The year is 1878, just two years after Gen.G.A.Custer is killed, and Roy Boone has lost his beautiful and young wife. He has not a destination in mind, but finds water and a caring sole in Jennifer Todd. However it is very apparent Mrs. Todd has been abused by her husband. After she feeds and waters Roy he once again takes to the trail. Not being able to get Jennifer out of his mind, worrying about her abuse, he returns to her home, but finds it empty. Now of a sudden bullets are whizzing past him. Now what do you think happens? Does Roy get killed, does he find jennifer, does Jennifer die, read a very good story and find out.

THIS WAS AN EXCEPTIONAL BOOK. MOST BOOKS OF OLDER STORIES AREN'T PARTICULARLY SCARY, BUT THIS ONE WAS NOT ONLY SCARY(SOME STORIES MORE THAN OTHERS, BUT ALMOST ALL GOOD ENOUGH) BUT CREATIVE, SHOW-
ING THE INDIVIDUALITY OF THE WRITERS AND THEIR PLOTS. NOT ALL OF THE STORIES WERE GHOST STORIES, WHICH IS A REFRESHING SWITCH,IN-
STEAD OF THE TYPICAL "GREATEST-HITS-OF-A-CERTAIN-PERIOD" FEEL
THAT WE SEE SO OFTEN IN THESE TYPES OF BOOKS.

TOP STORIES:(RANDOMLY LISTED)

1. HOP FROG-EDGAR ALLAN POE
2. THE JOLLY CORNER-HENRY JAMES
3. THE HAND-THEODORE DREISER
4. YOURS TRULY, JACK THE RIPPER-ROBERT BLOCH
5. THE CRATE-STEPHEN KING

A suicide always leaves lingering questions with those left behind and evokes deep feelings of guilt. So is the case with Eberhardt, Nameless's ex-partner, who commited suicide. Nameless is plagued by guilt and goes on an obsessive quest to find the answer as to "why" Eberhardt did it. What drove him to the edge?

While pursuing this question Nameless deals with an accidental death or suicide of a former client. His search for answers to that killing leads him into the realms of abuse and the question of whether justice is really ever served by revealing an interpretive truth. Are the victims sometimes the guilty ones even though they have been miserably abused? Is justice a cut and dried formula that we mete out indiscriminately without regard to the circumstances? Come and join Nameless on this painful quest as he attempts to get answers. This is Pronzini at his best in story telling.

This short story collection centers on the impact of separations and divorce on the participants including extended family members. However, the twenty tales share a dark look at IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES as the audience is treated to situations that do not end as peacefully as our current legal system expects.

Lia Matera has put together a remarkable anthology that has several excellent stories, some very good tales, and no poor entry. The cross-genre contributors are a modern day who's who with such noted authors like Oates, Cross, Deaver, Lutz, Buchanan, and Muller, etc. None of the writers are lightweights as they all hold their own with the heavyweights. Anyone who enjoyed the Battle of the Roses will fully relish each tale that paints a very dismal look at broken relationships.

Harriet Klausner

When I first pick up this book I was a little skeptical of just how entertaining this collection would be. It turned out to be my favorite collection of short stories ever written. Now "pulp" fiction may not be the highest caliber of literature but you can't overlook the each author's usage of description, twists, and character names (i.e. Sam Culp, James Cargill and so on). I recommend this book to anybody who wants to have a good time with a great book.

This book had it all. Film - err - book noir style old fashioned tough gumshoe trying to rescue the damsel in distress, even if she doesn't want it. Our nameless hero gets into some fairly thrilling detective work, chasing a monster who keeps changing names. Unfortunately, the monster seems to know more about our hero than he should, putting "nameless" in extreme danger. The ending was spectacular.

This master storyteller has crafted another masterpiece. The tale could fit in either the "Detective" or "Western" genre and is set in the silver mining area of Idaho's Owyhee Mountains. Pronzini devotes great effort to technical accuracy and lifestyles of the 1890's. In addition to pleasing the reader he educates on the details of counterfeiting, opium addiction and silver mining. His principal character, as in THE PINKERTON EYE, is an imperfect and flawed detective that manages to succeed despite his faults. This is an excellent story and I recommend it highly.

S.F. WRITER MALZBERG AND MYSTERY AUTHOR PRONZINI TEAM UP FOR A SUSPENSEFUL SERIAL KILLER YARN......THIS BOOK RECEIVED MIXED REVIEWS ON ITS PUBLICATION IN THE LATE SEVENTIES,BUT IT STOOD OUT THEN AND EVEN HOLDS UP NOW,IN THE TIME OF THE ''PREY'' THRILLERS BY JOHN SANDFORD.........THE GREAT PROSE AND THE DEFTLY HIDDEN VILLAIN MAKE THIS ONE WORK..........ITS SAD PRONZINI AND MALZBERG ONLY RE-TEAMED ONCE MORE,WITH ''NIGHT SCREAMS'',WHICH IS ALMOST AS GOOD.......

Because of the well-deserved reputation of this sleuth, this reviewer is keeping this review very short as this fourteen-story casebook showcases one of the great sleuths of the last half of century, The Nameless Detective. The anthology covers the full range of decades starting back in the late 1960s and going into 2002, but most of the contributions were written between 1979-1995. Bill Pronzini displays his talent throughout the book so that readers receive what is bound to be recognized as one of the better crime fiction assemblages of the year. The numerous fans of the Nameless Detective will rejoice with this complete compilation while if there is anyone who has not tried at least one tale this is a delightful entry to one of the greats.

Harriet Klausner

I have read the works of Bill Pronzini for years and love the "Nameless" series. Shackles is by far the best! As this story begins, "Nameless" is kidnapped by a masked man and taken to the Lake Tahoe area where he is shackled to the wall of a small cabin and left, not to die, but to contemplate his death over an agonizingly long period of time. The kidnapper has left him the essentials of life: food, water, books, heat, and a radio. It is only through strength of will and determination that "Nameless" not only survives this one but prevails. This is an intense personal drama that reaches to the soul of this unusual detective to let the reader know just exactly what makes this man tick. The way he plans his daily routine is fascinating. He never lets his predicament overwhelm him. His only question is, "Will he escape before his supplies run out?". My only question is, "Why is this wonderful novel out of print?" Every reader of the Pronzini series should have access to this one.