Steve Hockensmith

Books: Fantasy | Short Stories

Anthologies

Between the Dark and the Daylight: And 27 More of the Best Crime and Mystery Stories of the Year (2009), An Apple for the Creature (2012)

Between the Dark and the Daylight: And 27 More of the Best Crime and Mystery Stories of the Year (2009) edited by Martin H. Greenberg & Daniel M. Hoyt

I generally love mystery anthologies, but I had a hard time with this one.

First and foremost, the collection is full of unreliable narrators. I have absolutely nothing against unreliable narrators, and usually enjoy them, however, when you read story after story where the narrator is actually the killer, it quickly becomes unsurprising, and I wasn't interested in reading all the various justifications the murderers and criminals gave for their actions.

• Father's Day by Michael Connelly 
• Walking the Dog by Peter Robinson 
• Lucky by Charlaine Harris 
• A Sleep Not Unlike Death by Sean Chercover 
• The First Husband by Joyce Carol Oates 
• Between the Dark and the Daylight by Tom Picirilli 
• Cheer by Megan Abbot 
• Babs by Scott Phillips 
• Ms. Grimshanks Regrets by Nancy Pickard 
• Skinhead Central by T. Jefferson Parker 
• The Bookbinder's Apprentice by Martin Edwards 
• I/M Print by Jeremiah Healy 
• The Devil's Acre by Steve Hockensmith 
• The Instrument of their Desire by Patricia Abbot 
• Crossroads by Bill Crider 
• The Kim Vovack Effect by Gary Phillips 
• The Opposite of O by Martin Limon 
• Patriotic Gestures by Kristine Kathryn Rusch 
• The Quick Brown Fox by Robert S. Levinson 
• What Happened to Mary? by Bill Pronzini 
• Jonas and the Frail by Charles Ardai 
• The Pig Party by Doug Allyn 
• Perfect Gentleman by Brett Battles 
• Road Dogs by Norman Partridge 
• Rust by N.J. Ayres 
• Skin and Bones by David Edgerly Gates 
• La Vie En Rose by Dominique Mainard 
• Sack O' Woe by John Harvey 

That said, there were some stories I enjoyed, but overall, I just wanted to finish the anthology so I could move onto something else.

Published by Tyrus Books

Rating: 6/10

An Apple for the Creature (2012) edited by Charlaine Harris & Toni L.P. Kelner

First, I hate this title. It grates on my nerves like nails down a chalkboard.

Luckily, the title is not reflective of most of the stories inside.

• Playing Possum by Charlaine Harris
• Spellcaster 2.0 by Jonathan Maberry
• Academy Field Trip by Donald Harstad
• Sympathy for the Bones by Marjorie M. Liu
• Low School by Rhys Bowen
• Callie Meet Happy by Amber Benson
• Iphigenia in Aulis by Mike Carey
• Golden Delicious by Faith Hunter
• Magic Tests by Ilona Andrews
• An Introduction to Jewish Myth and Mysticism by Steve Hockensmith
• VSI by Nancy Holder
• The Bad Hour by Thomas E. Sniegoski
• Pirate Dave and the Captain's Ghost by Toni L.P. Kelner

"An Introduction to Jewish Myth and Mysticism" by Steve Hockensmith was a very interesting story that I very much liked. A professor is traumatized when her abusive ex returns to town, so a friend decides to see what he can do to convince her ex to leave. I quite enjoyed this story.

All in all, it was a decent selection of short stories that made up for terrible title.

Published by Ace

Rating: 7/10