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Everybody Pays: Stories
A hit man defies the confines of a life sentence to avenge his sister's batterer. An immaculately dressed man hires a street gang to extract his daughter from a Central American prison, for reasons as mysterious as they are deadly. A two-bit graffiti artist with a taste for Nazi-ganda finds himself face-to-face with three punks out to make a mark of their own—literally—with a tattoo needle.
From neo-noir master Andrew Vachss comes Everybody Pays , 38 white-knuckle rides into a netherworld of pederasts and prostitutes, stick-up kids and fall guys—where private codes of crime and punishment pulsate beneath a surface system of law and order, and our moral compass spins frighteningly out of control. Here is the street-grit prose that has earned Vachss comparisons to Chandler, Cain, and Hammett--and the ingenious plot twists that transform the double-cross into an expression of retribution, the dark deed into a thing of beauty. Electrifying and enigmatic, Everybody Pays is a sojourn into the nature of evil itself—a trip made all the more frightening by its proximity to our front doorstep.
From neo-noir master Andrew Vachss comes Everybody Pays , 38 white-knuckle rides into a netherworld of pederasts and prostitutes, stick-up kids and fall guys—where private codes of crime and punishment pulsate beneath a surface system of law and order, and our moral compass spins frighteningly out of control. Here is the street-grit prose that has earned Vachss comparisons to Chandler, Cain, and Hammett--and the ingenious plot twists that transform the double-cross into an expression of retribution, the dark deed into a thing of beauty. Electrifying and enigmatic, Everybody Pays is a sojourn into the nature of evil itself—a trip made all the more frightening by its proximity to our front doorstep.
384 pages, Paperback
First published September 7, 1999
10 people are currently reading
226 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Vachss
138 books890 followersAndrew Vachss has been a federal investigator in sexually transmitted diseases, a social-services caseworker, a labor organizer, and has directed a maximum-security prison for “aggressive-violent” youth. Now a lawyer in private practice, he represents children and youths exclusively. He is the author of numerous novels, including the Burke series, two collections of short stories, and a wide variety of other material including song lyrics, graphic novels, essays, and a “children’s book for adults.” His books have been translated into twenty languages, and his work has appeared in Parade, Antaeus, Esquire, Playboy, the New York Times, and many other forums. A native New Yorker, he now divides his time between the city of his birth and the Pacific Northwest.
The dedicated Web site for Vachss and his work is
www.vachss.com. That site and this page are managed by volunteers. To contact Mr. Vachss directly, use the "email us" function of vachss.com.
The dedicated Web site for Vachss and his work is
www.vachss.com. That site and this page are managed by volunteers. To contact Mr. Vachss directly, use the "email us" function of vachss.com.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
January 4, 2022
Great short story writers off the top of my head.
Carver.
Brautighan.
Wolff.
Bradbury.
Dick.
Jones.
Bukowski.
Brown.
There’s a whole bunch I know I missed off.
But, let’s definitely add Andrew Vachss to that list.
I was saddened to hear of A.V’s death recently, so picked up his collection from my To Be Read Shelf and cracked it open. A sophomore crime writer paying tribute to one of the heavyweights of the genre.
Vachss’ short prose is truly inspiring. Each story has something paramount to great story-telling.
Voice.
Voice in spades.
Whiskey-drenched, pain-drilled, tobacco-croaked voice.
Reading a Vachss’ short is like sitting directly across from the narrator in a police interrogation room downtown, or next to them in a dimly lit basement bar, looking down into the golden glow of your fifth whiskey and wondering if you’ll make it home without being rolled.
These are stories of bad-bad guys and good-bad guys.
It’s dark, grim, brutal and realistic prose.
Vachss’ work in max security prisons and legal practice shines through each sentence.
These are stories you can’t help but feel the author heard first-hand by offenders himself.
These are the stories of two-bit criminals, prostitutes, swindlers and killers for hire.
Not for everyone’s palette but a must read for fans of the darkest kind of crime fiction.
4/5 Stars
Not a fan of the super-hero, comic book stylings of the Cross stories. These seemed ridiculous when lined up next to his more realistic tales, so the collection loses one star. That’s just my own preference though.
Carver.
Brautighan.
Wolff.
Bradbury.
Dick.
Jones.
Bukowski.
Brown.
There’s a whole bunch I know I missed off.
But, let’s definitely add Andrew Vachss to that list.
I was saddened to hear of A.V’s death recently, so picked up his collection from my To Be Read Shelf and cracked it open. A sophomore crime writer paying tribute to one of the heavyweights of the genre.
Vachss’ short prose is truly inspiring. Each story has something paramount to great story-telling.
Voice.
Voice in spades.
Whiskey-drenched, pain-drilled, tobacco-croaked voice.
Reading a Vachss’ short is like sitting directly across from the narrator in a police interrogation room downtown, or next to them in a dimly lit basement bar, looking down into the golden glow of your fifth whiskey and wondering if you’ll make it home without being rolled.
