| Title | : | Dangerous Women |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0892960043 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780892960040 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 384 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 2005 |
Dangerous Women Reviews
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This was an excellent collection! There were a few dogs, but that's to be expected. For the most part, these stories were short & to the point. The point being the thrill of very dangerous women. Some were good, others bad, & some just insane, but they were memorable.
Introduction by Otto Penzler was interesting. A bit long.
Improvisation by Ed McBain was a great start to this collection. Just how cold can a person be? 4 stars
Cielo azul by Michael Connely is one I've read before. It was just as good the second time around. 4 stars
Give me your heart by Joyce Carol Oates was creepy as hell. Remind me never to tick off that lady! 4 stars
Karma by Walter Mosley would have been better if Leonid was more likable. Still, he doesn't deal with very nice people & the way he makes his way through this story is great. 4 stars
Dear Penthouse Forum (a first draft) by Laura Lippman shows that some people will do anything to get published. Shudder! 4 stars
Rendezvous by Nelson DeMille was good & terrifying. It would have been better if the guns had been handled well. 3 stars
What she offered by Thomas H. Cook was plain haunting. 5 stars
Her lord and master by Andrew Klavan was extremely kinked & creepy. How much power does the sub have in the relationship? Wow. Perfect ending!!! 5 stars
Mr. Gray's folly by John Connolly was a horror story, not really a mystery. Still, it was good. 4 stars
A thousand miles from nowhere by Lorenzo Carcaterra was like a strip tease done perfectly. 5 stars
Witness by J.A. Jance could have been pretty good. The twist was there, but so poorly revealed & summed up that it fell flat. I've tried one book by her & dropped it before I got to the halfway mark. Glad I didn't waste more time on it & this was short. 1 star
Soft spot by Ian Rankin was great. Perfectly played with a great ending. 5 stars
Third party by Jay McInerny didn't make a lick of sense to me. 1 star
Last kiss by S.J. Rozan was another creepy one with a fantastic lady bent on revenge. 4 stars
Sneaker wave by Anne Perry was OK, but too long & the ending wasn't surprising in the least. 2 stars
Louly and Pretty Boy by Elmore Leonard was typical of him. I've read it before & enjoyed it again. 4 stars
Born bad by Jeffery Deaver was good with quite a twist. It should have ended quicker, though. 3 stars -
Improvisation by Ed McBain - 3 stars. The singles scene. Pickup line, "So what do we do for a little excitement tonight?" Answer, "Why don't we kill somebody?"
Cielo Azul by Michael Connelly - 3 stars. Harry Bosch and Terry McCaleb obsess over the identity of a murdered Jane Doe.
Give me your heart by Joyce Carol Oates - 3 stars. The indiscretions of a renowned theological doctor come back to haunt him 24 years later in the form of a stalker. As they say, "Hell hath no fury . . ."
Karma by Walter Mosley - 3 stars. A gritty story of revenge, involving criminal fixer and P.I. Leonid McGill. X rated.
Dear Penthouse forum (a first draft) by Laura Lippman - 4 stars. Chilling! A chance encounter with a beautiful stranger at the airport is the stuff of dreams for a young man like Andy. R rated.
Rendezvous by Nelson DeMille - 4 stars. My favorite so far. A Long range patrol in Vietnam is stalked by a deadly female sniper.
What she offered by Thomas H. Cook - 3 stars. Jack, an author with a depressingly bleak outlook on life, meets a dangerous woman. She offers him mystery, intimacy, love, a suicide pact. R rated.
Her lord and master by Andrew Klavan - 3 stars. The 2nd hand tale of an erotic BDSM relationship. It's all fun and games till someone dies. X rated.
Mr. Gray’s folly by John Connelly - 3 stars. Supernatural horror. Something influences and changes the women who live in the house.
A thousand miles from nowhere by Lorenzo Carcaterra - 4 stars. A relentless woman pursues the man who killed her beloved sister 20 years ago.
Witness by J.A. Jance - 3 stars. A new bride tells an old friend a tale of abuse, control and domination by her new husband. But all is not as it seems.
Soft spot by Ian Rankin - 2 stars. A prison censor becomes obsessed with the wife of one of the inmates. R rated.
Third party by Jay McInerney - 1 star. One night in Paris, trying to forget the woman he deliberately betrayed, Alex hooks up with a Jaded "couple" who also seem to be working out relationship betrayal issues. X rated.
The last kiss by S.J. Rozen 3 stars. I don't think she liked lawyers very much. R rated.
Sneaker wave by Anne Perry - 2 stars. Three sisters have issues involving the husband of the eldest of the three.
Louly and pretty boy by Elmore Leonard - 2 stars. A young girl gets fascinated, obsessed even, with depression era desperado Pretty Boy Floyd.
Born bad by Jeffery Deaver - 4 stars. It's such a shame when a child rejects their parents, rejects their lifestyle, morals and way of life. Sometimes they are just born bad. At first the twist at the end made me mad, but the author did such a good job with it that this ended up being one of my favorite stories in this book. -
With the exception of a couple of good stories, most of this book is male authors writing long descriptions of how good women’s legs look. Skip this one.
