Expletive Deleted
edited by Jen Gordan
Reviewed by Barb Radmore
The basis for this anthology is simple- the appreciation and use of the
most infamous swear word of them all. The introduction by Mark
Billingham, which alone is worth the price of the book, explains the
need for such a book, the celebration of language, all language, even
THAT language. As he says "What a dark, disgusting and fabulous treat
lies in store within the pages of this vile and appalling book."
The stories are ordered into six sections that range from the simply,
pleasantly ironic to the strongly, stomach churning, last tale. You can
actually feel yourself start to worry about how far the next one will
go as you read them, an utterly delightful feeling of suspense. This
organization technique adds the ultimate carrot to keep reading to the
last page. You can not wait to try the next and the next and the next.
The strength of the book is the editing choices of Ms Jordan. Sex and
killing, it is all there, in its many forms and frights.
Now I could give you a quaint little synopsis of the stories, outline
the plot or maybe just a few of the standouts. But this is a medly of
murder and mayhem that each reader should analyze for him or herself.
The book is guaranteed to provoke an emotion, though that will vary
between stories and readers. It is noteworthy that none of the works
sink to a level of working only to shock value, a tendancy that might
be expected from the theme. Each is as different and unique as could be
hoped for from an anthology, each one a distinctive work.
From Bleak House site (cut and pasted- I am lazy today and they did
such a lovely job of listing them): "Contributors include Laura
Lippman, Ken Bruen, Charlie Huston, Nathan Singer, Anthony Neil Smith,
Jason Starr, Sarah Weinman, John Rickards, Libby Fischer Hellmann, Reed
Farrel Coleman, Kevin Wignall, Olen Steinhauer, Otis Twelve, Russel D.
McLean, Scott Wolven, David Bowker, Michael O'Mahony, Ray Banks, Ruth
Jordan, Delphine Lecompte, and HP Tinker." (Although I am not sure why
they use the word "include" because that is all the authors of the
short stories included.) The authors are a nice, wide and
talented assortment of crime, thriller and mystery writers, both well
known and newer to the scene.
Oh fuck it, just read the book!