- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: Vintage; First Edition edition (Sep 7 1999)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0375707433
- ISBN-13: 978-0375707438
- Product Dimensions: 13.2 x 2.1 x 20.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 318 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #698,447 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Burke, Vachss's popular underground PI, is nowhere to be found in this second collection (after Born Bad, 1994) of short stories from his creator's stiletto of a pen. Fans won't much mind: Cross, the mercenary crook who's so hard he makes tough Burke seem gooey, shows up in several entries, most notably in the swift and savage title novella, which sees the Chicago-based antihero and his crew break a young woman out of a Peruvian jailAstrictly for financial reasons, of course. In this novella, as in most of Vachss's fiction, child abuse plays a pivotal role, and it's as often the author's moral outrage as it is compact plotting and sharp characterizationsAboth Vachss strengthsAthat provides the energy. In too many stories, Vachss relies on trick endings for that extra wallop (as in "Mission," where a man confesses to murder in order to land behind bars and take vengeance upon imprisoned abusers), but he also takes some admirable chances, roaming afield for five (regrettably murky) tales set in a totalitarian future and collected as being from "The Underground Series," and even one western ("Searcher"). Though many of these stories have appeared previously (and in an astonishing variety of venues, from Esquire to Amazon.com to the Swiss journal Das Magazin), they were all written recently, to be compiled into this book. With the Burke novels in general sliding downhill, it's good to see that Vachss can still rile and sting, especially via the ice man Cross and his deadly crew, who deserve to star in a full-length novel, and soon. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Vachss is widely recognized for his dark, New York City^-based Burke crime novels in which the sometime criminal and his cadre of vigilantes battle those who exploit women and children. Justice in Burke's world is never meted out by officialdom, but by a Solomon-like street code set in motion by Burke. These short stories mostly deal with the same theme, though there are some in which we see the world through the eyes of the criminal. Vachss, a lawyer who works as an advocate for abused women and children, clearly believes most abusers and killers are made not born. Stories such as "Homeless" , "Dress Up Day" (with an eerie Columbine angle), and "Last Date" all reflect that view. Mixed in are some science fiction, a little fantasy, and a novella, "Everybody Pays" , in which an abuser meets a just end in typically Vachssian style. Some of the pieces work better than others, but all are unmistakably Vachss and will attract his sizable audience. Wes Lukowsky
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Everybody Pays,
By Scott Morris (Columbus, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Everybody Pays: Stories (Paperback)
If you're a friend of mine, and you're not familiar with Andrew Vachss' writing, I usually suggest one of his collections of short stories to start with -- either *Born Bad* or *Everybody Pays*. That's because I consistently hear only one of two reactions to his work. Either it's something along the lines of "too dark," "too intense," "too scary," "too brutal," or "too *real*" . . . or it's "Has he written any more books?" Clearly, I fall into the latter category. For those that fall into the former, with short stories, you can take it five to ten pages at a time. Because Vachss' writing *is* "too real." And that makes it all the more important for us to read. His research is his life, and all of the brutal, ugly corners of this earth he has been -- from the midnight human meat markets of New York City to the genocidal killing fields of Biafra -- confronting evils few people dare to even acknowledge voluntarily. But for all of the darkness, in his short stories, Vachss always seems to find some beauty -- an orchid amongst the spent shell casings. Vachss is a warrior poet, on a mission to save children from abuse. His sword is his writing, and his haiku is the short story. If the purpose of writing is to communicate one's experience of reality so accurately that the reader feels like he or she has actually experienced it, then Vachss is one of the most skilled writers of all time. And if you liked *Born Bad*, you will believe he has perfected the art of the short story after reading *Everybody Pays*. So, read Vachss to be entertained, scared, intellectually stimulated, angered, inspired to take action, enlightened, strengthened, nourished, or healed. Read it simply because it is great writing. Read it to be *educated* -- you will learn more from one of his books than from a whole semester of criminology courses. Read his work for all of the reasons there are to read. But *do* read it. And then *try* to turn away from the reality it reveals.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rips the nerves wide open,
By Keris (Augusta, ME) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Everybody Pays: Stories (Paperback)
Nobody frees the truth from the mud the way Andrew Vachss can. I've had enough of pain and abuse as plot-points, and I can tell you that *this* writer's never goes near that kind of exploitation. Instead, he shows the reader the anatomy of evil -- so we can *recognize* it when we see it in the real world. His fictional work ends up giving the reader a crystal clear set of textbooks on the evil that preys on our society. Why? Because after the diagnosis, the cure becomes obvious. Buy the book!
3.0 out of 5 stars
Uneven and not as good as "Born Bad",
By
This review is from: Everybody Pays: Stories (Paperback)
I'm a huge Andrew Vachss fan and I loved his first collection of short stories entitled "Born Bad." Unfortunately, "Everybody Pays" just isn't as consistent or as good. By now, Vachss has come to wear his anti-abuse feelings on sleeve so obviously that many of these stories take far too predictable turns. Many of them are also far too short (some only a couple of pages) to have any real impact. The "Underground" series is sci-fi that makes little sense. The "Cross" stories aren't as realistic or satisfying as Vachss' Burke novels. That said, the book is at least an entertaining read for Vachss fans. Even when he's not at his best, he is at least interesting.
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