DECEPTIONS

5 stars out of 5

With full knowledge that I sound like a broken record, I’ll again say I’m SO not a fan of short stories and will pass on them every time. Except, that is, when they’re written by a long-time favorite author; when that happens, I cannot NOT read them – and such is the case here. It doesn’t hurt, of course, that at least a couple of the stories here feature characters from series that made the author a favorite of mine in the first place, like Lincoln Rhyme and "Tracker" Colter Shaw.

There’s no way to review each and every story without giving away too much, of course (although I’ll mention there’s an interesting “connection” with a twist at the end the last one), so I’ll just offer up brief descriptions, to-wit:

Forgotten: (Colter Shaw): The father of a teenage boy convicted of killing a drug dealer offers missing-persons-finder Colter Shaw $2,600 to find proof his son is innocent.

Hard to Get: Analyst Dr. Albert Lessing, an analyst for a clandestine CIA agency, is asked to infiltrate another country and get himself recruited as a U.S. spy (with no official protection from the United States).

The Writers’ Conference: Jim Handle, a detective in the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Department, has been assigned to head up security at the local convention center – a place often considered a top terrorist target. This assignment sounds easy peasy – all the convention presenters and attendees are crime writers. Five of them are competing for the “Tombstone Award,” with the winner to be announced at a banquet. What could possibly go wrong?

An Acceptable Sacrifice: Trying to “take out” a bad guy who wants to “take out” a busload of tourists isn’t a bad thing. But what if the people planning to take him out have the wrong bad guy? This one’s a real zinger.

The Adventures of the Laughing Fisherman: Book character lover Paul Winslow is back with his former therapist because he’s lost his interest in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes books. When the therapist suggests he put his powers of deduction to work in a real job, he decides he’ll try to deduce the identity of the “Upper East Side Slasher,” who’s killed at least three so far.

Where the Evidence Lies: Forensic analyst Lincoln Rhyme and his partner, Amelia Sachs, are in Miami for his forensic lecture when a plane crashes at Eastern Dade Airport there. A prominent businessman killed in the crash had some notable enemies, as did the pilot. Sabotage is suspected, but can Lincoln and Amelia prove it?

A Woman of Mystery: A killer is on a rampage, and he (or she) is now in Milan with his fifth victim lined up. All Detective Inspector Rinaldo Tosca knows at this point is that the “Sunday Killer” strikes on the last day of the week (or first, if you’re part of the roughly 55% of the world’s population that begin their week on Sunday, according to Timeandate.com). Tosca is at a loss for clues, until a woman comes to the office to say she has information – including the name of the next victim.

The Bookkeeper: Colter Shaw is trying to intercept a killer in the library of the New School for Social Thought in Greenwich Village when he finds a break-in, but no dead body – just a stolen laptop. The killer, Shaw says, is a hitman nicknamed “The Bookkeeper” paid to eliminate people who are opposed to democracy. Clues point in the direction of Russia, but real evidence is hard to pin down.

The Deadliest Sense: The final story returns to Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs, who are trying to find a prolific killer who’s got an impeccable record for leaving no clues – no motive, no connections, no possible means of identification. As usual, Lincoln does what he does best – focus on the evidence. Even if they don’t solve this one, though, there’s another case on tap.

And that’s it. All very interesting, and I could have read the entire book in one day if life hadn’t intervened and I hadn’t answered a phone call from a friend I haven’t heard from in years. Anyway, it’s a fun read, and I heartily thank the publisher, by way of NetGalley, for allowing me to sample it in the form of a pre-release copy. Go read it for yourself – you won’t be sorry!

Deceptions by Jeffery Deaver (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, August 2026); 304 pp.

BIRDS OF PREY

5 stars out of 5

I suspect the last time I read a short story I was still in high school. Now I’m an octogenarian who typically reads 100-plus books a year. Does that give you some idea how much I do not love to read short stories? I’m exaggerating a bit, of course, but you get the point.

Sometimes, though, you’ve just got to make an exception – and this wonderful collection of thriller stories, all with the theme of birds of prey, is one of those times. It began as a challenge from one of my favorite authors (Harlen Coben), who invited to other thriller writers to write them. I have no idea how many he pitched the idea to, but 11 agreed. Learning that proceeds from book sales benefits the International Thriller Writers group was an incentive for me to overlook length, as were the names of favorite writers who took up the challenge and the opportunity to sample works by other authors with whom I’m not very familiar or haven’t read at all.

Did I love every story? Some were stellar efforts and a couple were less than, shall we say, thrilling, but none was a complete turn-off. Now that I’ve finished, though, it’s impossible to review any of them; it’s tough to describe what happens in a short story without revealing way too much of the story. What I shall do, however, is list the authors and their bird of choice and leave it up to others to decide whether to snag the book for themselves. As a side personal note, if you ever see me listening to an audiobook you know I’m ready for the undertaker, but I think in this case it might be interesting since I believe the narrations are by the authors themselves (some, I’ve heard, complete with sound effects).

