Customer Reviews

Fortune's World

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This is a collection of 14 short stories about PI Dan Fortune, written by the late Dennis Lynds using the pen name Michael Collins. The first thirteen PI short stories written by the author were about PI Slot Machine Kelly (found in a separate collection by that name). After the 13th story, the author changed the PI's name to Dan Fortune (still with one arm, and still with the same background). One of the Dan Fortune stories in this collection, "Eighty Million Dead," is a re-write of a story found in the Slot Machine Kelly collection. After starting the Dan Fortune series, the author moved to Santa Barbara, California, and moved Dan Fortune from New York City to Santa Barbara. Consequently, some stories in this collection are set in New York City, but many are set in California.

The short stories in this collection tend to deal with contemorary social issues. "Role Model" is about a star football player, used by the people around him, pushed through school without really learning anything, used by a pro team, then cast aside with nowhere to go. "Family Values" is about Pro-Choice, and a young woman caught between opposing fanatical groups who are more interested in their missions than in the people they are dealing with. "Can Shoot" deals with PETA issues. "Murder is Murder" deals with euthanasia. Many of the stories are about prejudice in one form or another. "The Chair" deals with an act of bigotry that turns into tragedy. "A Matter of Character" deals with sexual orientation.

Overall, I personally thought the short stories are excellent. Like most short story collections, the stories have considerable variation. Readers may like some better than others. Some stories may offend some readers, but if the shoe fits wear it.

I love the Dan Fortune short stories by Michael Collins. This is his second anthology of them (I purchased the first anthology just recently). Dan Fortune is a one-armed private detective who works in New York's Chelsea area (although in later stories he moves out to California). The writing is smooth and the plots are excellent. If you are a fan of short mystery stories, you will be pleased with this collection.

Michael Collins' creation, the one-armed detective Dan Fortune, is one of the most credible detectives who have walked down the mean street of crime and retribution. In these 14 stories Fortune ostensibly solves mysteries concerning murders, suicides and missing persons. But in reality, the stories are concerned with the human pathos and longing, sometimes dealing with explosively charged themes as in "Angel Eyes" that make the stories very-very special in the pantheon of crime literature. This book is recommended to all lovers of mysteries who perfer to have solid stories with strong prtagonists marked by the subtle flavour of life rather than with liberal sprinklings of blood & sex.