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This is the third in the FLESH & BLOOD anthologies celebrating the world of noir. The subtitle for this volume is "Erotic Tales of Crime and Passion." The authors include: Dick Lochte, David Fulmer, Barbara Collins, O'Neil De Noux, Gary Lovisi, Gary R. Bush, Michael Collins and Gayle Lynds, Jeff Gelb, Rex Miller, Michael Bracken, Michael Garrett, Marthyn Pelegrimas and Robert J. Randisi, Loren D. Estleman, Thomas S. Roche, Deborah Morgan, Robert S. Levinson, James L. Traylor, Max Allan Collins and Matthew V. Clemens, Catherine Dain, Jack Kelly, Gary Phillips, Annette Meyers' and Martin Meyers, and John Lutz. The mistake I made was reading all the stories back to back, from beginning to end. This is liable to cause severe depression. The streets are certainly mean, not to mention the trailer parks and taverns. Everyone who is not on the take is on the make. Politicians are crooked, police are corrupt, the music industry is filled with backstabbers, men are scum and women are tramps. Such a dark world view can be a downer even without reading the newspapers or watching TV news. On the other hand, there are some outstanding stories in this anthology. They are well written and evocative of scenes with which most of us are unfamiliar except from the pages of books. I especially enjoyed Robert Levinson's story of the music business in Hollywood and the Meyers' story which features some of the more colorful figures of New York City in the 1920s. But there are many great stories in this anthology including Loren Estelman's somewhat comic portrait of a klutz of a private eye turned security guard, turned Santa Claus, briefly. Max Allan Collins and Matthew V. Clemens also offer some humor as they conjure up a James Bond model, retired and complete with wife. John Lutz's "Nighthawks" is a moving story of bitter and fatal irony. The "erotic" isn't all that titillating. There is more sex, however, than one would find in a year's subscription to the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. There is no romance, just lust and obsession that drive the characters. They are not the romantic types, but cold-blooded realists. Romantics are often dead by the second page, if they last that long in this world. A top notch collection of stories that will leave a lasting impression, but I would suggest that you take them one or two a day. Otherwise you may end up like me, covered in a miasma of mistrust and wondering if 8 A.M. is too early for a shot of rye and just where I can buy a gun.
Reviewed by Doris Ann Norris, April 2003
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