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From Publishers Weekly
As shown in this heavyweight anthology, boxing and crime go together like beer and nuts. Leading mystery guru Penzler has put together an all-star roster of 14 short stories that include a number of rich character studies and only a couple of traditional whodunits. More than a few turn on a boxer's throwing (or not throwing) a fight. Perhaps the most impressive effort in this line is Joyce Carol Oates's "The Man Who Fought Roland LaStarza," in which a woman tries to fathom why a close friend of her father's committed suicide after drawing a big fight back in the '50s. Also notable for their buildups to climactic bouts are Doug Allyn's "Sunlight Shining on Water" and Clark Howard's "The Trial Horse." More conventional entries feature some series characters: Stuart M. Kaminsky's Toby Peters in "Long Odds," in which Peters protects the real-life Archie Moore; John Shannon's Jack Liffey in "The Problem of Leon," about a macho boxing father in conflict with his sensitive runaway son; and Andrew Bergman's Jack LeVine in "In the Tank," a glib, grim portrait of murder, racism and injustice in 1952 America. Edward D. Hoch spins a neat if unlikely tale of jealousy and revenge in "The Man Who Boxed Forever," while Mike Lupica deals poignantly with memory loss in "Dream Street." A wife takes revenge on her dead husband's trainer in Lawrence Block's slight "You Don't Even Feel It," while a boxer pays the full price for not revealing he's gone blind in one eye in F.X. Toole's darkly compelling "Midnight Emissions." Not for the fainthearted, these gritty tales of the ring pack a powerful punch.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
span class="small">From AudioFile
All of these original short stories have a boxing angle, but not all involve murder--fight-fixing and robbery are also on the docket. My favorites included Doug Allyn's "Sunlight Shining on Water," about a boxer's use of meditation techniques to deal with tough guys pressuring him to throw a fight, given a low-key reading by Lee Horsley; Thomas H. Cook's "The Fix," a tongue-in-cheek tale about a boxer's career downfall, read with a deft comic touch by Lorenzo Lamas; and Brendan DuBois's "A Winning Combination," about a columnist's growing fascination with boxing, read by Dan Cashman. Fight fans will love this collection, but boxing knowledge isn't a necessity. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
In Murder On The Ropes, boxing's own set of mystery stories, who-dunnit, why and how are always the question. When the bell rings and the knockout is final, what will be the reason, the source, and the motivation for killing and destroying the world's best boxers and their associates? Authors include Lawrence Block, Loren D. Estleman, Joyce Carol Oates, F.X. Toole and many more.
Genre: Mystery
As shown in this heavyweight anthology, boxing and crime go together like beer and nuts. Leading mystery guru Penzler has put together an all-star roster of 14 short stories that include a number of rich character studies and only a couple of traditional whodunits. More than a few turn on a boxer's throwing (or not throwing) a fight. Perhaps the most impressive effort in this line is Joyce Carol Oates's "The Man Who Fought Roland LaStarza," in which a woman tries to fathom why a close friend of her father's committed suicide after drawing a big fight back in the '50s. Also notable for their buildups to climactic bouts are Doug Allyn's "Sunlight Shining on Water" and Clark Howard's "The Trial Horse." More conventional entries feature some series characters: Stuart M. Kaminsky's Toby Peters in "Long Odds," in which Peters protects the real-life Archie Moore; John Shannon's Jack Liffey in "The Problem of Leon," about a macho boxing father in conflict with his sensitive runaway son; and Andrew Bergman's Jack LeVine in "In the Tank," a glib, grim portrait of murder, racism and injustice in 1952 America. Edward D. Hoch spins a neat if unlikely tale of jealousy and revenge in "The Man Who Boxed Forever," while Mike Lupica deals poignantly with memory loss in "Dream Street." A wife takes revenge on her dead husband's trainer in Lawrence Block's slight "You Don't Even Feel It," while a boxer pays the full price for not revealing he's gone blind in one eye in F.X. Toole's darkly compelling "Midnight Emissions." Not for the fainthearted, these gritty tales of the ring pack a powerful punch.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
span class="small">From AudioFile
All of these original short stories have a boxing angle, but not all involve murder--fight-fixing and robbery are also on the docket. My favorites included Doug Allyn's "Sunlight Shining on Water," about a boxer's use of meditation techniques to deal with tough guys pressuring him to throw a fight, given a low-key reading by Lee Horsley; Thomas H. Cook's "The Fix," a tongue-in-cheek tale about a boxer's career downfall, read with a deft comic touch by Lorenzo Lamas; and Brendan DuBois's "A Winning Combination," about a columnist's growing fascination with boxing, read by Dan Cashman. Fight fans will love this collection, but boxing knowledge isn't a necessity. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
In Murder On The Ropes, boxing's own set of mystery stories, who-dunnit, why and how are always the question. When the bell rings and the knockout is final, what will be the reason, the source, and the motivation for killing and destroying the world's best boxers and their associates? Authors include Lawrence Block, Loren D. Estleman, Joyce Carol Oates, F.X. Toole and many more.
Genre: Mystery
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Used availability for Otto Penzler's Murder on the Ropes