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A truly entertaining mystery/suspense anthology of short stories featuring dicey dames, badass broads, and checkered chicks who wreak mayhem and dismay wherever they tread - usually told from the point of view of the hapless people (mostly men, but also a few women) who get in their way.
I discovered this book because of Andrew Klavan, who mentioned that he and his agent had a falling out over Klavan's short story "Her Lord and Master" - which was eventually published in this collection. I like everything Klavan writes, and so I enjoyed his brutal S&M adventure with a horrific, yet humorous, twist; but, this story was by no means the only standout in such an excellent compendium.
What is most noteworthy is that the stories are so very different from each other. This is not a work of various James M. Cain tribute bands. Rather, each writer brings his or her own worldview into how women can be dangerous. Sometimes it is in the very vulnerability of these fierce females that their entrancing power lies. Sometimes they are hardboiled. Sometimes they are entirely innocent - yet still dangerous. Sometimes the story is a twisty-goo of layered expressions of feminine danger.
Variously funny, spooky, kinky (thanks, Klavan), creepy, suspenseful, chilling, depressing, adventurous - this is really a collection that will please the reader who enjoys dipping into many styles and genres on a theme. I was feeling kind of bad for the final story "Born Bad" from Jeffery Deaver, because I worried too many readers would lay the volume down and get distracted before reaching it. I should not have worried. Not only was I eagerly reading through each story to the end, "Born Bad" ended up being my favorite one in the collection.
Otto Penzler sure knows how to put together mystery/suspense/crime anthologies. Highly recommend for good beach reading. -
Some of these stories are 5 star affair, and some only 2 star - thus the middle of the road rating. Were I reading instead of listening, I would have skipped some of these offerings.
Still interesting though, as these Mystery Writing compilations usually are! -
I generally do not enjoy short stories but this was an excellent collection. There was only 1 that I didn't really connect with and the rest we well done. Lots of my favorite authors.
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As Spike Spiegel of “Cowboy Bebop” fame once said, “I love the kind of woman that can kick my ass.”
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Tredici maestri del Thriller americano, gli esponenti più produttivi, sopraffini, conosciuti, insieme per sottolineare alcune delle tante personalità delle donne. Che cos'è che rende pericolosa una donna? Si chiede Otto Penzler all'inizio della raccolta. In questi 13 racconti troviamo un po' delle risposte. A partire dal primo racconto (che non mi ha entusiasmato più di tanto, per zero tensione e troppo discorso diretto) si intuisce, nonostante il mio piacere personale, quanto una donna può essere perfida nel programmare una dipartita dell'uomo che si crede di essere un "cacciatore". Deaver conferma la sua prosa mai deludente e personaggi caratterizzati in maniera acuta. Connelly ci fa respirare una sconfitta; a partire dal ritrovamento di una vittima ci conduce all'assassino, e il senso della sconfitta si fa più forte al cospetto del killer che si prende gioco del protagonista. DeMille... fantastico DeMille, con le sue descrizioni perfette, i personaggi studiati e raccontati fin nei minimi particolari; si "sente" la paura, si "respirano" gli ambienti, si ascoltano i suoni della battaglia e si "vede" la consapevolezza del protagonista (un tenente americano in pattuglia con altri nove soldati dopo un bombardamento al napalm in vietnam) di sentirsi sotto tiro di un cecchino (cecchina?); un intreccio impeccabile e uno stile raffinato: "Per qualche ragione sentii che dovevo guardarle la faccia ancora una volta, per affidarla alla memoria, imprimermela nella mente. Sollevai leggermente il mirino e vidi lo stesso sguardo distante e indifferente che aveva sulla riva del fiume.". E poi la lunga lettera di una donna al dottor K e la richiesta del cuore, un cuore che vuole essere sostituito perché malato, solo una donna pensa come una donna: Joye Carol Oats. E sarebbe banale riassumere tutti i racconti senza spoilerare. Accenno solo qualche altro particolare per sottolineare ciò che la raccolta ha voluto mostrare: la donna è pericolosa e in tutte le sua assurde fantasie diventa la vedova nera che prima di uccidere si "diverte" a subire pratiche sadomaso alquanto inquietanti e violente: una sorta di dominazione dal basso; la perfidia di una donna che si innamora del marito della sorella, e l'idea di volerla uccidere in ambienti descritti in maniera quasi maniacale; sparatorie negli anni venti in america, dove la donna diventa un giustiziere per fuggire dalle umiliazioni di una vita fatta di stenti e soprusi; e la prosa magnifica, accurata, quasi leziosa di Cook; e il sesso, la sensualità, la preda che diventa cacciatore, l'amore, l'odio... un mix di personalità importanti le protagoniste dei maestri del thriller, decisamente DONNE.
"Che la donna sia perfettamente consapevole o totalmente ignara del suo potere, che lo usi come un'arma o come una coperta con cui proteggersi, l'intenzione non lo aumenta né lo diminuisce; ed è proprio questo che lo rende così pericoloso per chi ne subisce la malia. Il potere è pericoloso. Lo conosciamo, forse lo temiamo, ma desideriamo comunque sentirne il calore e corriamo qualsiasi rischio per avvicinarci alla sua fiamma.”
