Two of the hard crime genre's most famous writers pull together a great collection of short stories and novellas, showcasing the evolution of detective fiction over the course of the last century. Thirty-two writers get a story apiece, spinning yarns about gumshoes, mobsters, and murderers, along with lawyers, cons, and singers. Heroes, antiheroes, and outright villains run the gamut, but the common thread is that against all odds, good does triumph, somehow.

The novellas are definitely what make this book what it is. I wouldn't have minded if some of the lesser shorts had been stripped and replaced with another novella or novellette; those were the ones that earned the title 'noir' - Carroll John Daly, Leigh Brackett, John D. MacDonald, Mickey Spillane, William Campbell Gault, Max Allen Collins. But I did greatly enjoy a couple of the shorter works as well, notably Kaminsky's "Busted Blossoms" and Goodis' "The Plunge".

The only real problems I had with it were that it was missing several very important authors, especially older ones from the beginning of noir and pulp - Hammat, McCoy, and Chandler are nowhere to be found. It seems overly skewed toward more modern fiction, which tend to be less hard-boiled than the classics, and overall it doesn't quite live up to its ambitious title. Some stories I didn't care for, and some I was ambivalent about, but overall it was a varied and entertaining collection.

Almost as important as the stories is the preceding introduction to each author, with a few choice selections from each to look up, a valuable resource.

If you've any interest in crime fiction, check this out. It's a great introduction to the field, and like many variety collections, you're bound to like a good bit of whatever suits your tastes.