These are stories of bad-bad guys and good-bad guys.
It’s dark, grim, brutal and realistic prose.
Vachss’ work in max security prisons and legal practice shines through each sentence.
These are stories you can’t help but feel the author heard first-hand by offenders himself.
These are the stories of two-bit criminals, prostitutes, swindlers and killers for hire.
Not for everyone’s palette but a must read for fans of the darkest kind of crime fiction.
4/5 Stars
Not a fan of the super-hero, comic book stylings of the Cross stories. These seemed ridiculous when lined up next to his more realistic tales, so the collection loses one star. That’s just my own preference though.
January 10, 2008
Hard. Boiled. Crime. Fiction. Does. Not. Mean. Short. Sentences.
August 27, 2024
This collection of stories reads very much like any of Vachss other work, short stories included. This is a good thing being that if you’re reading Vachss, it’s hard hitting without wasted words.
The majority of the tales are short shorts, most in the five to six page range. But what he can accomplish with the limited space is miraculous. Vachss cuts through unnecessary paragraphs, trusting the reader to be quick enough to follow the narratives to the fast and usually bloody conclusions.
I very much enjoyed the tales aside from the six set in The Underground, like a sci fi world that appears in some of his stories and books. I found these tales very hard to follow and without purpose.
There are a number of tales set in the Cross Crew world, all of which are fun. Cross is similar to other Vachss characters aside from the fact he seems to care about nothing but money. The headline tale, Everybody Pays illustrates this perfectly. Tasked by the government to break a woman out of a South American prison, Cross and his crew wind up in a whorehouse while a jet blows the prison up. Then everyone involved winds up paying the crew. A bit over the top but a fun novella.
Some other stories worth mentioning: The Real World- a Vietnam vet protects his family with what he was taught. Reaching Back- a whole bunch of wrongs to try to make one right leads to a lot of dead bodies. Big Sister- sometimes we protect our family and sometimes we use them for our own means.
All in all a worthwhile read for Vachss fans or any crime reader who likes their stories bullet hard and bullet fast.
The majority of the tales are short shorts, most in the five to six page range. But what he can accomplish with the limited space is miraculous. Vachss cuts through unnecessary paragraphs, trusting the reader to be quick enough to follow the narratives to the fast and usually bloody conclusions.
I very much enjoyed the tales aside from the six set in The Underground, like a sci fi world that appears in some of his stories and books. I found these tales very hard to follow and without purpose.
There are a number of tales set in the Cross Crew world, all of which are fun. Cross is similar to other Vachss characters aside from the fact he seems to care about nothing but money. The headline tale, Everybody Pays illustrates this perfectly. Tasked by the government to break a woman out of a South American prison, Cross and his crew wind up in a whorehouse while a jet blows the prison up. Then everyone involved winds up paying the crew. A bit over the top but a fun novella.
Some other stories worth mentioning: The Real World- a Vietnam vet protects his family with what he was taught. Reaching Back- a whole bunch of wrongs to try to make one right leads to a lot of dead bodies. Big Sister- sometimes we protect our family and sometimes we use them for our own means.
All in all a worthwhile read for Vachss fans or any crime reader who likes their stories bullet hard and bullet fast.
May 15, 2020
This is a collection of short stories, they follow a theme, they are dark evil stories. In the beginning they are of people out for revenge against people that have wronged them or their family, friends or loved ones. Mostly stories of murder, violence and rape. Then the stories deal with a time called after the terror and a dystopian society where people are put into distinct classes, jobs etc. There are the rulers who are in charge of everything, they make the rules so therefore they are rulers. There are different groups and different areas of the city to go to. One place is called the sex tunnels where you can buy any kind of sex that you want, but no sex outside the tunnel is allowed. There is the outside where criminals are banned to if they break major rules that keeps them out of the cells but rumor has it that they are just killed because nobody ever comes back. There are different groups sort of like gangs, the crews, the blue boys etc. The stories are very well written but dark, and this is coming from a Stephen King lover.
January 27, 2020
About halfway through I was tired of the darkness. I guess I like Vachss' books as one story.
November 14, 2022
Great collection of Noir stories. These are gritty as hell. This is my first Andrew Vachss, and it won't be my last.
September 25, 2024
DNF. Seriously basic.
Want to read
July 6, 2025Synopsis: a collection of noir short stories, it is, as the books' introduction says, "a sojourn into the nature of evil itself."
May 1, 2011
In this collection of short fiction, Vachss' prose reminds us that evil is real, as tangible as a lethal insect crawling in our direction. The situations are as close to home as fiction can get -- protecting one's self from a vicious rumor and accidentally killing the teller in the frenzy; murdering pedophiles in exchange for getting one last shot at the thug who ravaged a family member -- and show that every single person alive is in some way, shape, or form touched and tormented by crime.