Conclude Penzler, nella sua prefazione, "Il sesso debole? Non fatemi ridere." -
Gets three stars only on quality if prose an Noir. I read a review of this that was simply two words - "mysoganistic crap." I thought that was harsh given my assumption the stories were older and written more along the timeframe of the "hard-boiled" crime genre was popular. After all, wasn't that more the era of the "dangerous woman" character? I was shocked to find that many of these stories were copyrighted as recently as 2005. While that doesn't take from the craft on display in these stories, it does sadden me to think, even that recently, such "crap" indeed was still being perpetuated. I recognized many authors as some among my favorites, and will give others the benefit I the doubt since these stories were plucked and positioned by Penzler and may not reflect any body of work other than his own insight. I won't read more of his collections.
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Was exposed to a lot of new authors for me plus the old faves I know and love. Loved some, not so much others. But, they all had an interesting take on the theme and excellent execution. Will definitely be exploring some new authors for myself in the future. Overall, a wonderful collection with an awesome theme. As Otto writes in the Forward, "The weaker sex? Don't make me laugh."
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Some of the stories were good some just so so
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Some of the stories were disturbing but I did enjoy Ian Rankin. 🤩
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Here's the concept. Ask seventeen well- known authors to submit original works about "dangerous women" and see what happens. They are all good sized stories and are easy to read. Few are Mind-blowing enough to make your head spin. A worthwhile collection nonetheless.
My two favorites in the collection are Rendezvous by Nelson DeMille and Louly and Pretty Boy by Elmore Leonard. DeMille is a new name to me. But, apparently, he has a large body of work. Rendezvous is a Vietnam war era story about a lost patrol under fire from a woman sniper. It is one terrific war story and one I just couldn't put down. Interestingly, DeMille himself fought in Vietnam so the story is based on real life research. Elmore Leonard tells a Bonnie and Clyde era tale about a young teenage girl who falls for Pretty Boy Floyd. Louly and Floyd are two characters out of Leonatd's The Hot Kid as is Lawman Carl, the subject of The Hot Kid.
Improvisation By Ed McBain is a story about pickup lines in bars and talk willowy blondes who suggest killing someone as a way to pass the time. Cielo Azul By Michael Connelly is another standout. It features Connelly's a Detective Harry Bosch and an unsolved murder that continues to haunt him. Other selections in this book include Give me your heart by Joyce Carol Oates, Karma by Walter Mosley, Dear Penthouse forum (a first draft) by Laura Lippman, What she offered by Thomas H. Cook, Her lord and master by Andrew Klavan, Mr. Gray's folly By John Connell, and a thousand miles from nowhere By Lorenzo Carcaterra. -
This collection of short stories with the central theme of "Dangerous Women" reflects what most "collections" reflect: a quality spectrum from excellent to banal. Renowned, mostly male, authors contributed, but their stories often feature stereotypes and fail to reflect that the book was published in 2005 -- welcome to the 21st century, boys! Nelson DeMille's story of the female sniper in Vietnam was excellent as was Elmore Leonard's. Jeffrey Deaver and Michael Connelly also penned good stories. Thes tightly-written tales merit the rating, otherwise, it would have been minus a star.
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A mixed bag of short stories, some trending into supernatural and others more mystery/suspense stories. It was a good choice to have several narrators for the audiobook because it helped create separation between the stories so that they didn't blend together for the listener. A few of these characters might be familiar to readers of mysteries -- Leonid McGill, Harry Bosch -- but most were standalone stories.
Not bad for an audiobook that I picked up out of a random box of audios. -
Meh. Stories ranged from mildly interesting to well written. Especially liked Lorenzo Carcaterra's entry. His writing was so good I've downloaded a couple of samples. Was very disappointed in Anne Perry and several of my usual favorite authors. Several stories had ok plots only to end very dully. And NONE of the women were "dangerous."
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This is a nice collection of mystery stories from humorous to noir.
I enjoyed all the stories and although I'm not an avid mystery reader, I found no repeats from other sources. I did find a couple of new (to me) writers I intend to investigate.
This is a good read. -
This book wasn't what I expected, and I didn't care for most of the stories. There were a couple good ones. Overall, I agree with another reviewer that pointed out it's more a book that is mostly stories containing what men/male writers label as "dangerous women."
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Nella raccolta ci sono 2 o 3 racconti che mi sono piaciuti ma per la maggiore i personaggi femminili non sono bem caratterizzati, si limitano a "fare cose" o ad essere descritte attraverso lo sguardo dei personaggi maschili.
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Reading through these short stories was fun! They were vastly different and interesting, some were really diabolical! Be careful how you respond to what seems like a harmless quirky introduction (especially at clubs)! 😉
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fun collaboration of many superb authors.
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Absolutely loved listening to this collection of stories on a long trip and during my daily commute.
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Excellent collection.
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The good stories made up for the OK ones
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The best story was at the end.
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This was an interesting collection of short stories. Some forgettable but the last two were excellent.
