Along with books on how to write, any aspiring writer should have books on how NOT to write, and this one certainly fits the bill. It is crammed with examples of the worst in crime fiction, so it is not only a good instruction manual for helping you avoid the pitfalls of bad writing but provides a boost of morale to those who think their writing isn't up to snuff. Should be on your bookshelf next to The Stuffed Owl and Damon Knight's In Search of Wonder.

Absolutely hilarious. Pronzini's look at the worst in crime and detective fiction turns over some real gems of second (or third, or fourth)-rate 'literature.' The author deserves a vote of thanks for daring to enter into this dark world, and sincere congratulations for making it back out alive. I read this book quite a few summers ago and return to it frequently. For sheer entertainment, it's really tough to beat.

Do yourself a favor and find a copy of this book. But watch out for me: now that I see that Pronzini's done a follow-up, and a second book on Western lit, I'm going to be scouring the shelves myself.

Love mystery? Then you'll love this book. Hate mystery? Then YOU'LL love this book. Pronzini is a fount of information about the "best" (read:hilariously inept) in mystery fiction. He's read every book ever written in the genre, it seems, and shows genuine affection for the form. The fun he pokes at the authors and their works is gentle and doesn't distract at all from your wonderment at the fact that these books ever even existed. It might, however, make you want to seek them out and try for yourself. Or maybe it'll help prevent a misstep in purchasing a book you wouldn't end up enjoying. Either way, this book is worth a read (or three). These mystery authors have gone unsung for too long. Bravo Mr. Pronzini!

In an era of widespread cynicism it's good to know that there are still idealists out there. They may not be saints, but they're usually on the good side. And in this fantastic collection of crime stories you won't be bored. Many of these authors have appeared elsewhere, such as Ellery Queen or Hitchcock. But Pronzini & Adrian selected stories that have an edge to them. Like San Francisco in the early days...Worth it to own, because you'll read it again!

Pronzini and Adrian have chosen the best Crime Fiction short stories around. And even better, they provide historical perspectives and summaries of the works of the authors. I purchased the book not just to reread, but to have as a reference for which books of each author to read, and in what order. The best crime fiction anthology ever.

If you love the fiction of the Hard Boiled Genre then Hard Boiled is a must for your collection. If you are just interested theres no better place to start. Taunt stories by authors great and small will provide hours of entertainment and the editors notes a tremendous resource in locating more material.

A personal favorite is
So cold , So pale, So Fair,
Liegh Brackett

Please read and enjoy

A top-flite "Namless" mystery driven by a good story and, as always in Pronzini's books, and equally good personal back-story.

Why isn't this book in print? Why isn't the "Nameless" series more acclaimed? In my opinion, "Nameless" ranks as among the best detectives in the genre (along with Block's Scudder).

Along with "Shackles," I think this is a high point of the Nameless Detective series. The PI agrees to take on the kind of job he hates the most as a favor to a friend -- help a woman whose husband is having an affair. The husband's paramour, Nedra, is a seductress with whom he is completely obsessed. Eventually, Nedra goes missing -- and in her absence, the cheating husband goes off the deep end. This is a totally absorbing book, made even more so by the addition of personal problems in the detective's life (his longtime love, Kerry, appears to be having an affair of her own; his ex-partner, Eberhardt, continues giving Nameless the cold shoulder). I'm so grateful to Pronzini for continuing this series and really wish more people realized how great it is!

Everyone needs a vacation every now and again. Nameless is no exception as he escapes from the memory of his ex-partner's suicide and goes off to a mountain resort for rejuvination. Peace, quiet and solitude is just what he needs!

Revenge, payback and hatred is what another vactioner desires as he plots the demise of all those who made him suffer when imprisoned. He too, desires the solitude needed to hatch his murderous plot. When he and Nameless encounter one another an explosive adventure begins leading both into mayhem.

Pronzini takes us into the mind of a mad man whose psychosis keeps Nameless on the edge. Allow yourself to be intrigued and put on the edge by another exciting thriller in the Nameless series. Let's go fishing with Nameless.

