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THE EYES STILL HAVE IT by Robert J. Randisi

THE EYES STILL HAVE IT

edited by Robert J. Randisi

Pub Date: Nov. 13th, 1995
ISBN: 0-525-93988-1
Publisher: Dutton

Now that a dozen stories have won the Private Eye Writers of America's Shamus Award, it makes perfect sense to collect them into a single volume. Except for Bill Pronzini's forthright, one- dimensional tale of zoo thefts (``Cat's Paw''), the big surprise here is how many of these supposedly hard-boiled stories are really brooding tone pieces (Loren D. Estleman, Ed Gorman) or character studies (Rob Kantner, Marcia Muller, Nancy Pickard, Lawrence Block); even Mickey Spillane (``The Killing Man'') pulls the plug on his anticipated showdown. But it's no surprise to see the names that are on this stellar roster of winners, from John Lutz to Benjamin Schutzor to observe that Estleman (``Eight Mile and Dequindre''), who plots more generously than any other hard- boiled writer of short fiction, and Block (``The Merciful Angel of Death''), who never writes the same story twice, are the only two-time winners to date. An underedited volume that every fan of the genre will want anyway.