2024 the best 2023 review
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(as of Dec 11, 2024 11:31:24 UTC - Details)
A collection of the year’s best mystery and suspense short fiction selected by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger and series editor Steph Cha.
“This form has a special kind of magic, the ability to transport you quickly, intensely, to capture character, time, place, and story with immediacy,” writes guest editor Lisa Unger in her introduction. The transporting stories in this year’s The Best American Mystery and Suspense are populated by those who exist on the fringe of our society and want more than what life has dealt them: A haunted veteran turned career criminal is on the run. An injured fighter turned bouncer seeks vengeance for his lost love. An assassin on his last job finds himself questioning his life choices and breaks all the rules to understand his final victim. By turns thrilling and enlightening, each story, according to Unger, “will have you holding your breath, flipping the pages, will leave you thinking about people and why they do the dark, dangerous, frightening things that they do.”
The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023 includes Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier • William Boyle • S. A. Cosby • Jacqueline Freimor • James A. Hearn • Ladee Hubbard • A. J. Jacono • Adam Meyer • Silvia Moreno-Garcia • Walter Mosley • Leigh Newman • Joyce Carol Oates • Margaret Randall • Annie Reed • Anthony Neil Smith • Faye Snowden • Jervey Tervalon • Joseph S. Walker • Thaai Walker • Jess Walter
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Customer Reviews
4.2 out of 5 stars
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4.1 out of 5 stars
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Publisher : Mariner Books (October 17, 2023)
Language : English
Paperback : 400 pages
ISBN-10 : 0063315815
ISBN-13 : 978-0063315815
Item Weight : 12.9 ounces
Dimensions : 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.25 inches
Reviewer: eclectic reader
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: An enjoyable journey through mystery and suspense
Review: An enjoyable journey through mystery and suspense.Again a great collection has been assembled. Perhaps the annual appearance of this volume and the Mysterious Nookshopsâ volume is a tribute to the creativity of the writers in our world - something I really appreciate.
Reviewer: joycesmysteryandfictionbookreviews
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: There are many good stories in this anthology
Review: This year the introduction to the collection of best mysteries is written by popular author, Lisa Unger. She has a lot to say. Readers will also enjoy what Steph Cha shares as the editor of the series.There are twenty stories in all. They evoke different moods, varying crimes and a wide variety of characters. Dip in and out to find favorites. Some of the authors were known to me so I went to those stories first. For example, there were tales by William Boyle, Joyce Carole Oates and S.A. Cosby. I then spent time with some new writers and was rewarded for that.Donât miss the section that shares information about the authors. It is intriguing to see who the writer of each story is.In addition to the included stories, this title has a section titled Other Distinguished Mystery and Suspense of 2022. Get additional ideas of what to read there. Looking at the list makes me realize how difficult it must be to choose the stories to include.This is a reliably good series. The new volume will be enjoyed for sure.Many thanks to NetGalley and Mariner Books for this title. All opinions are my own.
Reviewer: AnnieB
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A bit meh compared to previous years
Review: The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023 is a well curated annual collection of new short mystery & suspense fiction edited by Lisa Unger (guest editor) & Steph Cha (series editor). Released 17th Oct 2023 by HarperCollins on their Mariner imprint, it's 320 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats.There are 20 stories and they're from authors both familiar and new. The stories are varied, there were (as always) some which didn't deliver for me personally, but most were well written and competently plotted. Unusually, for this year's collection, there were no real knockout stories, including the one by Joyce Carol Oates, which should have been a given.One reason I like collections and anthologies is that short fiction is really challenging. It's spare and the author doesn't have a wealth of wordage to develop characters or the plotting. Well written short fiction is a delight. I also love collections because if one story doesn't really grab me, there's another story just a few pages away. It didn't quite pan out here because the collection was more or less just "okay".Three stars on average (with, sadly, a couple of real clunkers). It's honestly (admittedly subjectively) not up to the predecessor volumes in the series. Maybe next year. Worth it for completists who always buy this series, and for public library acquisition.
Reviewer: steven zak
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Enjoyable read
Review: This was the first time I have read a book from this yearly series. As with any collection, the quality of the stories varies from story to story. Overall it was an enjoyable read.
Reviewer: R. Greer
Rating: 1.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Terrible
Review: I have read about 1/2 of the book and am done with it. Only 1 maybe a 2 that I could even enjoy. The rest seemed to have been written by a 10th grader. I wanted mystery and suspense not foolishness. I will not be purchasing anything that has the names Steph Cha or Lisa Unger. I normally don't do a review but these were so bad I had to..
Reviewer: langleyd
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: if you're not reading short stories, you are missing out
Review: I love short stories and anthologies. Even the best author must flex their writing skills to deliver quality short stories. In less than a usual chapter length, they must introduce us to the characters and their communities/ back stories, commit to an "event" and then solve it, all while keeping the reader engrossed and flipping pages. I often find that an author will switch genres in an anthology, which gives me an even better appreciation for their talent.Many have a similar theme with the writers giving their story an unusual âspinâ to meet the themeâs intent without copying each other. It is not unusual to find a true gem mixed in with the overall excellent stories, making anthologies a triple threat/ treat. When a book is billed as "the best" they had better deliver and this one definitely does. The authors who contributed are some of the best known in this genre. I truly enjoyed my reading time with these excellent stories.
Reviewer: ChicoChic
Rating: 2.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Disappointing.
Review: I have looked forward eagerly to each year's Best American Mystery collection for a long, long time. I haven't expected to like every selection, but overall have been pleasurably entertained by the editors' offerings until this year. Only three tales in this batch, in my opinion, met the standard of previous editions. If the local library purchases the 2024 edition, I'll certainly check it out on the off-chance that the choices are better, but I won't spend my precious dollars on it.
Reviewer: beth mclaren
Rating: 2.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Boring Stories
Review: Poor selection of boring stories.Not enough true mystery and too much revealing of inner trauma - mistakes from childhood/ actions based on ignorance along with poorly drawn characters and unbelievable plots.
Reviewer: Steve E
Rating: 2.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: When Steph Cha took over this series in 2021 she made a very bold statement that reeked of DEI ideology. I promised myself I wouldn't buy it for that reason. Short story anthologies are all about the stories, not the people who write them and certainly not their politics. The 2023 edition came across my book offers for $1.99 so I said, "What the heck. I love short stories. Let's give it a try."Well I was disappointed and not for political reasons. Several of the stories just don't fit the themes of mystery and suspense. They were more like fantasy or sci-fi and probably a better fit for Asimov's magazine or Analog. Some of these stories were written by authors I have followed and respect.There were a few good stories that were what I expect from this publication but most just didn't live up to the promise of "Best American Mystery and Suspense." I read far better stories from that year in the various publications I subscribe to. Meanwhile Penzler's Best American Mystery Stories is a far better read with material that fits the theme.I will not be buying another edition of The Best American Mystery and Suspense and I bought them all up to 2020.