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SJ Rozan was born and raised in the Bronx and is a life-long New Yorker. She's the author of eight novels in the Lydia Chin/Bill Smith series, and of the stand alones Absent Friends and In This Rain (forthcoming, Delacorte Jan. 2007). Her books have won Edgar, Nero, Macavity, and Shamus awards for Best Novel.

S.J. Rozan, Lawrence Block, Kevin Baker, Jerome Charyn, and others brawl with New York City's most rugged borough.

Publishers Weekly

Akashic's latest city-themed crime anthology successfully captures the immense diversity of the Bronx, from the mean streets of the South Bronx to affluent Riverdale, in 19 tales by authors both well known and obscure. The most imaginative entry, Joseph Wallace's "The Big Five," about a hunter who targets his prey in the Bronx Zoo as part of a national contest, concludes with a satisfying noir twist. Lawrence Block's Riverdale story, "Rude Awakening," also surprises the reader with its clever resolution of a one-night stand. Particularly inventive is Kevin Baker's grim "The Cheers Like Waves," set in the shadow of Yankee Stadium. Rozan, herself a contributor, has put together one of the series' better entries, with memorable tales of betrayal and despair that reflect the borough's varied ethnic populations and geography. (Aug.)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Introduction     13
Bring it on Home
Claremont/Concourse: White Trash     19
Lehman College: Gold Mountain     26
Sedgwick Avenue: Hey, Girlie     52
Elder Avenue: The Woman Who Hated the Bronx     66
In the Still of the Night
Riverdale: Rude Awakening     87
Jerome Avenue: Burnout     97
Yankee Stadium: The Cheers Like Waves     114
South Bronx: Jaguar     136
Another Saturday Night
Hunts Point: Early Fall     153
Botanical Garden: Hothouse     177
Rikers Island: Lost and Found     191
Williamsbridge: Look What Love Is Doing to Me     206
The Wanderer
City Island: Home Sweet Home     221
Fordham Road: A Visit to St. Nick's     242
Baychester: Numbers Up     273
Bronx Zoo: The Big Five     289
All Shook Up
Van Cortlandt Park: Ernie K.'s Gelding     313
Arthur Avenue: The Prince of Arthur Avenue     328
Courthouse: You Want I Should Whack Monkey Boy?     342
About the Contributors     362