Rating: 
Summary: A short, sharp blade
Review: Andrew Vachss is a decent novelist. Decent meaning that for his books, it is the content that draws the reader in and makes you hang on. All the descriptions of his work you can find in any reviews are applicable: taut, sharp, hard-boiled to the core. It is in his short story prowess that he excels. These stories are quick and to the point. There is hardly more than the bare explanation that is his style and it sometimes takes the reader a moment to catch his breath and say, "Wow." Yet, there is enough to drag one's attention into every character and make you sweat, wondering when vengence is going to come and how. Another great collection of Vachss stories.
Rating:
Summary: VACHSS' STORIES MUST NOT BE MISSED!
Review: Andrew Vachss' shorter works are absolute gems: compact and perfectly formed. They are variously chilling, or romantic, or warm with tender humor, but each one packs a thousand-amp jolt in just a few pages. I can't recommend it enough!
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Summary: PACKED WITH ACTION, BRIMMING WITH TRUTH
Review: Everybody Pays is exactly the kind of book you wish your best pal would get you before everyone else starts buzzing. Andrew Vachss' new short story collection won't let you rest for a minute. Each of the stories delivers a sucker-punch of narrative and revelation, with characters whose urgent tales resonate with you long after the climax. In spare, elegant prose, Vachss' tales explode on your consciousness, offering truths you will ignore only at your peril. If you want to be your own best friend, buy this book. You'll be giving yourself the kind of present that makes the morning subway ride something to remember.
Rating:
Summary: Hardcore for the hardboiled
Review: EVERYBODY PAYS is the perfect starting point for fans of true crime, action, thrilling suspense filled drama, romance, and the honor driven double cross. If you have not yet heard of or read Andrew Vachss' work, EVERYBODY PAYS is the place to start. VACHSS' writing grabs you like Joe Pesci in CASINO shoving your head into a vice grip. EVERYBODY PAYS is a collection of razor-wired short stories. The hardest, coldest crime you've ever been exposed to anywhere. It will chill you, like Edward Norton in AMERICAN HISTORY X as he coldly stomps on a rivals neck. Yet VACHSS' writing can also move you like DeNiro in HEAT as he walks away from his one true love. No one touches VACHSS' stripped down, hit and run style of writing. He spins the absolute brutal best in reading entertainment. Take that first step and you find yourself falling into sheer hard poetry of language that is VACHSS' unique talent to possess and share with us. EVERYBODY PAYS has the perfect mix, from PROVING IT, VACHSS' best love story since SHELLA; to gut-wrenching tragedy by evil done to innocence as found in DRESS UP DAY; to a voyage for truth in SEARCHER. For you first time readers, I couldn't be more jealous at your fortune of having just discovered VACHSS and having all those wonderful novels and stories ahead of you. Let yourself fall into this collection of short stories, indulge. As for the rest of us, VACHSS addicts, we'll greedily read this new collection the minute we get home with our copies.
Rating: 
Summary: Gripping Collection
Review: I become to like Vachss' Collections better than his novels. This one is even better than born bad, thanks to a complete Cross Novel and some disturbing tales. The sci-fi stories are not as well as in Born Bad, but occupy less space. If you've read one, only one of the stories in this book, you'll want to read all his books. Be warned.
Rating:
Summary: Read this Book!
Review: I have seen the future of short crime fiction and it (he) is Andrew Vachss. Like a series of rabbit punches to the solar plexis, these stories cut to the chase and leave you breathless. Especially good are the underground stories and the Cross material. If you like Vachss, you will love this stuff - if uninitiated, this is a great place to jump on. Stop dawdling and buy the freaking book!
Rating:
Summary: Read this Book!
Review: I have seen the future of short crime fiction and it (he) is Andrew Vachss. Like a series of rabbit punches to the solar plexis, these stories cut to the chase and leave you breathless. Especially good are the underground stories and the Cross material. If you like Vachss, you will love this stuff - if uninitiated, this is a great place to jump on. Stop dawdling and buy the freaking book!
Rating:
Summary: Everybody Pays, proves it.
Review: I may not be a professional reviewer, and for those of you reading this, let me assure you that can be a good thing. I actually READ the book. I notice from some of the reviews they are very vague or worse yet, state things that are so wrong I know they never even read the work. "Everybody Pays", my god. I have no idea how Andrew Vachss manages to write such wonderous stories so swiftly and still do all his child advocacy work. I am astounded. He has once again proven he is a master of written word. "Proving It" is by far one of the most moving stories I have ever read. It could be considered a romance by some, but I think it has so much more depth than that. Anyone can say they love, but does that prove it? I can't put in a category except to say that it was so powerful and Mr. Vachss captured the feeling so well that I was immediately swept up into the story, and when it was over... I sat and thought for a long time and had to read it again. I do that with a lot of Andrew Vachss' stories. They aren't mindless pulp like so many of the books out there today. They deal with REAL feelings and REAL emotions and cause the reader to feel as they follow the characters, and most importantly to THINK about the tale when it is over. There is no greater compliment I can pass on to an author than to say his work captivated me completely and caused me think on each story, afterwards. Mr. Vachss' work is such that friends and I can discuss it time after time and always feel we have come away with something more. I see enough mini reviews of the stories here already I wont rehash each one for you. However, let me assure you, the reader, that if you like the very best writing, and you enjoy a story which will enthrall you, and if you like written works that have REAL depth and will cause you to think on it for a long time afterwards... Actually if you can read at all, you should read "Everybody Pays", because even if you do not appreciate the things I mentioned above, before, you will after reading this book. It is, by far, a MUST read, in every sense of the word. "Everybody Pays" is a book everybody should read and it proves itself in every way.
Rating: 
Summary: Uneven and not as good as "Born Bad"
Review: I'm a huge Andrew Vachss fan and I loved his first collection of short stories entitled "Born Bad." Unfortunately, "Everybody Pays" just isn't as consistent or as good. By now, Vachss has come to wear his anti-abuse feelings on sleeve so obviously that many of these stories take far too predictable turns. Many of them are also far too short (some only a couple of pages) to have any real impact. The "Underground" series is sci-fi that makes little sense. The "Cross" stories aren't as realistic or satisfying as Vachss' Burke novels. That said, the book is at least an entertaining read for Vachss fans. Even when he's not at his best, he is at least interesting.
Rating:
Summary: Uneven and not as good as "Born Bad"
Review: I'm a huge Andrew Vachss fan and I loved his first collection of short stories entitled "Born Bad." Unfortunately, "Everybody Pays" just isn't as consistent or as good. By now, Vachss has come to wear his anti-abuse feelings on sleeve so obviously that many of these stories take far too predictable turns. Many of them are also far too short (some only a couple of pages) to have any real impact. The "Underground" series is sci-fi that makes little sense. The "Cross" stories aren't as realistic or satisfying as Vachss' Burke novels. That said, the book is at least an entertaining read for Vachss fans. Even when he's not at his best, he is at least interesting.
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