What do you think?
Future Crimes
....and nine other master storytellers explore the future of crime in this brand new collection of high-tech mystery.
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
About the author
Martin H. Greenberg
919 books170 followersMartin Harry Greenberg was an American academic and speculative fiction anthologist. In all, he compiled 1,298 anthologies and commissioned over 8,200 original short stories. He founded Tekno Books, a packager of more than 2000 published books. In addition, he was a co-founder of the Sci-Fi Channel.
For the 1950s anthologist and publisher of Gnome Press, see Martin Greenberg.
For the 1950s anthologist and publisher of Gnome Press, see Martin Greenberg.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 28, 2023
I read this as one of my 2023 reading goals is to read things that have been on my TBR pile for years. It was a mixed bag which isn't unusual for collections and most of the authors were new to me. Some of the stories didn't actually feature crimes so while I thought they were misplaced here, they were still decent stories in their own right. The final story in the collection was easily my favourite and made the whole thing worth reading. It was a bleak future but still such a love letter to bibliophiles, archivists and librarians that I wish it were expanded into a longer work. I will remember that one for a long time & am glad I have a copy of the book so I can refer to it again or even hand it over to friends & family to read. So well done.
My thoughts on each story:
PEIN BEK LONGPELA TELIMPON by Alan Dean Foster- in which members of a tribe may not understand all the ways of the modern world but they still have the last word.
THE MOJAVE TWO-STEP by Norman Partridge- in which desperate killers do desperate things on the road to Vegas. And apparently, they couldn't handle it either. Vividly told and a bit weird.
SHAKESPEARE MINUS ONE by Barbara Paul- this was a riff on Hamlet but there is no actual crime (& certainly no murder) here so I didn't think it fit the anthology. It's a pretty good story otherwise.
THE KIDNAPPING OF RONI TAHR by Alan Rodgers- in which an alien visitor is seen as some sort of messianic figure by some humans to the detriment of many. Not sure of the point in the end.
IN MEMORIAM by Mike Stotter- in which memories are stolen from people to keep a permanent underclass and a detective who decides to upend that status quo. Good story.
GOOD REPAIR by Craig Shaw Gardner- in which the lines between real and virtual are almost completely seamless. This was good for the twist.
THE DEATH OF WINSTON FOSTER by R. Davis- in which a detective relates a story where death by train isn't as accidental as it appears. a final twist made this a very good story.
GLORY HAND IN THE SOFT CITY by Jay Bonansinga- pretty vivid story of an ex cop chasing down his stolen hand (his last original appendage) stolen by a wealthy man. I liked the story but not so much the ending.
THE WHITE CITY by Alan Brennert- in which a man on a quest to find his son's murderer finds out something he's missed before.
SETTING FREE THE DAUGHTERS OF EARTH by Peter Crowther- the best of the bunch by far and a great closer. I'm glad I read this simply for this story and wish it were an expanded story. I have some favourite passages but I don't want to spoil it too much so here's one:
"The air was filled with sheets of paper, their surfaces covered in the spidery blackness of type. Some of them were burning, leaving tiny trails of smoke as they descended. He grabbed at a sheet and shook out the flames, glancing at the words between the blackened edges of the page. It wasn’t something he recognized, but the simple commitment of thoughts to paper, of the recording of opinions or beliefs or even complete fiction filled him with awe. The way it always did."
Just Okay:
SLEEP THAT BURNS by Jerry Sykes
PIA AND THE KING OF SIAM by Janet Berliner
ALL THE UNLIVED MOMENTS by Gary A. Braunbeck
Not For Me:
THE CRIME OF TRANSFIGURATION by Will Murray
THE SERPENT WAS MORE SUBTLE by Tom Piccirilli
TINKER’S LAST CASE by Ron Goulart
Recommended because I enjoyed about 10 of the 16, 3 were just okay and there were 3 that I just didn't care for.
My thoughts on each story:
PEIN BEK LONGPELA TELIMPON by Alan Dean Foster- in which members of a tribe may not understand all the ways of the modern world but they still have the last word.
THE MOJAVE TWO-STEP by Norman Partridge- in which desperate killers do desperate things on the road to Vegas. And apparently, they couldn't handle it either. Vividly told and a bit weird.
SHAKESPEARE MINUS ONE by Barbara Paul- this was a riff on Hamlet but there is no actual crime (& certainly no murder) here so I didn't think it fit the anthology. It's a pretty good story otherwise.
