Bill Pronzini does a fair job with this book, With An Extreme Buring. He sets up a mystery concerning Dix and his inability to get over grieving over his loving wife's death due to a car accident. It has been about 3 months and he still could not shake himself loose of her death and move back to intergrating himself into his normal flow of events. That in itself begs for something to happen to him which would be out of the ordinary.
Sure enough, it does. As strange as it sounds, someone obligued him and he unfortunately fell for their act. Well, as he poked his noise into the recent past of his deceased wife, he found reason to move on with his life. Good for him that he did or he too would have fallen victim to an insane man's plan to not only wipe him out as he had done Dix' wife but his wife's close female friends' family as well.
Dix and Cecca (wife's female friend) are forced to track down his wife's murderer and turn him in to the police in the end. Too, bad that the murderer turned out to be one of Dix' and Cecca's close friend.--- ...

Dix Mallory had lived in his small town practically all of his life except for a brief absence. He married, taught at a local college and was a faithful husband. A tragic car accident ended the life of his wife and Mallory did his best to deal with her death. Then the phone calls came. At first they were an annoyance then became vicious. A male voice claimed Mallory's wife was unfaithful. Soon we find this average joe questioning himself, his marriage and if indeed his wife's death was an accident or murder. Come follow this intriguing story as we see close-knit friends become suspects, innocent victims become the pariahs of the community and a pathetic man is excused for his sins. See how one murder leads to another but "the law" is unable or unwilling to protect those whose lives are in imminent danger. The implications of these actions taken will have a chilling effect upon you as you witness the widower's woes.

For over thirty years, Bill Pronzini has entertained us with the best of his detective and mystery novels. For those who are unfamiliar with him as a writer of westerns, you are in for a treat. In these pages you will find fourteen of Pronzini's best western short stories from 1971 to the year 2000.

You won't be disappointed in reading these stories. They hold your attention, are diverse in their plots and keep you guessing as to how they will end. Have you ever wished that someone would pay attention to you? Read "The Hero" where one man did his best to become the center of attraction. In our youth we sometimes commit unpardonable acts and end up paying for it in our old age. An old cowboy learns this lesson in the lead story "All The Long Years."

These stories are excellent introductions to the western genre. I am not a western genre reader but upon reading Pronzini's work I was immediately enthralled with the genre. The settings, time period and his great story telling captures your imagination. By all means treat yourself to these great stories told by a wonderful writer.

I've never really thought of myself as a fan of the 'Western' genre, but soon found that this was not required in order to thoroughly enjoy "Hell On The Draw:Best Western stories by Loren D. Estleman". While each story is indeed rooted in the West, they are by no means your run of the mill 'shoot-em-ups.' Each one is completely different in mood and style, from lighthearted humor to dark twists of fate, from romance to a touch of the supernatural. The author fills each tale with people you'll find yourself wishing that you had known or vey glad that you didn't. The vividly described settings along with fine attention to historical details of events, people, equipment and weapons, pull you inside and make you feel as if you are there. Aside from the complete enjoyment of the stories themselves, this audio version features a variety of gifted voice talents well suited to the telling of these tales of the West.

This is a collection of "Nameless Detective" short stories. They don't write'em like this anymore. I really enjoyed this book. As with all of the "Nameless" writings, it has all sorts of twists and turns to keep you on edge. I read this book 15 years ago and it's still a good read today.

There some great tales in here, some are standard monster stories, others other a neat twist with familiar characters (i.e. The Saint) that you would not expect. Worth getting just for the Lansdale and Bloch stories.

Two of mystery fans most beloved authors, Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini, have gathered a collection of their short stories for our reading pleasure. In case you don't know, the above couple are happily married and as a team worked together on some of the stories.

Duo is divided into three sections. Two sections contain the individual works of each author while the remaining section is a collaboration of the two. You will find some of their favorite detectives in their stories ( Sharon McCone and Nameless) but for the most part the stories are very diverse and supply us with memorable moments.

What is the penalty for murdering a cactus? Savor Muller's "Sweet Cactus Wine" and stone yourself to death. Is your marriage on the rocks? Marcia and Bill will delight you with a couples' foibles in "The Dying Time". The most interesting of the stories is by far "Dust to Dust" by Muller which borders on the horror genre. By and large this is a great collection because you get so involved with the characters to the point of wanting the story to continue. Alas, all good short stories must come to an end.

Even though this is a collaboration of partners, I must admit that Muller's work is the strongest of the two. Pronzini is hard hitting with his traditional male detective genre and fares very well but Marcia gives the spark. For fans of both authors this is a must have for your collection.

Bill Pronzini,as befits a consummate professional,has penned a slick taut tale
that neatly combines the Western with the disater novel.

"Austin Trace"the proprietor of the Big Tree Lumber Company,lost his son in action at White Bird Canyon (June 17th 1877)during the Nez Perce war and his wife,partly as the result of grief,some 3 months later.He is horrified at what he sees as undue leniency towards Chief Joseph shown by the authorities and assembles an army of merceneries ,and lays aside a stock of weaponry ready to send to Portland Oregon in order to obliterate the entire Nez Perce nation from the face of the planet,They are awaiting shipment at a crossing when "Clee Rudabaugh"and two henchmen arrive with the aim of stealing the weapons.They kidanap Trace and following a struggle the powder shed is ignited causing a roaring conflagration which is in addition to one already blazing away merrily in the nearby town of Pine Hill.
In a Towering Inferno like scenario we are taken on white knuckle train ride as towsfolk try to outrun the engulfing flames,.Characters are sketched in neatly and effectively with a romantic triangle thrown in.(Personally,if surrounded by fire threatening to reduce me to a cinder,love would be the last thing on my mind!)

There is plentiful lively action before the climax and readers will assuredly not find this crisp novel in any way shape or form dull.It is streamlined and machine tooled story telling and delivers in full

Read it to experience the joys of narrative and pace

Author Bill Pronzini, in addition to being one of the most prolific of present day novelists, has also produced a vast quantity of short stories in the western, horror and mystery genres. Published in 1985, "Graveyard Plots" is a selection of 23 stories chosen (as the author states in his premise) from the over 150! works of short crime fiction he had produced up until then. The best of these include "Cain's Mark," "Strangers in the Fog," "Rebound" and "Smuggler's Island." There are also three "Nameless" Detective shorts, the best of which is the clever "Skeleton Rattle Your Mouldy Leg."

Many of the stories are quite short (as few as five pages), and the book clocks in at a mere 255 pages of text. Nevertheless, it is a very good collection by an author who personifies the term "professional writer."

This is an excellant book. It consists of 11 differant unrelated short-story mysteries, and one mini-novel. Gripping storylines, excellant charectors, and obscre clues that unlock murder mysteries are just some of the things that make this book great.

The "Nameless Detective" Private Detective series is not the best such series out there, but it is always dependable. "Jackpot" is no exception to the rule. As the book opens, Nameless is still recovering psycologically from the events of the previous book, "Shackles," (the best of the series) in which he was chained and left to die in a mountain cabin. This time out, he investigates the suicide of a young woman's brother that came on the heels of the brother winning and losing a huge fortune in a casino. Of course, Nameless's investigation proves there was a lot more to the story. Much of the action takes place in Nevada, which is a refrsehing change of scenery from Nameless's native San Francisco. The plot moves along quickly and reaches a satisfying conclusion, except for one flaw. The scene in which Nameless confronts a big time mobster simply doesn't ring plausible. Otherwise, it is a fine entry in this always dependable series.