Bad Behavior

by Thomas Adcock

A varied, suspenseful collection of stories, published in collaboration with the International Association of Crime Writers, features the work of Lawrence Block, P. D. James, Joyce Carol Oates, Sara Paretsky, and many others. Simultaneous.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Anthologies

305 pages, Paperback

First published February 23, 1995

About the author

Aka Buck Sanders (house pseudonym)

Thomas Adcock is a Detroit-born journalist and mystery novelist who won the Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original in 1992. His novels and short stories been translated into Japanese, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Bulgarian and Czech. He began his newspaper career at the Detroit Free Press and has written for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Chicago Today, the Toronto Telegram, the New York Law Journal and The New York Times.

Adcock has also worked at a Manhattan advertising agency and taught journalism and creative writing—at Temple University (Philadelphia), New York University, and the New School for Social Research (New York). He has been active in P.E.N. International, the Mystery Writers of America, the Czech Writers Union, and was co-founder of the North American chapter of the International Association of Crime Writers.

He and his wife, actress Kim Sykes, live in New York City and upstate North Chatham, N.Y., where they are activists in progressive political organizations

Reviews

[Amy C.]

A splendid, precarious read. This assortment of short stories did not fail to captivate and enthrall me as a reader. The stories were expertly selected by Mary Higgins Clark, a crime story connoisseur who has been given the epithet as "Queen of Crime" for reasons that are certainly justifiable.
My absolute favorite short story in this anthology was "The Premonition" by Joyce Carol Oates. Some of the short stories weren't as professionally written as the others or they were written using typical writing cliches, which was a minor setback to the book (fortunately, only a few were like this).
Overall, this compilation of short stories enthralled me completely and prompted my heartbeat to quicken as a result of the danger I felt I was in when I placed myself in each character's shoes. From the story of the thrown-away child to the tale of the wicked twin(s), this book will keep you up at night with the fear it plants inside.

[Ronn]

A pleasant collection of short mysteries, some more clever that others, no "OH MY GOD" moments, but engaging enough to satisfy.

[Jacob Peters]

This book was decently written with tons of surprises and unexpected turns and twists, it was overall a good book

[Marwa Labhal]

I just can't with french anymore omg

[Margo Anos Andrews]

I love short stories. I read one, savor it and move on to the next in the collection. These were all "thriller" themed but mild...to my liking.

[Cheri]

This book is short stories by several authors. Some are very good. A few are a bit abstract…not for me. This book is good for reading when you don’t have a huge chunk of time all at once.

[Lynn Lipinski]

This compilation of 22 mystery stories, edited by Mary Higgins Clark, has highs and lows. My favorite short stories were Lawrence Block's "Bug on the Windshield" -- a story of a truck driver who suspects a fellow driver of road rage crimes and the creepy giddy "Premonition" by Joyce Carol Oates. Also excellent is the longer short story "Maltese Cat" by Sara Paretsky. A couple short gems in here as well, such as the poetic "Death of the Outfielder" by short story genius Stuart Dybek.

[Lélé Books]

J'ai beaucoup aimé la plupart des nouvelles. J'ai apprécié ma lecture mais sans plus...