Sympathy for the Dead — P.D. Cacek

A few words about the author from Thomas Tessier (quoted from the introduction he penned for this collection): "She can be wickedly funny, or savagely satirical, and she has an unsparing eye for the foibles, follies and obsessions that drive human beings to those extreme moments where they either suffer or inflict great horror. Her prose can be by turns street-smart, flip, or blunt, as well as poetic, evocative, meditative. In case you might think that all adds up to something like glibness -- guess again. Think virtuoso."