3 Lady Blues + 12

ISBN: 0595221351

Author: Blue, J. Michael

Condition: New

Product Description The people in these stories know about trouble. Many of them choose their own tasty stew of bad choices, bad company and hard times. Some cut corners and take big risks in the pursuit of money or love or revenge. Others do their best to stay out of harm's way, but find themselves pulled down into horrors of someone else's design. J. Michael Blue creates characters who come off the page in full round. Each one is unique and each will stay with the reader long after the story has been put back on the shelf. From Publishers Weekly Well-defined characters and nice doses of irony and suspense distinguish Blue's (Justified Crimes) second short story collection, which opens with a trilogy ("Lady Blue," "The Lady Goes to Marrakech," "Exit Lady Blue") about a blues singer and a bass player she asks to mind a suitcase for her. No need to say that there's a heap of trouble in the suitcase, and our hero hits the trail with some big guns on his tail; naturally, our lady and her Galahad outwit their pursuers. Then there's "Abbey's World," about a woman who loses her patience with her abusive husband. In the effective "The Way It Is," a kid grows sick of ignoring the injustice he sees and decides to do something about it. The poignant "Visit to Huntsville" explores the relationship between a bad dad and his good son. Like most of the previously published stories here, the two new entries, "Do Your Own Time" and "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished," have a welcome O. Henry twist at the end. Despite their hard-boiled label, Blue gives these tales gentleness and heart.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.