This was a book that holds your interest from start to finish. "Nameless" drives some friends to a mountain lake resort. A murder occurs nearby, made to look like an accident. Nameless has a gut feeling though and when the widow asks him to find the murder. the chase is on! Action builds and maintains itself throughout the book until finally Nameless comes through and solves the crime. Exciting reading. Makes me want to read other Pronzini books as soon as possible. Interesting approach to have an un-named hero..does he ever get a name!

"Hard Boiled" is an absolutely first rate collection of short stories by some of the best AND least known writers of the genre. One of its two editors, Bill Pronzini, is an avid collector of the old Pulp magazines as well as being one of the best hard-boiled writers working today (he's the author of the excellent "Nameless" detective series). He and co-editor Jack Adrian really know their stuff, as they show with an extensive introduction that explains in detail the history of the genre. They also provide good introductions for each individual writer, both the famous and the not-so famous, to give the reader a good perspective of where each author was coming from.

The stories themselves are grouped by the decade in which they were published. The 1930s and 1950s are the most heavily represented because, the editors explain, they were the peak decades for hard-boiled fiction in terms of both poularity and quality. The book covers the 1920s to the 1990s.

Overall, this is an excellent book for anyone who enjoys good crime stories.

Hard Boiled is the greatest crime anthology that I have read. It's full to the brim with great stories and has writers from every decade some well kown some not. Some great stories are Dashiell Hammet's The Scorched Face, Roul Whitfield's Misteral, James M Cain's Brush Fire, Chester Himes Marijuana and a Pistol and Jim Thompson's Forever After. It also has a great introduction. I seriously suggest you buy this book

well if you plan to buy this great book i must tell you not to use the life drain or poison strike spells cause i tryed it & the poison like a little *light* & only makes your enemie a little green :P but do try the animate dead spell its great go to a grave yard & try it you will have dead walking about in no time :D

This book is awesome, I brought my cow back to life by using it

This book collects, in one volume, two previously published horror anthologies, on Voodoo and Mummies, along with a new section collecting stories on the subject of Ghouls.

Pronzini introduces each of the 3 sections with a concise essay on the subject along with a primer on the literature of each. On top of that, additional introductory matter accompanies each story. This content alone is worth the price of admission.

The quality of stories chosen to represent each subject leaves little to be desired. The authors comprise a diverse cross section of world literature, from the obligatory Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King to the unlikely Tennessee Williams. In between you will find selections by the well-known -- Cornell Woolrich, Robert Bloch, Fredric Brown -- and by those whose names might never be known by most readers except through anthologies such as this one -- C. M. Eddy, Henry Slesar, Henry S. Whitehead, John Russell.

While the "creepy" factor of each story, as may be expected, varies considerably, the writing is of uniformly high quality. And where some may fail to raise your hackles, they all succeed in entertaining.

41 classic tales of horror and the supernatural are presented in 599 pages by the editors Pronzini, Malzberg, and Greenberg in two sections:
Grandmasters -
- Poe [Hop Frog], Stoker [The Squaw], Bierce, Faulkner, Sturgeon, and others including Winston Churchill [Man Overboard].
Modern Masters -
- Hunter [The Scarlet King], Wagner [Sticks], Russell, Kornbluth, Sheckley, and others including Stephen King [The Crate], who also provides a nine-page Introduction in which he writes:
"If [this book] proves anything, it proves that the tale of horror and/or the supernatural is serious, is important, is necessary... not only to those human beings who read to think, but to those vast numbers of readers who read to feel".

Jack Hollis has a problem. His daughter, Angela, is being stalked and threatened by her ex-husband. No amount of pleading, restraining orders or talking can keep him away. Jack must do something. After all, this is his daughter. He must protect her and his grandson from this savage animal.

In An Evil Time is a gripping drama of a man forced to lower his code of ethics in order to protect his family. Jack's stress over his daughter's problem catapults him into doing things that would never come to his mind. Out of desperation he goes out to kill this crazed stalker only to find out someone has already done the job for him. Who? Jack suspects his own son Eric who had just as much hate for the man as Jack. Now Jack has to protect his son from discovery.

