Murder for Revenge — Otto Penzler

This irresistible collection of original stories was born of a deliciously wicked idea: ask twelve of America's best writers to explore a single subject -- people willing, often gleefully so, to kill for revenge. The result is a star-studded gathering of fiction's finest, and an infinitely satisfying banquet of . . . Murder for Revenge.

In Lawrence Block's chilling contribution, a serial killer transforms one victim's brother into his greatest defender -- to his eternal regret! Revenge more immediate sizzles in Mary Higgins Clark's "Power Play," as a dashing ex-president and his congresswoman wife outwit terrorists hunting bigger game. Phillip Margolin's career criminal has an alibi to die for -- which becomes a nail in the coffin of self-defense. Joyce Carol Oates administers revenge most satisfying in "Murder-Two" as a brilliant lawyer defends her first criminal client -- her worst enemy's son. And in Peter Straub's "Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff," a betrayed husband discovers that if you have to ask the price of revenge, you can't afford to pay for it.

Here is delicious retribution in these and seven more superb, all-new stories by Thomas H. Cook, Vicki Hendricks, Joan Hess, Judith Kelman, Eric Lustbader, David Morrell, and Shel Silverstein: America's favorite writers gathered together in one unforgettable volume -- a wickedly entertaining exploration of sweet, cold-blooded revenge.