Whatever version you prefer though, I encourage you to give this one a go; it takes no time at all to read and is, pardon the expression, quite a hoot. Amid my thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me the pleasure of reading a pre-release copy, here’s the cast of characters and their birds:

Tess Gerretsen: Seagull

C.J. Box: Peregrine Falcon

Kathy Reichs: Owl

Ace Atkins: Buzzard

Heather Graham: California Condor

S.A. Cosby: Owl

Hank Phillippi Ryan: Falcon

Robert Dugoni: Falcon

Allison Brennan: Bald Eagle

Gregg Hurwitz: Vampire Finch

Kelley Armstrong: Northern Goshawk

Birds of Prey edited by Harlan Coben & C.J. Box (The Mysterious Press, June 2026); 320 pp.

SAFE ENOUGH

5 stars out of 5

Confession time: I've always detested reading short stories. Oh sure, there are exceptions - compilations such as 2014's FaceOff, penned by many of my favorite mystery/thriller authors and MatchUp, ditto (the latter edited, not insignificantly, by this author, who also co-wrote a short story with another favorite author, Kathy Reichs, for that book). But on the whole, if there are fewer than 300 words I don't even bother.

The author, too, used to be something of a stranger to short stories (not that he avoided them - he was just too busy writing other things). It was the 1997 success of his still-popular Jack Reacher series, he says in the introduction to this book, that introduced him to short story writing - at the time, a novel concept for an (ahem) novelist. Asked to write a short story, his first, he came up with one for an anthology - then another, then another and another and so on. The collection here, he explains, is his "editor's pick" of the litter. 

That brings us to now, when I requested and happily received a pre-release copy of this collection in exchange for a review (an honest one, honest)! And despite my misgivings about short stories, I found I can be swayed; in fact, given the entries here, it was pretty darned easy. Each one seemed to be more enjoyable than the one before it - well, at least till I got to the next to the last one, which I liked least of all (still good, though). They're all exceptionally well crafted and clever as well as exceptionally brief - I read the entire book in not much over a couple of hours, in fact. I know that because I read almost nonstop - that's how much I enjoyed what to me used to be unenjoyable.

Alas, what I can't do is provide details on the stories themselves; their brevity means nothing noteworthy can be extracted without giving away too much (in review language, that means no spoilers allowed). So I'll be brief as well; I loved this book and I think you will, too.

Safe Enough by Lee Child (Mysterious Press, September 2024); 237 pp.

MATCHUP

5 stars out of 5

I do not like them, Sam I am.

Short stories, that is. With few exceptions - most notably Ernest Hemingway's "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" and Guy De Maupassant's "The Necklace" - I tend to avoid them like the plague.

Well, okay, that worked until 2014, when I ran across FaceOff - a compilation of short stories, each co-written by two well-known members of International Thriller Writers, that pair up characters readers have come to know and love. That one, edited by David Baldacci, was nothing short of a gem. So imagine my excitement when I learned of this one - a follow-up that is set apart by the joining of one male and one female writer. Never thinking I'd be approved, I requested an advance copy at NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. To say I was over-the-top excited to get it is an understatement.

Now I've finished. And just like its predecessor, I'm giving it a resounding 5 stars and a strong recommendation that other mystery/thriller lovers give it a go. Does that mean that every single one of the stories in this collection knocks it out of the ball park? No; although I enjoyed them all, some are better than others - and chances are, there'll be a wide variation in the picks of the litter among other readers as well. This book's greatest value in my mind is because of its uniqueness. Where else, for instance, will you see how Lee Child's rough-and-tough Jack Reacher interacts with Kathy Reichs' Temperance Brennan (she of the uber-scientific mind)?

Settings, time periods and concepts are all over the map, from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to a castle in Scotland to ancient Alexandria. There's murder, theft and fantasy. I was delighted to find some of my favorite characters - among them Lucas Davenport, Joe Pickett and the aforementioned Reacher and Brennan - as well as a few others with whom I wasn't familiar (more's the pity, but that's been rectified now).

The whole thing is edited by Child, and at the beginning of each story is a quick peek at the writing process. Some authors knew each other beforehand; others did not. But what comes through loud and clear is that each and every one of them put considerable effort into turning out a great story - no throwing ideas or characters up against the wall to see what sticks here, folks. Every one is well thought out, intriguing and plausible (well, given the particular combination of characters). Some are deadly serious, while others serve up bits of humor. For instance, puns run rampant in “Footloose” by Val McDermid and Peter James, in which dead folks are distinguished by their feet (or the lack thereof). The victims "must be hopping mad," one character deadpans. 

And then there's my personal favorite, from “Short Story” by Karin Slaughter and Michael Koryta (the longest story in the collection, BTW): As the characters discuss the ungodly frigid weather, one quips, "...the whole witch is cold today. You know what I mean?"

Take a sec. You'll get it.

There's no real point in summarizing all the individual stories here; each has considerable merit, but my point is that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, thereby making this a significant work. Another big benefit, for me at least, is the opportunity to get acquainted with authors I've heard of but for whatever reason never read. 

All that said, here's the cast of characters and authors (the whole thing is edited by Lee Childs):

"Honor &..." by Sandra Brown and C.J. Box (Lee Coburn and Joe Pickett)

"Footloose" by Val McDermid and Peter James (Tony Hill and Roy Grace)

"Faking a Murder" by Kathy Reichs and Lee Child (Temperance Brennan and Jack Reacher)

"Past Prologue" by Diana Gabaldon and Steve Berry (Jamie Fraser and Cotton Malone)

 “Rambo on Their Minds” by Gayle Lynds and David Morrell (Liz Sansborough and Rambo)

“Short Story” by Karin Slaughter and Michael Koryta (Jeffrey Tolliver and Joe Pritchard)

“Dig Here” by Charlaine Harris and Andrew Gross (Harper Connelly and Ty Hauck)

 “Deserves to be Dead” by Lisa Jackson and John Sandford (Regan Pescoli and Lucas Davenport)

“Midnight Flame” by Lara Adrian and Christopher Rice (Lucan Thorne and Lilliane)

“Getaway” by Lisa Scottoline and Nelson DeMille (Bennie Rosato and John Corey)

“Taking the Veil” by J.A. Jance and Eric Van Lustbader (Ali Reynolds and Bravo Shaw)

My final word? Don't miss this one!

MatchUp edited by Lee Child (Simon & Schuster, June 2017); 464 pp.

FACEOFF

5 stars out of 5

This book, a compilation of short stories, gets 5 stars from me not so much because of enjoyability, but rather because it's such a unique work. Where else - except for previous versions featuring different authors - could you possibly find so many top-notch thriller writers in the same book, not to mention with characters paired up as never before and probably never again?

Edited by equally well-known author David Baldacci, sales from the book benefit the group International Thriller Writers, to which all these guys and gals belong. The anthology includes 11 stories, all co-written by two writers (in one case, three). Now that I've finished them all, I'll say up front that they're not equally good; in fact, only four of the 11 would get more than 3 stars were I to rate them individually. But as I implied at the beginning, this book is truly a Gestalt: The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

I'll also acknowledge the possibility that my subconscious was helping to sway my opinions; when I took a closer look at my four favorites, it turns out all four are by authors whose characters (and writing styles) are quite familiar to me. Hopefully that's not the case; but even if it was, a few characters in other stories intrigued me enough that I intend to look for books by that author with an eye toward reading them. And (beyond beefing up the writers' group coffers), isn't that really the name of the game?

For the record, my very favorite story, "Rhymes with Prey," pitted Jeffery Deaver with John Sandford (John Camp in real life), with Deaver's Lincoln Rhymes meeting up with Sandford's Lucas Davenport. And therein began my suspicion that familiarity breeds familiarity; just recently, I finished Sandford's new Field of Prey and Deaver's The Skin Collector - so maybe, just maybe, those were still on my mind when I made my choice. 

Other noteworthy (to me) collaborations here are "The Devil's Bones" by Steve Berry and James Rollins, featuring characters Cotton Malone and Gray Pierce; "Good and Valuable Consideration" by Lee Child and Joseph Finder with characters Jack Reacher (thankfully, with Tom Cruise nowhere in sight) and Nick Heller; and "Gaslighted" by primarily children's book author R.L. Stine and the team of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child with characters Slappy the Ventriloquist Dummy and Aloysius Pendergast. 

And for the record, the other stories are:

"Red Eye," by Dennis Lehane and Michael Connelly (characters Patrick Kenzie and Harry Bosch

"In the Nick of Time" by Ian Rankin and Peter James (John Rebus and Roy Grace)

"The Laughing Budda" by M.J. Rose and Lisa Gardner (Malachai Samuels and D.D. Warren)

"Surfing the Panther" by Steve Martini and Linda Fairstein (Paul Madriani and Alexandra Cooper)

"Infernal Night" by Heather Graham and F. Paul Wilson (Michael Quinn and Repairman Jack)

"Pit Stop" by Raymond Khoury and Linwood Barclay (Sean Reilly and Glen Garber)

"Silent Hunt" by John Lescroart and T. Jefferson Parker (Wyatt Hunt and Joe Trona)

Author biographies are at the end, and an introduction to each story provides some background as to how and why the story was developed (all very interesting, BTW). In short (pun intended), this is an excellent effort all-around and I hope the group continues to publish others now and again.

FaceOff by Lee Child, Michael Connelly and others (Simon & Schuster, June 2014); 384 pp.