Kwik Krimes

by Otto Penzler (Editor)

Entire novels are often written about a single crime, detailing every gruesome, dark detail until the last drop of blood spatters across the page. Yet in this mystery anthology, renowned editor and author Otto Penzler weaves together to heart-stopping effect more than ninety tales of brutality, terror, and unexpected demise, with each story told in a swift one thousand words or less. These crimes may be fast in both form and fallout, but none lack the dark impulses that too often guide human hands to ill ends. Prepare to be transported into the diabolical schemes of criminal masterminds…into robberies and pranks gone horribly awry…into closets crammed with skeletons…into families bound not by love but wickedness. Authors include Peter Blauner, Ken Bruen, Rob W. Hart, K. A. Laity, Tasha Alexander, Patricia Abbott, Bruce DeSilva, Chuck Caruso, Gregory Gibson, Joe R. Lansdale, and many more.

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories, Crime, Fiction, Thriller, Anthologies

340 pages, Paperback

First published August 20, 2013

About the author

Otto Penzler is an editor of mystery fiction in the United States, and proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City, where he lives.

Otto Penzler founded The Mysteriour Press in 1975 and was the publisher of The Armchair Detective, the Edgar-winning quarterly journal devoted to the study of mystery and suspense fiction, for seventeen years.

Penzler has won two Edgar Awards, for The Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection in 1977, and The Lineup in 2010. The Mystery Writers of America awarded him the prestigious Ellery Queen Award in 1994, and the Raven--the group's highest non-writing award--in 2003.

Reviews

[Les · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that could almost be described as ‘bathroom reading’. Short stories 1000 words or less. Some are good some are great it’s a lovely collection.

[Richard Gazala · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Kwik Krimes" is an anthology comprised entirely of (very) short crime stories. By design none of the stories much exceed 1,000 words. Many of them aren't even that long. Editor Otto Penzler's experiment to assemble and present works of fairly extreme brevity without sacrificing consistently high writing quality largely succeeds, as far as it goes. That said, while some of the stories are interesting, none of them are allotted sufficient word count to be truly gripping. This is a collection of literary appetizers--it serves well to pique an appetite to pursue some of the contributors' weightier works, but nothing between the book's covers can satiate a hunger to sink teeth into a meaty tale of dastardly crime and punishment. Still, in our time-strapped world where a mere 140 characters can instantly foment anything from a flashmob to a revolution, there's something equally appropriate and timely about boiling the traditional crime story into something reasonably intriguing that can be digested quicker even than an egg boils hard.

[Tuxlie]

Entire novels are often written about a single crime, detailing every gruesome, dark detail until the last drop of blood spatters across the page. Yet in this mystery anthology, renowned editor and author Otto Penzler weaves together to heart-stopping effect more than ninety tales of brutality, terror, and unexpected demise, with each story told in a swift one thousand words or less.
These crimes may be fast in both form and fallout, but none lack the dark impulses that too often guide human hands to ill ends. Prepare to be transported into the diabolical schemes of criminal masterminds...into robberies and pranks gone horribly awry...into closets crammed with skeletons...into families bound not by love but wickedness.
Authors include Peter Blauner, Ken Bruen, Rob W. Hart, K. A. Laity, Tasha Alexander, Patricia Abbott, Bruce DeSilva, Chuck Caruso, Gregory Gibson, Joe R. Lansdale, and many more.

[Suzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

1000 words or less! Short "criminal adventures" as Penzler describes them, each is a fun fast read. I took it along when I went to get my car serviced. I started with favorite authors, Bill Crider and Tasha Alexander, and went on. Every one was a tightly written story, as expected. This is a great book to keep in your car for those times when you want something to read besides scrolling through your phone.

Funny thing is, there are a lot of authors whose last names begin with the first 13 letters of the alphabet. From "N" on, there were only eight. Now, that is a mystery! Or is there another edition coming for the last of the alphabet? Otto, another gift to your mystery fans. Thanks for making a tire rotation and oil change so pleasant.

[Randolph Rossi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Collection of Quick Crime Stories

All of these crime short stories are very short and yet they tell you all the necessary information, so you can follow the characters. Many of them leave you with the finale open, so that you can think what would probably happen. I only hope there are other editions of this type of crime short stories that are about 1,000 words.

[Amy Curtiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super fun crime brain candy! All of these two or three page stories are more complete and written better than the ridiculous YA book I’m reading...now back to the YA fantasy/romance/dystopian salt mines. Arg.

[Tomasz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rounded up.
Such an anthology of short-shorts is a valuable resource for panning for literary gold, but in this case the pan contained mostly dross, with actual nuggets outnumbered by definitely less savory contributions. Something of a disappointment.

[William Gonser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining

I like short stories and there are some very good, very short stories in this book. It was a fun read and I’m glad I read it.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting collection of short mystery and crime stories. I won't go through all of them - there are too many for that - but I will give a quick summary of a few I found memorable:

Michael Coalhouse - a dark, deeply satirical look at what happens when an average man snaps over bureaucratic nonsense. His crime? He left a nonrecyclable bag (used to hold recyclable bottles) in a bin meant for recyclable items only. Therefore, the trash collectors refused to pick up any of his trash at all. Michael protests to the city council and things only get worse from there.

Hansel, Gretel, and the Witch - a humorous retelling of the classic fairy tale set, in all places, a TV station. The witch has a cooking show, Cauldron Cookery.

The station manager realized the witch’s black cape and peaked black cap was only a costume. The wart on her nose, too. So why did she seem so natural in the role?

Very funny with a great ending. I can't say too much about it or I'll ruin it. My favorite story of them all.

One Person's Clutter - the motive for the murder is literally in plain sight.

The Chair - a man's revenge ends up endangering what is most important to him. The twist in this one is heartbreaking.

What You Wish For - Marie wishes for the death of her rival, but things don't work out quite like she wanted. This one reminded me of the "Tales from the Crypt" TV show.

The Bunny - This has to be the weirdest story I've read in a while.

"She appeared in a pink bunny costume every day for one week straight."..

Complete with Easter basket and eggs. You just have to read it. It's a lot darker than it sounds.

Hail, Tiger! - is a modern twist on the classic story, "The Lady or the Tiger," with the ending I always thought that latter story had.

Some of the stories fall flat. Some are too brutal for my taste (Lambs of God). However, short story collections are always good for discovering new authors, and you have the freedom to skip around as much as you want. I also recommend the audiobook version. I actually prefer it to the ebook. Several of the stories really benefited from the audio treatment.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway

These stories are short and by that I mean really short, each one less that 1000 words, which for many was a relief as even that was too many. While the first story is the quintessential short story with a horrible back drop and a heartbreaking and terrifying end that leaves you satisfied the same can't be said for most of the stories. Many the the stories left me confused or downright annoyed as to where the author was going and never getting to (seriously they knew they only had 1000 words to make an impact). While a handful of the 80+ stories were really good the majority were.... not. A few left me wanting more and were honestly great reads the last one in particular though fast really had want to know what happened in the corn field. Overall its a quick read that is good to just pass the time, but definitely not enough good stories for me to recommend it.

[Fábio Fernandes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't aware of the existence of this anthology - found it browsing on my Kindle. And what a fine surprise it was: 81 very short stories (which fall into the category of flash fiction, since none of them have more than 1k words) filled with crime, mystery and the occasional suspense. There's even a sprinkling of the historical here - and I'm not talking about the Wild West, which I love and of which there's a small but fair share. There's at least one story who goes way back than the cowboys' times (but I'm not telling).

And what a roster: Loren Estleman, Bruce DeSilva, Tom Pitts, K. A. Laity, Patricia Abbott, Christa Fausta, Joe R. Lansdale. None of them will let you down. You will read this book in a sitting and will beg for more. It's that good.

[Maryellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as part of the FirstReads promotions - and I'm giving an honest review.

Happily I can say that despite the kind of weird name, I enjoyed most of the flash fiction in this anthology. As someone who doesn't really have the patience to sit still for a full fledged mystery novel, but does enjoy the genre occasionally - I loved short bite sized stories to satisfy that itch.

As typical for an anthology, some stories are more engrossing than others, but I didn't find myself skipping ahead past any of the stories. An excellent weekend read.

[Rogue Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Penzler's superb eye for mystery proves true with this fine selection of brief mysteries, some as short as two pages. Many familiar authors but the list seems to favor A-N authors, so I suspect a second volume is forthcoming. The extreme focus of these mysteries make for superb reading. Hit Me by Christa Faust is totally alien, The Pledge by Parnell Hall is frightening and Acknowledgements confusing. All well worth the read and fun to pick up and put down, thinking of these short jewels.

--Ashland Mystery

[Kathleen Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a review posted on CriminalElement.com, which I invite you to read:

http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/...

The anthology is a tremendous nod to the online short crime fiction community. It is quite the challenge, for writers of any caliber, to craft a well-told tale in under 1000 words. Awesome talent exists between the covers of KWIK KRIMES.

[Gerard · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title Kwik Krimes really sums it up, a book full of quick crimes.
I've recently gotten into mystery stories and this book is full of it.
Short stories that will leave you hungering for more without overwhelming you.
I would like to see some of the stories potentially getting their very own book just to flesh out some more detail.

I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

[Tanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great collection of short fiction that covers the full gamut of types of crimes and the circumstances in which people commit them. The stories ranged from thrilling to sickening to absurdly humorous. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be looking to read further works from some of its featured authors

[Lance Wright · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nearly all of these 1000-word or less short stories are well-written if not always well-crafted, which, given the caliber of the roster of authors whose work is included here, is a bit disappointing in and of itself. It seems unlikely few of these stories will encourage readers to go out and sample an author's other work, and that's a missed opportunity for all involved.

[Stephanie Bonde · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a fascinating collection. Some of the stories are absolutely stunning, some had me fully invested, and a few fell a bit flat. I loved seeing the huge range of authors that added pieces to the collection, and I definitely added more than a few authors/books to my to-read list because of this anthology.

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know the premise of this collection; a crime story in 1,000 words or less. it is an interesting challenge and a good introduction to a variety of well known authors in the genre. it is a bit overwhelming at times because of the quick nature of the stories; it is the type of book where, if you have the discipline, a story each day would be best.

[Cat. · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first sight, I figured this book to be a sort of grown-up Encyclopedia Brown collection, except by different authors with different characters. But it is not, which would be fine if the stories weren't so dissimilar in skill and mood. There are, in balance, many more good stories than ones I didn't care for, but I wish there had been more consistency.

[Douglas Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad collection of short short crime fiction. There was some though that I felt were incomplete, and I don't get why this collection is called Kwik Krimes. Quick Crimes is the proper spelling. This is a mystery to me. Oh well.

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a dandy; 81 short-short mystery stories by some of the best writers in the field!

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads. Very good book!

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun little short stories.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good collection of short crime stories. This editor always does a great job.

[Andy Plonka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short stories are not really my thing and this anthology did nothing to change my opinion. A select number were actually clever, but that number was very small.