I am so saddened by this collection. This is one that I had on my shelf for a little while to read. I finally picked it up not expecting to enjoy every story but the majority. This is because it featured some of my favorite authors as well as the genre of this collection is right up my book reading alley. I read the first three stories with hardly any interest, than I jumped around and picked a few more stories to read and again I could not find myself connecting with any of the stories. This is why I am saddened by this collection. I had high hopes for this anthology. I did not attempt to read any more of the stories in this anthology. In fact, I can not really remember the ones that I did read.

Average rating: 2.25
(3 x 1 star, 7 x 2 star, 3 x 3 star, 3 x 4 star)

Perfect Gentleman by Brett Battles - 2 stars
I found this to be quite predictable and wasn't as gripping as I hoped it was going to be.

Killing Justice by Alison Brennan - 1 star
I found that this story could've had a lot more potential

Bottom Deal by Robert Gregory Browne - 4 stars
This was the first one I read that I thoroughly enjoyed. I loved the pacing and I felt that the characters were a lot more fleshed out than any of the others so far.

Time Of The Green by Ken Bruen - 1 star
The writing style is one I've read very little of and it made it incredibly difficult for me to enjoy.

Slice of Pie - Bill Cameron - 2 stars
Again, this is one which I felt could've had a lot more potential. I would've rated it 3 stars if it was a bit longer.

A Failure To Communicate by Toni McGee Causey - 2 stars
While I did like the main female character in this one and how she terrified some of the others, I felt like it would've been a much easier read without so many random time jumps.

One Serving of Bad Luck by Sean Chercover - 4 stars
This was another one I really enjoyed

Prodigal Me by J.T. Ellison - 4 stars
This one was really fun to read and one that I still remember quite a bit about

The Only Word I know In Spanish by Patry Francis -3 stars

Teardown by Marc Lenard - 2 stars
I found this one to be quite average and not one that I remember.

Runaway by Derek Nikitas - 3 stars
Interesting at first. I was let down by the ending

The Crime Of My Life by Gregg Olsen -2 stars
This one was very quick

The Point Guard by Jason Pinter - 1 star
It was at this point I started to struggle to finish it.

Gravity and Need by Marcus Sakey - 2 stars
Death Runs Faster by Duane Swierczynski - 2 stars
Righteous Son by Dave White - 2 stars

I only read the short story by Sean Chercover and loved it as much as I did the full length stories.

I love short story mysteries. This is a pretty good combination of basic whodunnits, lots of noir and pseudo-noir, and a couple of completely whacked-out stories. There's even a western.

As the title says, most of these are by brand new authors. Salted among them are stories by writers with some name recognition. No one huge, but it's nice to see those who've gotten published helping those below them on that ladder.

My favorites: "One Serving of Bad Luck" by Sean Chercover (about outwitting crooked insurance companies in spite of your best witness killing himself) and "Gravity and Need" by Marcus Sakey (about what love means--want? or need?--and what happens when the delicate balance is tipped).

Most of the stories felt rushed. I only really liked two or three of them.