If you have ever been stalked you can certainly identify with this family. Helpless and hopeless the law is impotent in stopping the harrassment of the stalker. Everyone goes through various stresses and strains until they reach their breaking poing. See a law abiding man turn into a cynical angry time bomb ready to explode. His anger is like a cancer which spreads throughout his family to the point where he makes various mistakes and assumptions that can destroy them.

You will be intrigued by the social implications of stalking upon a family. Pronzini also shows us how psychological pressures can eat away at us to the point where we become the monster that we're trying to eradicate. Find out how Jack tries to rid himself of his personal and psychological demons.

As a mystery writer with my first book in its initial release, I have repeatedly asserted that Bill Pronzini is the finest mystery writer now working. His NAMELESS series is a landmark in modern detective fiction. His recent stand-alone thrillers have been universally excellent, deserving of the nominations and awards that several have received. IN AN EVIL TIME is Mr. Pronzini's most recent thriller. It features Jack Hollis, a good man pushed beyond his limits by pure evil--David Rakubian. Rakubian is the ex-husband of Jack's daughter, Angela. Jack finally makes a difficult decision that a man has to do what a man has to do to protect those he loves, yet he finds someone has beaten him to the task. Jack then, once again, has to struggle to protect those he knows he has to protect. IN AN EVIL TIME is a complex and fulfilling thiller, written by a masterful writer working at the top of his craft.

Angela married attorney David Rakubian on the rebound from her divorce. She tried to make her second marriage work but failed because David is a sociopath control freak who verbally and physically abused her. When Angela worries about the safety of her son sired by a different person she divorces David to return to the home of her parents where she knows her loving parents, especially her father Jack Hollis, would do anything to ease her troubles.

David begins to stalk Angela and threatens her and her loved ones, but in sly ways so that the police have no proof of his acts. Jack concludes that this animal of a former son-in-law must die before he kills one of them. Jack sets up a full-proof plan, but David fails to arrive at the dead zone. Jack goes to David's home to find that someone already murdered his adversary. He believes a family member killed David so Jack buries the corpse and cleaned the house. Not long afterward letters arrive informing David and Angela that someone knows what happened to David. The miserable cycle begins anew.

Bill Pronzini is a brilliant storyteller who uses his characters to propel forward a taut plot. When Mr. Pronzini provides only a last name of a cast member, he insures that the audience never becomes too close to that player. However, Jack is unique as the audience roots for his success even when he steps over the line. IN AN EVIL TIME is a chilling tale of horror with human monsters that could be living next door.

Harriet Klausner

The old pro (pronzini) did it again. I did not like Matt Cape
and for the most part I was glad that this was a short book. But the last chapter changed everything. Including how I rated this book. (before the final chapter I was going to rate this book a 3) I have been a fan of Bill Pronzini for over 20 years and this is far from one of his best. Read Blue Lonesome or Wastland for Strangers if you want to see him at the top of his game.

When I started Steps To The Graveyard Easy, I was unsympathetic to the protagonist Matt Cape. He was a man with a stable family, good job, and someone well thought of by most people. He purposely turns all of this upside down and abandons everything and everyone to ostensibly find true "freedom" by heading for the open road. But was this his real motive for giving up everything? Along the way, Pronzini paints a picture of Cape that seems to stretch one's thoughts about him and his actions to the point of being unbelieveable. But, that's the genius of Pronzini's writing and one soon finds great empathy and positive feelings for Matt as the meanings of his actions become known.

While not as long as King's The Stand or as broad in scope as Long's The Descent, this is a book that feels like it and if it were any longer would be superfluous.

This is a suspensful story with a good plot and with chartacters that are completely believable. This book has several moral dilemmas, along with a great murder/mystery, that are resolved quite nicely and the twist ending begs the question "What would you do?"

Outstanding book from the very start to the last word. I think it is Pronzini's best since A Wasteland Of Strangers.