Dangerous Women

Original Stories from Today's Greatest Suspense Writers

By: Edited by Otto Penzler

Narrated by: Ellen Archer, Patrick Lawlor, Michael Prichard, Simon Vance

Prepare to meet the most seductively female and the most shockingly fatal of femmes fatales, brought to you by 17 of today's finest authors of mystery and suspense fiction. Award-winning editor Otto Penzler presents a collection of short and sizzling masterpieces of kisses and kiss-offs, gams and gats, published for the first time anywhere.

In "Third Party", Jay McInerney takes you on a wild ride through the Paris night with a party girl built for speed and sin; "Rendezvous", Nelson DeMille's first short story in 25 years, plunges you into a Vietnam jungle where the bloodiest scourge of this man's army is no man at all; back in the U.S.A. of "Louly and Pretty Boy", Elmore Leonard introduces a Depression-era teenage gun moll who loves Pretty Boy Floyd more than she likes knocking off filling stations; and Michael Connelly's colorful and ironic "Cielo Azul" shows how a nameless woman left dead on a Los Angeles hillside can be the most lethal prey of all.

These and a bevy of other very bad girls cast their criminal spells through the powerful voices of Lorenzo Carcaterra, Joyce Carol Oates, John Connolly, Thomas H. Cook, Jeffery Deaver, J. A. Jance, Andrew Klavan, Laura Lippman, Ed McBain, Walter Mosley, Anne Perry, Ian Rankin, and S. J. Rozan in stories as irresistible as the antiheroines that blaze through their pages.

©2005 Otto Penzler (P)2005 Tantor Media, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Mystery maven Penzler has gathered 17 stories from top writers for an all-original suspense anthology with results that are about the same as if a master chocolatier had assembled a new sampler box: everything of high quality but with enough variety to appeal to all tastes....It's a joy to watch these talented authors...embrace the short story form and produce magic." (Publishers Weekly)

disappointing

Only 2 of these stories were even tolerable. Some were so predictable as to be laughable and others were so misogynistic I couldn't finish them. The readers don't add anything to the enjoyment of the stories. Buy something else and save yourself some groaning.

Disappointing

I should have guessed that a collection with such a lame theme would result in a collection of lame stories. Elmore Leonard excepted, these are just awful. A waste of time and money.

excellent collection

listened to audiobook so I have no written record of authors and stories, hard to remember who wrote what. All completely different, all excellent. All of Penzler’s collections are wonderful, great variety. Contemporary stories as well as older works.

Some good stories with HORRIBLE Narration

There are some good stories here, but the narration is seriously horrible. I skipped half the stories because I could not stand the narrators.

A waste of time. Pick another book instead.

What disappointed you about Dangerous Women?

Dangerous can be thrilling or intriguing. This book was boring and yet creepy. Who is the intended audience? Men with adolescent fantasies? These are warped women who were NOT my pleasure to know.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Dull delivery across the board.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

None