The book is divided into three sections: basic stories, tales of symbolism mixed with substance from the Underground Series, and stories and one novella featuring Vachss' soldier of fortune, Cross. The first section arguable carries the greatest weight of the collection as the author weaves passioniately dramatic tales of revenge with as few words as is humanly possible with dazzling effectiveness. While the Underground stories do leave some readers with little more than a sense of bewilderment, Vachss manages to leave even the casual reader wanting more. The Cross series presents a troupe of right-minded 'mercs' doing more for the cause of justice than perhaps most uniformed men and women do every day. Also, the Cross characters are so vividly drawn it would be terrific to see this team of avengers brought to the cinema screen.
While the characters and situations presented here may not be to everyone's taste, Vachss deftly shows us how widespread evil is in the modern world. He reminds us that, just as vile desires have created a sex slave state that exists around the globe, it's also touched casual souls on quite possibly every street in the United States. He drives his point home -- everybody pays -- with amazing weight in these brief tales that it'd be hard for any reader to resist the temptation for soul-searching his own past for the price already paid.
The book is divided into three sections: basic stories, tales of symbolism mixed with substance from the Underground Series, and stories and one novella featuring Vachss' soldier of fortune, Cross. The first section arguable carries the greatest weight of the collection as the author weaves passioniately dramatic tales of revenge with as few words as is humanly possible with dazzling effectiveness. While the Underground stories do leave some readers with little more than a sense of bewilderment, Vachss manages to leave even the casual reader wanting more. The Cross series presents a troupe of right-minded 'mercs' doing more for the cause of justice than perhaps most uniformed men and women do every day. Also, the Cross characters are so vividly drawn it would be terrific to see this team of avengers brought to the cinema screen.
While the characters and situations presented here may not be to everyone's taste, Vachss deftly shows us how widespread evil is in the modern world. He reminds us that, just as vile desires have created a sex slave state that exists around the globe, it's also touched casual souls on quite possibly every street in the United States. He drives his point home -- everybody pays -- with amazing weight in these brief tales that it'd be hard for any reader to resist the temptation for soul-searching his own past for the price already paid.
August 28, 2012
I'm not usually much of a short story reader but Vachss is one of my favorite authors, though his books have such a bitter edge I find them difficult so I re-read just very occasionally.
In some ways, these short stories are easier than his full length novels and the dark tone is not quite so pronounced. As always with a short story collection, I liked some better than others and my favorite is the one that is more ironic than bitter, a classic example of the type of scam that Burke tended to run (based on the background in the Burke series) with an edge more toward humor than pessimism.
Very thoroughly Vachss, however, with his very spare and harsh writing style. While I do not re-read him often, I do not forget his books or his characters.
In some ways, these short stories are easier than his full length novels and the dark tone is not quite so pronounced. As always with a short story collection, I liked some better than others and my favorite is the one that is more ironic than bitter, a classic example of the type of scam that Burke tended to run (based on the background in the Burke series) with an edge more toward humor than pessimism.
Very thoroughly Vachss, however, with his very spare and harsh writing style. While I do not re-read him often, I do not forget his books or his characters.
April 1, 2016
This book is a compilation of short stories about the nefarious under belly of society. But what makes these stories great, is that you never can tell who is the good guy or who is the bad guy - and one sentence changes the whole story. I found myself re-reading sentences because I didn't believe what I had just read - the person I had been despising for the story just becomes the hero.
August 2, 2011
A step down from his Born Bad collection, this series of stories about the game of revenge and consequences shows why this is an earlier work. The majority of the volume is filled with a closer look at Cross and company, which is fine, but would be better served in its own Cross compendium.
April 11, 2013
Very very short stories were pretty good. I couldn't even read the "Tunnel" series it was so bad. The Cross novella was okay, but Lawrence Block does this kind of sophisticated double cross so much better.
October 2, 2007
This man is very, very dark. He writes a series that I haven't tried yet but his short stories are memorable, and not always for good reasons. check him out.
September 14, 2008
I love this author! His stories are dark and deep.
December 22, 2008
I love Vachss work, but I love THIS Vachss work best of all. It's tough, angry, loving, horrifying, beautiful, sad, and hopeful...often at the same time.
August 12, 2012
The usual from Vachss, as he continues the mine the psyche of the nobly amoral criminal. Especially notable for the Cross stories.
September 29, 2012
Vachss can do no wrong in my eyes. Always worth the price of admission -- and then some.
June 25, 2013
Sad but intriguing stories in first half/ 2/3 of book.
Last 1/3 (novella) was a bit of anti "patriot" / anti-american propaganda.
Last 1/3 (novella) was a bit of anti "patriot" / anti-american propaganda.
December 30, 2016
Terrible. Dark for darkness sake. Poor writing and unrealistic characters. Not for me, couldn't even finish 40%
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews