Killer Year: Stories to Die For... Mass Market Paperback – June 30, 2015

We need to thank the International Thriller Writers, and the editor, Lee Child, for putting this collection together. There are a total of 16 stories, 13 by relatively new writers. It is a good way to sample writers. Like most short story collections, the stories vary in length and writing style. Some will appeal to an individual reaker more than others. I liked three of the short stories well enough to order copies of novels written by the authors."Teardown," by Marc Lecard, is a fun read with a humorous slant. The main character LoDuco, is a likeable sort that will probably appeal to Evanovich fans. He would fit right in. The author's novel is "Vinnie's Head." The author is originally from Long Island."One Serving of Bad Luck," by Sean Chercover, is about private investigator Ray Dudgeon. This is another character you will like, and one I would hope to see more of. He has a knack for making the best out of a bad situation. The author's novel is "Big City, Bad Blood." The author has an interesting background. Like Dashiel Hammett, he started out working as a PI, and has held a number of other jobs during his career. He splits his time between Chicago and Toronto.The leadoff story, "Perfect Gentleman, by Brett Battles, is about Wade Norris, an American expatriot working as the papasan in a strip club in Angeles City in the Philippines. He looks after the young women working there, and has his own ideas about justice. I like the author's writing style. He novel is "The Cleaner." The author is from California, but has traveled extensively.There were a number of other stories that I particularly liked, including "Bottom Deal," by Robert Gregory Browne. The main character, Jennings, is an entertainer, card sharp, and addicted gambler (always looking for a game) in Las Vegas, and sometimes may be involved in a little B&E with his friend Scully. He is escaping from tragedy in his past, and has his own way of dealing out some justice.Readers will find an assortment of stories that they will enjoy.

When I got to the last word of most of these stories, I thought to myself "I can't believe I just wasted my time reading that!" Some of the writing styles seemed "experimental" and made it difficult to get much from the characters. They left you with a feeling of "So what!" or seemed to end in the middle of the story. There were a few I did like, especially "One Serving of Bad Luck" by Sean Chercover. His characters were real and I went ahead and bought his first book after reading the story. But there were so few stories I was actually glad I read, overall I don't think the collection was worth it.

Good overall. Some stories just didn't hit home with me, and others page turners! Probably just a matter of taste rather than talent. Enjoyed the read none the less , and would recommend to readers looking to expand their reading choices with new talent.

Lee Childs books are always excellent and he has chosen some solid authors for this book..If you enjoy thrillers you will love this book.

i just liked not loved

Some stories are better than others but a good overall effort.

Book was in a little rough shape.

Again...great authors, you may never hear about otherwise. Every story, a gem.

This book is about 25% blank space.This book has made me give up after only the first ten per cent of it.Did Lee Child really know about this when he put his name to it?The first story in it was as far as I got, and even with all the extra white space the errors stood out.This volume might have been acceptable if it was free, or maybe 99p. It was not.Fortunately, the world is full of books and authors I have yet to try, so I can simply ignore anything like this in the future.

Too many paragraph breaks, it made the text difficult to follow

This is simply a mish-mash of unknown would be story tellers airing their wanabee tales.

I found this collection disappointing given the review of the authors provided at the beginning of each short story. I though the stories lacked depth or intrigue. I found it difficult to remember the story lines.

Fantastic read.