THE KIDNAPPING OF RONI TAHR by Alan Rodgers- in which an alien visitor is seen as some sort of messianic figure by some humans to the detriment of many. Not sure of the point in the end.
IN MEMORIAM by Mike Stotter- in which memories are stolen from people to keep a permanent underclass and a detective who decides to upend that status quo. Good story.
GOOD REPAIR by Craig Shaw Gardner- in which the lines between real and virtual are almost completely seamless. This was good for the twist.
THE DEATH OF WINSTON FOSTER by R. Davis- in which a detective relates a story where death by train isn't as accidental as it appears. a final twist made this a very good story.
GLORY HAND IN THE SOFT CITY by Jay Bonansinga- pretty vivid story of an ex cop chasing down his stolen hand (his last original appendage) stolen by a wealthy man. I liked the story but not so much the ending.
THE WHITE CITY by Alan Brennert- in which a man on a quest to find his son's murderer finds out something he's missed before.
SETTING FREE THE DAUGHTERS OF EARTH by Peter Crowther- the best of the bunch by far and a great closer. I'm glad I read this simply for this story and wish it were an expanded story. I have some favourite passages but I don't want to spoil it too much so here's one:
"The air was filled with sheets of paper, their surfaces covered in the spidery blackness of type. Some of them were burning, leaving tiny trails of smoke as they descended. He grabbed at a sheet and shook out the flames, glancing at the words between the blackened edges of the page. It wasn’t something he recognized, but the simple commitment of thoughts to paper, of the recording of opinions or beliefs or even complete fiction filled him with awe. The way it always did."
Just Okay:
SLEEP THAT BURNS by Jerry Sykes
PIA AND THE KING OF SIAM by Janet Berliner
ALL THE UNLIVED MOMENTS by Gary A. Braunbeck
Not For Me:
THE CRIME OF TRANSFIGURATION by Will Murray
THE SERPENT WAS MORE SUBTLE by Tom Piccirilli
TINKER’S LAST CASE by Ron Goulart
Recommended because I enjoyed about 10 of the 16, 3 were just okay and there were 3 that I just didn't care for.
June 29, 2026
*2.75 stars*. Interesting collection of short stories all set in the future and all about crimes. I have to say that most of these stories are rather dark-not many happy endings-not too much humor either. But I wasn’t bored-every story kept my attention and were unique. Overall I enjoyed the book but I think I was expecting a little more humor & lightness, I didn’t expect all the darkness.
“16 original tales of the con games and perils that may well be created by criminals the day after tomorrow….” (From the book blurb)
“16 original tales of the con games and perils that may well be created by criminals the day after tomorrow….” (From the book blurb)
March 4, 2024
I read this as a beach read on my recent trip. I like short stories for beach reads. This book was about as good as what I expected it to be.
August 8, 2009
Anthology of sf crime short stories from the prolific book packager Martin H Greenberg. I normally like the anthologies Greenberg puts together, in both sf and mystery, but I've got a bad case of "it's not you, it's me" with this one. I can see why other people might like it, but it doesn't quite work for me, and I think it's because I'm not quite keyed in to the relevant genre conventions. Half way through, and I still haven't encountered a story I'd regret not having read, and have read one or two that left me feeling I'd just wasted a small piece of my life -- even though I know and like the work of several of the authors (and indeed, bought the anthology specifically because it included a short by one of my favourite authors). I've finally learnt that I don't have to finish a book just because I've started it, so I'm bailing at this point -- but even so, I think this one could work for a reader with slightly different tastes to me.
February 17, 2013
As with anthology, 16 stories that have to do with crime in the future -
I have used this word before with writing about anthologies - 'uneven'.
Ones I liked ---
One story had a touch of Fahrenheit 451 in it
Another was a psycho version of the movie Cable Guy - written 3 years after the movie came out
And then there's a touching story of a detective and man's best friend
Other were "blah" and some I just didn't care for.
Basically you take the good with the not so good with an anthology. That's what I found with this book.
I have used this word before with writing about anthologies - 'uneven'.
Ones I liked ---
One story had a touch of Fahrenheit 451 in it
Another was a psycho version of the movie Cable Guy - written 3 years after the movie came out
And then there's a touching story of a detective and man's best friend
Other were "blah" and some I just didn't care for.
Basically you take the good with the not so good with an anthology. That's what I found with this book.
Read
August 22, 2008Future Crimes (1999)
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews