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Five Uneasy Pieces
This short story anthology reveals my love for pulp fiction and cinema. Each of the stories explores the shadowy worlds of noir, mystery and crime fiction. They range in tone from hardboiled detective to parody. Altogether, this collection has something for everyone who enjoys dark or edgy crime fiction.
Includes a sixth bonus short story.
About the author:
Debbi Mack is the author of the Sam McRae mysteries, including the New York Times ebook bestseller IDENTITY CRISIS and the Kindle bestseller LEAST WANTED. Her short stories have appeared in various anthologies, including the CHESAPEAKE CRIMES anthologies and SHAKEN: STORIES FOR JAPAN. In 2010, Debbi's short story "The Right to Remain Silent" was nominated for a Derringer Award.
What They Are Saying About FIVE UNEASY PIECES:
"In her introductory note to FIVE UNEASY PIECES, Debbi Mack claims she finds writing short stories 'difficult.' Well, you wouldn't know it from the 'pieces' themselves. Each rings true as a tuning fork, whether for dialogue, setting, or depth. A lean collection of gems."
—Jeremiah Healy, author of OFF-SEASON and THE CONCISE CUDDY
"FIVE UNEASY PIECES packs a nasty punch that will keep mystery fans enthralled." —Simon Wood, author of TERMINATED
"In her first collection of short works, FIVE UNEASY PIECES, 2010 Derringer Award nominee Debbi Mack creates modern-day noir worlds where voyeurism and sleuthing are as natural to its inhabitants as breathing. Never content to leave well enough alone, Mack’s fascinating cavalcade of off-kilter protagonists spy and insinuate themselves into other people’s lives – to mostly tragic effect.
"While descriptive, observational humor was a hallmark of Mack’s excellent hardboiled crime novel IDENTITY CRISIS, here she uses it sparingly, and instead infuses a handful of riveting mini-mysteries with a real sense of dread, fear, and unease that lingers long after the lights are out. Recommended."
—J.T. Cummins, author of COBBLESTONES
"Mack really packs twists and surprises into these five shorts." —C.J. West, author of THE END OF MARKING TIME
Includes a sixth bonus short story.
About the author:
Debbi Mack is the author of the Sam McRae mysteries, including the New York Times ebook bestseller IDENTITY CRISIS and the Kindle bestseller LEAST WANTED. Her short stories have appeared in various anthologies, including the CHESAPEAKE CRIMES anthologies and SHAKEN: STORIES FOR JAPAN. In 2010, Debbi's short story "The Right to Remain Silent" was nominated for a Derringer Award.
What They Are Saying About FIVE UNEASY PIECES:
"In her introductory note to FIVE UNEASY PIECES, Debbi Mack claims she finds writing short stories 'difficult.' Well, you wouldn't know it from the 'pieces' themselves. Each rings true as a tuning fork, whether for dialogue, setting, or depth. A lean collection of gems."
—Jeremiah Healy, author of OFF-SEASON and THE CONCISE CUDDY
"FIVE UNEASY PIECES packs a nasty punch that will keep mystery fans enthralled." —Simon Wood, author of TERMINATED
"In her first collection of short works, FIVE UNEASY PIECES, 2010 Derringer Award nominee Debbi Mack creates modern-day noir worlds where voyeurism and sleuthing are as natural to its inhabitants as breathing. Never content to leave well enough alone, Mack’s fascinating cavalcade of off-kilter protagonists spy and insinuate themselves into other people’s lives – to mostly tragic effect.
"While descriptive, observational humor was a hallmark of Mack’s excellent hardboiled crime novel IDENTITY CRISIS, here she uses it sparingly, and instead infuses a handful of riveting mini-mysteries with a real sense of dread, fear, and unease that lingers long after the lights are out. Recommended."
—J.T. Cummins, author of COBBLESTONES
"Mack really packs twists and surprises into these five shorts." —C.J. West, author of THE END OF MARKING TIME
91 pages, Kindle Edition
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About the author
Debbi Mack
20 books139 followersDebbi Mack is the New York Times bestselling author of the Sam McRae Mystery Series. She's also published a young adult novel called INVISIBLE ME and a thriller entitled THE PLANCK FACTOR.
She's the author of DAMAGED GOODS, the first book in a series about a female Marine veteran sleuth named Erica Jensen, which was nominated for a Shamus Award. The sequel is called FATAL CONNECTIONS, and she's currently working on the third novel. She's also written short stories, including one nominated for a Derringer. In addition, she writes screenplays and is interested in filmmaking.
Debbi hosts and produces a podcast called the Crime Cafe, in which she interviews crime, suspense, and thriller authors: http://www.debbimack.com/crime-cafe/
Debbi co-hosts and produces Dark and Twisted Alleys: A Film Noir Podcast with crime and horror author F.R. Jameson.
Debbi is a "recovering lawyer", who enjoys reading, movies, travel, baseball, walking and espresso--not necessarily in that order. She and her husband live in Columbia, MD, with their family of cats.
She's the author of DAMAGED GOODS, the first book in a series about a female Marine veteran sleuth named Erica Jensen, which was nominated for a Shamus Award. The sequel is called FATAL CONNECTIONS, and she's currently working on the third novel. She's also written short stories, including one nominated for a Derringer. In addition, she writes screenplays and is interested in filmmaking.
Debbi hosts and produces a podcast called the Crime Cafe, in which she interviews crime, suspense, and thriller authors: http://www.debbimack.com/crime-cafe/
Debbi co-hosts and produces Dark and Twisted Alleys: A Film Noir Podcast with crime and horror author F.R. Jameson.
Debbi is a "recovering lawyer", who enjoys reading, movies, travel, baseball, walking and espresso--not necessarily in that order. She and her husband live in Columbia, MD, with their family of cats.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 13, 2020
6 noir short stories. Solid characterization but plots left me unenthusiastic. I enjoyed the first short story the most and the last one the least!
May 30, 2020
Tales of corruption and deception. Short stories for quick reads.
October 17, 2022
The original collection had 5 stories thus the title. When it was reissued, Debbi Mack added a 6th story as a bonus but did not change the title thus creating yet another book where mathematics works in a weird way.
"Deadly Detour" is a detective story with the protagonist trying to be too witty and ending up caught into a sticky situation. The end was somewhat predictable but it was a nice twist anyway.
"The Right to Remain Silent" introduces us to a prosecutor who wins a case but for some reason his consciousness does not allow him to stop digging. As expected nothing is as it seems and the final twist turns the story on its head.
In "A Woman Who Thinks", a psychiatrist gets a bit too obsessed with a new patient after some similarities to an old case start emerging. Of course, everyone does have a separate agenda in the tale so things don't go very well for Dr. Fein at the end.
"The People Next Door" is a short story about a neighbor who is too curious about her neighbors - while having her own secrets. It kinda works because it is short although it almost telegraphs its twist from the start.
"Sympathy for the Devil" - an innocent and a naive wife, her best friend, a supposedly cheating husband, a seedy detective. Figuring out who tells the truth is not the easiest thing for anyone in that story. The wife was a bit too naive even for fiction - which was needed for the story to work but made it unsatisfactory in some ways.
The bonus story "The Woman Who Knew Too Little" is supposedly a parody and homage to Alfred Hitchcock. There are some hints but... it feels flat - a client lies to a detective (what a surprise!) and the detective tries to solve the case and figure out the lie. The premise is sound, the execution simply did not work for me - it relied on witty answers too much and almost none of them landed. The fact that it was full of cliches, played for the laugh too often, was expected - being a parody and all.
It was a short collection (the longest story was probably ~30 pages) but it did not make me want to find the author's other works. It is competent but none of the stories was memorable or had any real depth in them.
"Deadly Detour" is a detective story with the protagonist trying to be too witty and ending up caught into a sticky situation. The end was somewhat predictable but it was a nice twist anyway.
"The Right to Remain Silent" introduces us to a prosecutor who wins a case but for some reason his consciousness does not allow him to stop digging. As expected nothing is as it seems and the final twist turns the story on its head.
In "A Woman Who Thinks", a psychiatrist gets a bit too obsessed with a new patient after some similarities to an old case start emerging. Of course, everyone does have a separate agenda in the tale so things don't go very well for Dr. Fein at the end.
"The People Next Door" is a short story about a neighbor who is too curious about her neighbors - while having her own secrets. It kinda works because it is short although it almost telegraphs its twist from the start.
"Sympathy for the Devil" - an innocent and a naive wife, her best friend, a supposedly cheating husband, a seedy detective. Figuring out who tells the truth is not the easiest thing for anyone in that story. The wife was a bit too naive even for fiction - which was needed for the story to work but made it unsatisfactory in some ways.
The bonus story "The Woman Who Knew Too Little" is supposedly a parody and homage to Alfred Hitchcock. There are some hints but... it feels flat - a client lies to a detective (what a surprise!) and the detective tries to solve the case and figure out the lie. The premise is sound, the execution simply did not work for me - it relied on witty answers too much and almost none of them landed. The fact that it was full of cliches, played for the laugh too often, was expected - being a parody and all.
It was a short collection (the longest story was probably ~30 pages) but it did not make me want to find the author's other works. It is competent but none of the stories was memorable or had any real depth in them.
January 6, 2012
About a month ago Debbi Mack sent me her collection of short stories “5 Uneasy Pieces.” I decided to take a chance on them, (not because of the obvious sleuth pretence) but because I knew that at some-point I would need a break. Yes, I know that sounds horrible on so many levels, but sometimes less complicated is just plain nice. Not all of us have the time to dive into a 500 page book, we need something to read in between switching out loads of laundry, and carpool, or… (for those of us that work a ridiculous number of hours a week) it is sometimes much more convenient to curl up with a 45 minute read than the 20 hour one.
Debbi Mack’s collection offers readers exactly that. Easy reading, investigation style.
All 5 of these stories offer different things; payback, bad timing, deception…but at the same time they are all identical. How? Irony. Mack’s ability to smack her own characters in the face is impressive, and because she weaves a twisted tale BEFORE she does this it makes her stories even more enthralling.
However…the best thing about “5 Uneasy Pieces” is that (with just a few short stories) you are able to get a good clean look into Mack’s writing style. Is she for you? Can you stand the 500 classic movie references she throws out, and most importantly do you “believe” her self-made glimpses into the world of investigation. If you answered yes, then it enables you to purchase one of her full length novels guilt free. If the answer is no… no big loss, it was only 99 cents and I’m willing to bet you have more than that in your car’s console.
If you like short easy reads…go for it. Why the hell not.
Happy reading my fellow Kindle-ites and remember: never give your shrink your address…it’s inevitable that one day they will snap. Do you want them knowing where you sleep?
Debbi Mack’s collection offers readers exactly that. Easy reading, investigation style.
All 5 of these stories offer different things; payback, bad timing, deception…but at the same time they are all identical. How? Irony. Mack’s ability to smack her own characters in the face is impressive, and because she weaves a twisted tale BEFORE she does this it makes her stories even more enthralling.
However…the best thing about “5 Uneasy Pieces” is that (with just a few short stories) you are able to get a good clean look into Mack’s writing style. Is she for you? Can you stand the 500 classic movie references she throws out, and most importantly do you “believe” her self-made glimpses into the world of investigation. If you answered yes, then it enables you to purchase one of her full length novels guilt free. If the answer is no… no big loss, it was only 99 cents and I’m willing to bet you have more than that in your car’s console.
If you like short easy reads…go for it. Why the hell not.
Happy reading my fellow Kindle-ites and remember: never give your shrink your address…it’s inevitable that one day they will snap. Do you want them knowing where you sleep?
June 12, 2011
A fantastic read. I really was ready for more by the time I finished the last story but alas there were only 5. However, each story was so well written with tantalising little twists and turns and unexpected endings that I can only recommend this as a terrific read. I now must read more of Debbi Mack.
January 1, 2011
You can read my thoughts here.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews