Places to Be, People to Kill

by Martin H. Greenberg (Editor ), S. Andrew Swann (Contributor), Cat Collins (Contributor)

Assassins--are they born or made? Do they choose this role out of necessity, because they are forced to, or because they enjoy killling? And what do they do in their spare time? 

These are just a few of the questions answered in this all-original collection of twelve tales by fantasy's finest-focusing on killers of all kinds. From Vree, Tanya Huff's well-known assassin from her Quarters novels, to a woman whose father's vengeful spirit forced her down dark magic's bloody path, to an assassin seeking to escape his Master's death spell, here are spellbinding stories of murder and mayhem, and the shadowy figures who sell death for a living.

Genres: Fantasy, Anthologies, Short Stories, Science Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Martin Harry Greenberg was an American academic and speculative fiction anthologist. In all, he compiled 1,298 anthologies and commissioned over 8,200 original short stories. He founded Tekno Books, a packager of more than 2000 published books. In addition, he was a co-founder of the Sci-Fi Channel.

For the 1950s anthologist and publisher of Gnome Press, see Martin Greenberg.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an anthology of original stories about assassins with a nice mix of science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories. I remember particularly liking the ones from Tim Waggoner, John Marco, and Tanya Huff.

[Cynthia Armistead · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this anthology more than one might expect from a collection of stories about killers, but then I've read a couple of volumes edited by Brittiany A. Koren and Martin H. Greenberg now, and I trust the pair. (Greenberg has turned out so many anthologies that I don't assume anything at all when I see his name.)

I had to explain to my family why I kept laughing while reading "Exactly" by Tanya Huff. I'm a long-time fan of her work, so was already familiar with sibling assassins Vree and Bannon from Fifth Quarter and No Quarter. While all of Huff's work includes some humor, this story is particularly funny.

"Breia’s Diamond" by Cat Collins was a memorable low in the book. In addition to the inappropriate and inept use of romance clichés, it's all too obvious early on that the mercenaries are being paid far too much for too little work by the necromancer. That isn't foreshadowing, it's foreshouting—or just plain stupidity on the part of the mercenaries. They are murderers for hire, nothing else, and I've never felt any sympathy for such. Why would I start now, simply because a story is told from their point of view?


Bradley H. Sinor's "Money's Worth" has the feel of something excerpted from a larger work. It's good and I enjoyed it, but I think I would have enjoyed it far more in its proper context.

The only other story that is memorable enough to single out is "The Hundredth Kill" by John Marco. It is a lovely jewel of a story, one that stands for itself, leaving little to be said other than "read it." I don't believe that I've read any of Marco's novels, but obviously I've missed out on something very good. I intend to remedy that omission shortly.

[Vicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this anthology, we are given twelve different stories by twelve different authors but with one theme uniting them all – assassins. The genres include science fiction, fantasy, contemporary, and horror. Like all anthologies, there were some I liked, some I didn't care much for, but not because of the writing. Each story is well crafted and well-written. Because we are dealing with assassins, some touch on the macabre and are a little too graphic for me – but that is a personal issue and not one of craft. Overall, the stories were very good.

If you don't have a lot of time to invest in reading, anthologies are a good place to go. Each story is complete with beginning, middle, and satisfying – if sometimes bizarre – endings. They're good for a quick read when you don't have time for a novel. If you like the odd, sometimes bloody, occasionally funny, but always intriguing world of assassins, then this book is for you.

[Stefan Yates · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an enjoyable collection of tales that to be honest I only purchased for the contribution by John Marco, one of my favorite fantasy authors. Of course in any collection of tales of this sort, there are some stinkers, but overall most of the contributions are solid to top notch. All of the stories contained here deal with assassins to some extent and each author offers his/her own unique spin. Some of the tales deal with assassins on their day off, some with the experience of first time killers for hire. I only found a couple of the tales to be dull or uninteresting and enjoyed the collection as a whole for the most part. For something that I bought only because of the contribution of one of the authors, I was pleasantly surprised to find an entire collection that was totally worth my time and effort. It's something that I'd heartily recommend to fans of the fantasy genre especially if you enjoy the darker side of the typical hero character.

[Rebecca Lam]

Heard this one from Root. Unfortunately, I don't care much for it.

[Keith May]

Fun, interesting - sometimes surprising - read.
Very much enjoyed these stories. Hope there's a sequel.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here we go, a book that didn't make me wonder why I bought it! I do like short story anthologies, and the assassin is a good choice for a collection. As is usual for anthologies, there's a mix of stories that I really liked, ones that were alright, and those that hit me as "meh". Happily, the "liked" list outweighed the "meh". Yey for anthologies!

[Black Moon Lilith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uma colectânea de contos sobre assassinos, que me deixou (depois do The Man of the Diogenes Club) bastante...blah. Alguns contos eram engraçados, alguns eram legíveis, e alguns metidos a martelo e rascas.

Para a pilha do "A dar".

[Riva · Rating 3 out of 5]

The common idea of the stories, killers and assassins on different situation, is quite interesting and the book has some really good stories but, on the other hand, some others are quite subpar, so I can't give it more than three stars.

[Mysteryfan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting assortment of short stories about assassins. Some are funny, some are clever, some spooky, some unexpected. Some of them are written by authors I haven't read before, but I'll definitely look up others stories by them.

[Schnaucl · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay. None of the stories really stood out as being exceptionally good or bad. A solid anthology, but not one I feel a need to keep.

[Deyara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great anthology, loved the concept, and liked that the stories were from a mix of genres.

[Gerald Sessions · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like all grouping of short stories, some are better than others, but I have to say did not find one that I did not like or found difficult to finish. A great grouping. Enjoyed them all.

[Joshua · Rating 2 out of 5]

While there are a couple of decent stories in this collection, overall I'd recommend giving this a pass.