Robert Carraher

Format:Kindle Edition

Once again the Top Suspense Group has assembled an anthology of some of the greatest suspense short fiction you'll read this year. The Top Suspense Group is a collective consisting of multiple award-winning authors with millions of books in print.

This year they've raised the stakes, collecting their very best short stories, all major prize-winning tales and personal favorites, each one a knock-out punch of suspense. It's a breathtaking, wild ride of seething sex and unexpected twists, dark humor, and certain death. This suspense writing cabal consists of Max Allan Collins, Bill Crider, Stephen Gallagher, Lee Goldberg, Joel Goldman, Ed Gorman, Libby Fischer Hellmann, Vicki Hendricks,, Naomi Hirahara, Paul Levine, Harry Shannon and Dave Zeltserman.

Rarely has a more dangerous group of individuals been assembled! Killers, one an all... the unforgettable characters of course. The the first story by Dave Zeltserman, is the second Julius Katz story in the series and won the Ellery Queen Mystery Readers Award for favorite story in 2010. If you aren't familiar with the Julius Katz series, he is Boston's brilliant and eccentric PI. The story is entitled "Archie's Been Framed" Archie is Julius's secretary, research assistant, official biographer, and all around man Friday but in actuality, Archie is a two-inch piece of advanced technology Julius wears as a tie clip. When Archie is accused of murder Julius must figure out who, what, and why.

Next story is by one of my favorite authors, Harry Shannon and entitle "Night Nurse" and was nominated for the Stoker Award for horror, and won the Black Quill Award. After reading this story you never flirt with a nurse again.

Next story is by Paul Levine and entitled "Solomon & Lord Drop Anchor" featuring the wackiest married couple in crime fiction since Nick & Nora.

Naomi Hirahara gives us "Number 19", a dark tale proving that no good deed goes unpunished. When a waitress with a potential for violence feels empathy for an immigrant who she sees being taken advantage of, she forms a plan.

Vickie Hendricks, who is famous for her gritty, darkly sexual stories, gives us a glimpse of her humorous, lighter side with " Sweet Dreams", it's a tale of pot smoking grannies with a dream of a Hawaiian vacation, and a nefarious plan on how to fulfill it.

Next up is Libby Fischer Hellmann with her Agatha and Anthony nominated story, "House Rules", a noir story, set under the Las Vegas sun that plays out like the Keystone Cops meet the Mafia. I love this one.

Then comes the master, Ed Gorman, with a dark suspense tale reminiscent of Shirley Jackson or Ira Levin. "Angie" is one of those stories that will stick with you for a good long time.

Next is the incomparable Joel Goldman with "Knife Fight", the story of a public defender who administers her own brand of justice to clients she knows are guilty.

Lee Goldberg gives us a story inspired by traffic school. "Jack Webb's Star" is a darkly funny story about a heist that could only happen in Hollywood. The author of TV's brilliant, but obsessive-compulsive detective, Monk, is on top of his game.

Stephen Gallagher gives us the the International Horror Guild best short fiction nominee,"Restraint" , a story of a woman who will go to any extent to keep her children safe from her violent ex husband who tries to wreck their lives, even when he is dead.

Bill Crider's "Top Of The World" is a sexy, twisting story of crime and punishment, or the lack there of. It was a finalist for the Short Mystery Fiction Society, Derringer Award. A tale of a pair of bank robbers who share a forbidden love, and a thirst for crime.

And finishing out this dirty dozen is Max Allan Collins, the author of the graphic novel, "Road to Perdition", that became the hit 2002 movie starring Tom Hanks. It features Collins' series character, hit man, Quarry. "A Matter of Principal" was chosen by Jeffrey Deaver for his Best Noir Of The Century anthology. The story was also made into the film,The Last Lullaby, starring Tom Sizemore.

The Top Suspense Group has proven with this, their second collection, that great short fiction is not a dying art form. This anthology is one that readers will want to turn to again and again, and the group not only writes great crime stories, they have presented a finely crafted eBook, complete with a wonderful cover, a searchable and clickable table of contents, title pages for each story, and Forwards from each author, saying a bit about the story. Expect only the best from the Top Suspense Group, because that is exactly what you will get.

The Dirty Lowdown

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars FAVORITE KILLS -GREAT ANTHOLOGY February 4, 2012

By Norman L. Rubenstein

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

The Top suspense Group has done it, again. Their new crime anthology, FAVORITE KILLS, contains eleven stories from some of the finest, most talented authors currently writing in the genre. There's not a loser in the bunch - each and every story is unique and comes at you from a different perspective or creative area of the genre, but all are very well written and sustain the readers interest straight through to the last page of the last story. Whether you like action, drama, horror and/or humor mixed in with your crime fiction, FAVORITE KILLS obliges, and every story is a gem in itself. Every one of the eleven included stories in this anthology takes the reader in a different, unique direction while sharing the commonality of being an excellent page-turner. This is a fantastically entertaining anthology and well worth purchasing!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars New Crime Anthology February 24, 2012

By TimothyMayer

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

The Top Suspense Group has unleashed on the public their latest anthology. In a collection which would do Jim Thompson proud, this is a hard boiled collection for fans of the genre. There is also a brief mention of each author's current work between stories so as to allow the reader the opportunity to further sample the writings. As I encounter more and more of these collections, I become increasingly convinced we are in a golden age of genre writing not seen since the 1930's pulp era.

The collection begins with Dave Zeltserman's "Archie's Been Framed". Archie is the narrator of the story and personal assistant to Julius Katz, a private investigator who hates to leave his house. Archie is also a secret computer program of immense sophistication which resides in Katz's tie clasp. The story is told from Archie's POV. In this tale, someone has managed to frame Archie for a murder he didn't commit. Since Archie lacks corporal form, this could never have happened. And it's up to Archie to give Katz all the information he needs to find the real killer.

Next is "Night Nurse" by Harry Shannon. A sick man is admitted to a hospital and starts wondering why he isn't getting any better. The only person who seems to care about him is the night nurse. A gripping ending.

"Solomon and Lord Drop Anchor" by Paul Levine concerns the adventures of Steve Solomon and Victoria Lord, two Miami lawyers who spend more time arguing than solving cases. The two find themselves on a fishing boat owned by a man who's trying to get out of paying Solomon's mentor what he owes her. The story reminded me of The Thin Man series.

Naomi Hirahara's "Number 19' is a bitter tale with a depressing ending. A tired waitress tries to strike up a friendship with a Korean masseuse. But there are rules to be followed at the Salon. Rules the client will never understand.

"Sweet Dreams" by Vicki Hendricks is hilarious. Two elderly pothead women spend their golden years dreaming about Hawaii. When a local homeless man tries to movie in on them, one of the women hatches a plan to make some cash. Another great tale inspired by true life events.

"House Rules" by Libby Hellman has a married couple trying to salvage their marriage in a Nevada casino when they find a box hidden in the desert sand. What's in the box brings at least one of them bliss.

"Angie" by Ed Gorman is a tale of dark suspense with a wicked ending. A small time bank robber plots to kill his only son. But the boy may have a savior in the form of his dad's ex-prostitute girl friend. Easily the most vicious story in the collection.

Joel Goldman's "Knife Fight" is told from the viewpoint of a black convict awaiting trial for murder. His only possibility of being cleared is in the form of his lesbian lawyer. Plus points for a suprise ending.

"Jack Webb's Star" by Lee Goldberg manages to combine, humor sexual obsession and crime in one tale. A washed-up Hollywood screen writer tries to kick-start his relationship with his wife. But she only gets her motor running when Dragnet is on TV. How he meets the challenge drives the story.

"Restraint" by Stephen Gallagher begins with a woman in a hospital having just left the scene of an accident. But what really concerns her is the body of her ex-husband in the trunk. A genuine creepy piece.

Bill Crider's "Top of the World" has a mechanic being hired out as the getaway driver for a rural bank robber. But he gets involved with the hold-up man's partner, leading to his downfall.

"A Matter of Principal" by Max Allan Collins brings his mobster hit man Quarry into play. Quarry is relaxing in the rural American Midwest when he stumbles across two of his former business associates. What they're involved with presents the hit man with all kinds of opportunities. A wicked and humorous ending caps the tale.

Favourite Kills 2 is due to be released in the next few months. It should be interesting to see what noir it will contain.