Crime collection a real hit parade

Top-notch writers offer peek into the noir world of assassins, hired guns

Clayton Moore, Special to the News

Published December 9, 2005 at midnight

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The new crime anthology Greatest Hits gives a lot of bang for the buck. A taut collection of 15 stories about professional killers, all were written specifically for this collection. Taken as a whole, they offer a diverse and satisfying look into the black heart of assassins, hit men and hired guns of the underworld.

The collection is elevated greatly by the selection of its authors, chosen by editor Robert J. Randisi, founder of the Private Eye Writers of America. Some of the best writers in the crime genre contributed, including Lawrence Block, Jeffery Deaver, James W. Hall and Lee Child.

The storytelling is built on terse dialogue, darkly set scenes and wickedly original characters that range from talky, bungling cowboys to silent and deadly mechanics with little sense of right and wrong. One almost feels sorry for the beautiful losers at the end of each tale. A sigh, a cry, and the hushed whisper of a silenced nine millimeter is all the destiny they have left.

Some of the collection's killers are true icons of the genre. Block has been deservedly acclaimed for his dark Matt Scudder novels and lighthearted Burglar series, but his minimalist hit man Keller, the star of Hit Man, Hit List and next year's Hit Parade, is a no less inspired creation. Here, Block's story "Keller's Karma," shows the softer side of the assassin while demonstrating the fictional inner workings of the murder business.

Like bartenders, these guys have heard it all. The reasons behind each victim's untimely death can be as compelling as the act itself. James W. Hall's "The Catch" reads almost like a therapy session as his killer tries to unravel the sticky reasoning of a man who wants his own son murdered.

They're not all bad, these workmanlike killers. Randisi's surprisingly empathetic "Upon My Soul" concerns Sangster, a highly-trained executioner who finds that he's grown deeply regretful for his deeds and retires. When his old boss sends new blood after him three years later, Sangster has to gamble his life against his conscience to finish the game intact.

Kevin Wignall's "Retrospective," ends with no one killed at all. It tells the tale of a war photographer who has to be shot in the head himself to realize the impact of his own work.

Sometimes it doesn't work out the way an assassin plans. Lee Child's anonymous killer in "The Greatest Trick of All," claims to be the guy that gets it done but is brought down by a woman and his own overconfidence.

And television writer Paul Guyot invents a clever premise reminiscent of Max Barry's Jennifer Government in "The Closers." Guyot's satire imagines a cubicle farm straight out of The Office in which closing the deal amid backstabbing co-workers is far more hostile than it seems.

The anthology's stories by women writers are perhaps even more merciless. Barbara Seranella's "Misdirection" shoves two murderesses into a women's prison and pits them against a sadistic trustee - with bloody results. In "Dr. Sullivan's Library," by Christine Matthews, the good doctor's young fiancée finds that her family-to-be has a very personal wedding gift in store for her.

Greatest Hits is a terrific peek not only inside the fractured psyche of the hired killer, but also at the explosive conflicts between bad guys. Like Frank Miller's Sin City, much of the anthology consists of larger-than-life noir writing, but the caliber of the storytelling and the eccentricity of its characters makes the collection great fun. The biggest drawback is that its characters are so organic and even likable, that you want to see more of them.

But even a brief story from writers like these is better than no story at all. Besides, as one character explains in "Karma Hits Dogma," by Jeff Abbott, "Closure is overrated. Revenge is what lets you sleep at night."

Clayton Moore is a freelance writer living in Centennial.

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