This was a great year for short stories. Old pros showed us new sides and new voices were out there to be discovered. With my top five of collections and anthologies, you can do both. BORN A RAMBLIN' MAN by Michel Lee Garrett- I had read a couple of Michel Lee Garrett's stories before, but the this collection made me realize how much she is an emerging talent in the genre. She understands the tropes, how to use them, twist them, and most of all have fun with them. THE FINAL S

As we enter the top ten of my twenty-five favorites of the century so far. we get work from some of my favorite authors who contributed more than one masterpiece to this period. All use the genre as a starting point to go deep, wide, and ,at times, both. BLACKTOP WASTELAND by S.A. Cosby- Not only were my prayers answered for an African American voice in rural noir answered, it was answered by one of the best of crime fictions newest wave of talent. Cosby's take on a top wheel

We come to the middle of the list where the authors find heart and humanity in their violent often pitch black worlds. DONNYBROOK by Frank Bill- A rollicking, violent epic look at rural America with several working class anti-heroes on their way to a meth kingpin's compound for a fight competition with a purse that can change their lives. You can feel every punch. TRICKY by Josh Stallings- A cop from LA.'s cowboy culture catches a homicide case where the main suspect is a for

Tim Bryan's latest, World of Rivers, lookis at decades of a family trees branches that reach out ans twist in odd ways, starting with a white soldier, Blufford Thom, going AWOL in the Philippines in WW2, then his young mixed daughter Cassandra, struggling to be a singer, then two different families who brush aup against each other in Reagan era New Orleans. Tim was kind enough to talk about his unique and moving book with us. SCOTT MONTGOMERY: What sparked the idea for World

In Between Manhood and Greed , R.F. Ryan introduces us to a unique hero. Finnegan Gilhooly was raised to be a Pinkerton man when discovered by the agency's founder as an orphan. More of an assassin than sleuth, he will have to learn to adapt, much like the changing country in the 1870s. We first meet him in a shoot-out with Frank and Jesse James on thier escape from their violent fiasco in Northfield, Minnesota. Ryan gives us. a complete sense of who he is in action. Allen Pi

In this next section of the best twenty-five crime novels and thrillers published in th first twenty-five years of this century, we have five writers that show how to lean itno genre to create something fresh and memorable. HOLLOW MAN by Mark Pryor- An ADA who is also a sociopath becomes involved in both a heist and a femme fatale in this pitch black noir with a great use of point of view. Pryor's Dominic could be a later generation cousin to Jim Thompson's Lou Ford.. A FINE

Albert Fear Leffingwell's name would not have fit with his series character Jim Steele. He had to pick something like Dana Chambers for his radio script writer who still carries his hard boiled history, proving to be no stranger to fists, bullets, or explosions. Stark House recently released his first two adventures, placing Steele in two wildly different situations, Some Day I'll Kill You and Too Like the Lightning. Some Day I'll Kill You begins with many elements of a trad

Con Lehane has always been a writer for the New York proletariat. His medium boiled mysteries featuting amatuer slueths bartender Brian McNulty or librarian Raymond Ambler give us a working class view of the city that often figures into the plot. He goes deeper into that viewpoint as he becomes more hard boiled and looks at a dark corner of our history in The Red Scare Murders. Lehane's new protagonist is Mick Mulligan, a former Disney cartoonist who lost his job and family

The first part of this century was basically when I got a front row seat to a new generation that pushed the genre in new and exciting directions. It's been so long now, another is coming up. In this year's 25 0f 25' tradition, I made this five part list, starting with number 25. These five show authors who were not afraid to play with the form. THE DEVIL TAKES YOU HOME by Gabino Iglesias- Possibly the darkest book on this list (which is saying something). A man pushed to the

John Shirley, mainly known for his science fiction, has successfully rode into the western genre. He recently won a Spur award for his book Gun Metal Mountain. This week, Wolf Pack Publishing, released his look at a legendary lawman, Wyatt In Wichita. In some ways, the book gives us the missing main piece in the Lawrence Kasdan biopic Wyatt Earp, showing the transition as directionless youngman to formidable man with a badge and gun. Shirley introduces us to him fleeing Illi