Summary: The world's greatest thriller writers prove they're up to a unique challenge in this action-packed collection. It all started with a simple, yet sneakily difficult challenge from global best-selling author Harlan Coben: Pick a bird of prey, then use it as the inspiration for a brand-new story. The response from some of the best writers on the planet: Game on! The result: Eleven stories that are twisty, scary, surprising, and bursting with imagination. An egg worth more than its weight in gold. A mysterious operative known only as Owl. An eagle-watcher who sees more than she should. Even a story that somehow places the Maltese Falcon in a nursing home. Contributors include: Tess Gerritsen C.J. Box Kathy Reichs Ace Atkins Heather Graham S.A. Cosby Hank Phillippi Ryan Robert Dugoni Allison Brennan Gregg Hurwitz Kelley Armstrong Commissioned by International Thriller Writers, Birds of Prey is a highly bingeable anthology that's a treat for thriller fans.
The world's greatest thriller writers prove they're up to a unique challenge in this action-packed collection.
It all started with a simple, yet sneakily difficult challenge from global best-selling author Harlan Coben: Pick a bird of prey, then use it as the inspiration for a brand-new story.
The response from some of the best writers on the planet: Game on!
The result: Eleven stories that are twisty, scary, surprising, and bursting with imagination. An egg worth more than its weight in gold. A mysterious operative known only as Owl. An eagle-watcher who sees more than she should. Even a story that somehow places the Maltese Falcon in a nursing home.
Contributors include: Tess Gerritsen C.J. Box Kathy Reichs Ace Atkins Heather Graham S.A. Cosby Hank Phillippi Ryan Robert Dugoni Allison Brennan Gregg Hurwitz Kelley Armstrong Commissioned by International Thriller Writers, Birds of Prey is a highly bingeable anthology that's a treat for thriller fans.
The world's greatest thriller writers prove they're up to a unique challenge in this action-packed collection. It all started with a simple, yet sneakily difficult challenge from global best-selling author Harlan Coben: Pick a bird of prey, then use it as the inspiration for a brand-new story. The response from some of the best writers on the planet: Game on! The result: Eleven stories that are twisty, scary, surprising, and bursting with imagination. An egg worth more than its weight in gold. A mysterious operative known only as Owl. An eagle-watcher who sees more than she should. Even a story that somehow places the Maltese Falcon in a nursing home. Contributors include: Tess Gerritsen C.J. Box Kathy Reichs Ace Atkins Heather Graham S.A. Cosby Hank Phillippi Ryan Robert Dugoni Allison Brennan Gregg Hurwitz Kelley Armstrong Commissioned by International Thriller Writers, Birds of Prey is a highly bingeable anthology that's a treat for thriller fans.
Reviews provided by Syndetics
Booklist Review
Harlan Coben challenged 11 crime writers to create a short story involving a bird of prey. They delivered an assortment of tales that fly in a well-formed flock. Gregg Hurwitz's chilling consideration of obsession ("Red of Beak and Claw") reminds us never to invite a vampire in, even in the form of a tiny vampire finch. Heather Graham ("Predator or Prey") tells a frightening tale with a transcendent ending. C. J. Box fans will not be surprised at his choice of the creature central to the storylines of his long-running Joe Pickett series, and his contribution ("Precious Cargo") features a man on the run with $250,000 worth of stolen peregrine falcon eggs. Falcons soar, each in their own way, in two additional stories. Hank Phillipi Ryan ("Jail Birds") imagines an oddly muted Maltese falcon played in a never-ending loop in a nursing home, and Robert Dugoni ("The Falcon") involves a gangster named Falcon Eddie and resurrects not one, but two, 1965 Ford Falcons. Coben's "truly owl-some" introduction is riddled with avian puns. Thoroughly enjoyable.
Kirkus Book Review
Birds of a feather flock together in this collection celebrating predators, both airborne and earthbound. Not all of the 11 stories in this volume feature literal birds: In addition to seagulls, owls, buzzards, and goshawks, there's a Ford Falcon and, of course, Dashiell Hammett's fabled falcon. But a common thread of predation links these tales. From daring Derrick Moldvar, who plots to steal peregrine falcon eggs in editor Box's "Precious Cargo," to Robyn and Jay, ex-con nursing home workers who plan to steal from a resident in Hank Phillippi Ryan's "Jailbirds," the tales shine a spotlight on people who don't hesitate to take advantage of those more vulnerable. Some of the victims are truly innocent, like condor rescuer Haley McCray in Heather Graham's "Predator or Prey?"; others, like those in Tess Gerritsen's atmospheric "The Coffin Bearer," are little better than their tormentors. In many of the stories, as befits their avian theme, nature is a force to be reckoned with, not so much a predator as an underlying threat. A gratifying number of the tales allow those who prey on innocents to get what they deserve. But sometimes there's no real villain; it's just a predatory system that's at fault, as in Ace Atkins' "Kudzu." Throughout, however, the battle lines are clear: There are predators and there are prey, and these stories make it easy to root for the victims. Coben and Box have an eagle eye for what makes a good story. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
TextMysterious Press 20260623ISBN: