Born Bad : Collected Stories

Rating:
Summary: Possibly the best collection of crime stories by one author.
Review: Putting aside Lawrence Block's incredible collections, this collection of crime and suspense shorts by Andrew Vachss is one of the best collections I've read. Every one tight and gripping, not a word is wasted. Shocking and chilling, the subjects vary from dog fights and getting inside the mind of a psychopath to standard, hard-hitting crime pulp. The title story alone is worth the price of admission. These stories were also illustrated in _Hard Looks_. Includes some Burke and Cross stories, and Vachss's vision of a horrific future, "Underground." I can't recommend a book more highly, especially as an introduction to the no-holds-barred world of Andrew Vachss.

Rating:
Summary: Possibly the best collection of crime stories by one author.
Review: Putting aside Lawrence Block's incredible collections, thiscollection of crime and suspense shorts by Andrew Vachss isone of the best collections I've read. Every one tight and gripping, not a word is wasted. Shocking and chilling, the subjects vary from dog fights and getting inside the mind of a psychopath to standard, hard-hitting crime pulp. The title story alone is worth the price of admission. These stories were also illustrated in _Hard Looks_. Includes some Burke and Cross stories, and Vachss's vision of a horrific future, "Underground." I can't recommend a book more highly, especially as an introduction to the no-holds-barred world of Andrew Vachss.

Rating:
Summary: Truly Horrible
Review: There are few books worse than this one. Not a single original idea, the descriptions are confusing, and the plots are contrived. Reading this was slightly more agonizing than being hit on the head repeatedly with a ball peen hammer

Rating:
Summary: A killer collection of short stories.
Review: You'd have to have knocked yourself in the head repeatedly with a ball peen hammer to _not_ appreciate this collection. The taut writing style makes for rapid-fire prose-it's action that moves as fast as you can read. I wouldn't recommend this as a starting point to Vachss' writing-I think his novels provide a deeper message than could possibly be covered in a short story-but once you've read one of the novels, this should be the _next_ book you get