From Publishers Weekly
The good news is that the first, relatively weak anthology in this series sold well enough to call for a follow-up, but the bad news is that, apparently, if you have sex, you'll immediately murder somebody. Following the format established in Flesh and Blood (2001), the editors again present one "classic" reprint plus 17 new stories intended to answer a question posed in the introduction: "But what is noir these days?" In the hands of O'Neil de Noux in "Death on Denial" and Bill Crider in "Top of the World," noir seems as atmospheric and doomful as ever. John Lutz, Bill Pronzini, Stephen Mertz, Jon L. Breen, Catherine Dain and Jeremiah Healy do respectable genre duty, if by no means living up to the sexual promise of the whip-wielding dominatrix whose leather-clad leg dominates the cover. Other stories have hotter sex hampered by major narrative disconnects, which might pass as surprise plot developments if they made any sense at all. Mickey Spillane's fast-paced 1973 reprint, "The Gold Fever Tapes," concerns a murdered pal and stolen gold while the sex is merely ornamental. Readers who comprehend Spillane when he writes, "Time was always on the side of the killer when these things happened. You can't just let them drop when you trip over them no matter what the score is," will have no trouble understanding the other tales. Those who avoid prurient material as a rule can pick this one up without shame. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
A collection of crime short stories written by the leading names in the mystery field, FLESH & BLOOD: DARK DESIRES combines the allure of crime with the fascination of the erotic. Continuing in the tradition of Flesh & Blood, this second anthology in the series brings together such top-notch mystery luminaries as Mickey Spillane, Paul Bishop, Catherine Dain, Michael Collins, Alan Ormsby -and many others. Together, these purveyors of crime and punishment weave tales certain to excite, captivate, titillate-and most of all-set the reader's heart racing!
Flesh and Blood: Dark Desires FROM THE PUBLISHER
A collection of crime short stories written by the leading names in the mystery field, FLESH & BLOOD: DARK DESIRES combines the allure of crime with the fascination of the erotic. Continuing in the tradition of Flesh & Blood, this second anthology in the series brings together such top-notch mystery luminaries as Mickey Spillane, Paul Bishop, Catherine Dain, Michael Collins, Alan Ormsby -and many others. Together, these purveyors of crime and punishment weave tales certain to excite, captivate, titillate-and most of all-set the reader's heart racing!
SYNOPSIS
Sex and violence. They go together like greed and blackmail, and jealousy and murder. Now acclaimed masters and rising stars of today's crime and mystery fiction offer hard-hitting, emotionally riveting, hauntingly erotic tales of cops, private eyes, perps, and average Joes and Janes swept up in the throes of urges too primal to be legal.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
The good news is that the first, relatively weak anthology in this series sold well enough to call for a follow-up, but the bad news is that, apparently, if you have sex, you'll immediately murder somebody. Following the format established in Flesh and Blood (2001), the editors again present one "classic" reprint plus 17 new stories intended to answer a question posed in the introduction: "But what is noir these days?" In the hands of O'Neil de Noux in "Death on Denial" and Bill Crider in "Top of the World," noir seems as atmospheric and doomful as ever. John Lutz, Bill Pronzini, Stephen Mertz, Jon L. Breen, Catherine Dain and Jeremiah Healy do respectable genre duty, if by no means living up to the sexual promise of the whip-wielding dominatrix whose leather-clad leg dominates the cover. Other stories have hotter sex hampered by major narrative disconnects, which might pass as surprise plot developments if they made any sense at all. Mickey Spillane's fast-paced 1973 reprint, "The Gold Fever Tapes," concerns a murdered pal and stolen gold while the sex is merely ornamental. Readers who comprehend Spillane when he writes, "Time was always on the side of the killer when these things happened. You can't just let them drop when you trip over them no matter what the score is," will have no trouble understanding the other tales. Those who avoid prurient material as a rule can pick this one up without shame. (May 1) Forecast: A similar horror series cofounded by Gelb, Hot Blood, has run to several volumes. This series promises to do the same as long as the editors continue to draw big names to contribute. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Somebody must sure like sex capped by murder (few crimes here less weighty than homicide), since this sequel to Collins and Gelb's 2001 Flesh & Blood has appeared with all the impatient haste of a john circling a city block. Whether the kiss-and-kill subgenre is on a firmer basis now or this year's contributors are more in tune with it, it's a pleasure to report how much better this volume is than its predecessor. There are still a fair number of tales that get by, like a movie trailer, on a steamy promise or a single plot twist, like Richard S. Meyers's report from the soft-core industry, co-editor Gelb's account of erotic writer's block, or Matthew V. Clemens and co-editor Collins's jokey dissection of a Lolita complex; Bill Pronzini's peeping Tom doesn't even merit a single twist. But some of the one-trick ponies-O'Neil De Noux's titillating comeuppance for a mob holdout, Jon L. Breen's audition for a role in a nonexistent sex film, and Paul Bishop's TV-drama triangle-are models of their kind; a few enterprising entrants like Marthayn Pelegrimas and Alan Ormsby offer more full-blooded plots without stinting the slap and tickle; and the best of the bunch, John Lutz's sad prostitute who finds true love and Jeremiah Healy's serial killer who likes to play with his female victims, would do credit to any collection. The only major disappointment among the 18 otherwise-new stories is Mickey Spillane's quaint reminder of how little it took to make a mystery look risque back in 1973.
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