Crime Anthology

In this short story from his Getting Even collection, Woody Allen takes an in-depth look at the Mafia, detailing heretofore unknown facts about the Cosa Nostra, from their aliases (and aliases' aliases), to how little they spend on office supplies in a given year.

Fugindo ao estilo de Florbela Espanca, "O crime do Pinhal do Cego" é um suspense de tirar o fôlego, com um final surpreendente. Nele se narra a história do triângulo amoroso de Rosa, Francisco e Rita, que tem por cenário o pinhal referido no título do conto – a floresta, a depender da estação do ano, reflete a emoção do enredo.

To the moon and back, here are 10 tales with a twist. The unlikely characters have one thing in common - they're ready and willing to do whatever it takes to achieve their goals. As the old saying goes, "You have to watch out for the quiet ones." From a quirky inventor, humored by his neighbors, to two old men out to dinner, to a more-than-meets-the-eye beverage maker, the stories will take you into the minds of the overlooked and unseen.

"Snowed In" tells the story of three people with secrets to hide who meet at a roadside bar during a storm - and learn that there's nothing deadlier than each other. In "Helix" a detective takes a case that leads him into the twisted world of genetic modification and artificial intelligence. The violent noir "Let Sleeping Gods" features a bad man doing very bad things to prevent the end of the world.

Dima is alone, an orphan in life. Born in a small village in the Siberian Taiga, he must find his destiny. With nothing in his pockets, one day he starts a journey. No direction and no purpose - that's his life. A series of unfortunate events slowly and gradually turn him in to a criminal. Dima the thug, that's who he is. Will he ever find peace? Will he free himself from his criminal life?

You wake up one morning with the weight of the world on your shoulders. You just lost your job, your girlfriend dumped you and you're about to be evicted from your apartment. Is it worth even going on anymore? Maybe not, but before you pull that trigger why not give a call to the folks at the suicide hotline. Maybe they can help. How good are these people at their job? Someone's gonna die no matter what. And there ain't a thing you can do about it.

Nothing exciting ever happened to Melissa Berkley. It was time to try to change that, she thought. She stood on the stern of the ship looking out at the horizon. Most of the other passengers stayed inside, or sat on the deck chairs with something to read. Melissa had something to read herself, even if it was just a short note on a post card that read: "To whomever finds this bottle: I dropped it overboard in the middle of Lake Michigan on this, the third day of September 1997. If you find it, please mail this post card back to me and let me know where you found it."

We've all been there. Some punk with a beater car creates a road rage situation, but being that your car is a new Mercedes-Benz, you don't want to take any chances so you let it slide. But the kid's not done playing with you. He raises the stakes but pointing a revolver at you. To hell with the car, that's what insurance is for. Go get him.

Kenney Masterson would rather intentionally hurt himself in public and then sue whomever he can, than work at a regular job. So far he's been pretty successful at avoiding work and he's always on the lookout for another big score from someone's insurance company. He's thinks he's found the perfect score, but will it be his Final Score?

Bayshore Noir is the newest release from John David's critically acclaimed Noir De Jure imprint. Detective Frank Geddy is on the case again, this time in the trendiest of Tampa neighborhoods, the Channelside District. Since pizza and booze aren't free, Frank does what it takes to survive, as unpleasant as it may be.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. You've lost your job and your family needs money. You've exhausted all other options. Your last chance to bring home the bacon is to holdup a tavern and its patrons. As you wait in their restroom, trying to muster up the courage, two other robbers come in and proceed to rob your tavern. This is the last straw. Time for action.

Penelope was a plain, unassuming woman that nobody noticed. Her job was going nowhere. Enter Debbie, her new co-worker at the insurance company where Penelope had gone unnoticed for nearly three years. Debbie's going places in the company, and fast. Why? Because she saved her money and got breast implants. Once Penelope saw what those implants did for Debbie, she decided to have the operation herself. One way or another, she would get noticed. Be careful what you wish for, Penelope. Attention may not be all that it's cracked up to be.

It's 1964. Philip Duran has been driving all night to make a sales meeting in the wee hours of the morning in Hollywood. Vern Grayson has the purchasing power at MGM. Mr. Duran's new invention could be just the thing MGM needs to pull ahead of its competitors, but can Duran convince Grayson to buy his contraption? Find out here, because Philip Duran will do, anything for a sale.

Jeff could see the lettering on the side of the armored truck as it made a wide left turn on the street just ahead of his own car. He pushed down on the turn signal arm and followed, not because he wanted to, but because he happened to be going that way, too. Jeff grabbed the radio knob and twisted, looking for a clear signal. Keeping one eye on the road and the other on the dial, he turned until a song came in clear and strong.

Get a real job? Not on your life. You'd rather keep pulling the same cons on unsuspecting rubs. Your latest con involves selling TV boxes with just a picture tube in it to the gullible public. It keeps you in money and your cost is zero. But what happens when you unkowingly sell one of these useless boxes to Anthony Vonetti, crime underworld hit man? Well, you did and when they see what's in the box, your life won't be worth a plug nickel. You have to get it back before that happens. Good luck.

Your boss makes you stay late at the office to revise the papers that he needs bright and early the next morning. While you're working, you hear noises and realize burglars have broken into the office. Sooner or later they're bound to find you hiding in the closet. What do you do?

Here for your listening enjoyment are seven tales of actual police cases straight from the files of a real Wisconsin police department, as they actually happened. These incidents were related to me by a retired police captain. Names were changed to protect the innocent, but the events are as real as they get. Truth IS stranger than fiction, as you will find out when you read these accounts.

You just know your husband's stepping out on you but you can't prove it. Well, wait a minute, this is Hollywood and you know a hairdresser who knows a makeup artist. Together they can transform you into a beautiful, unrecognizeable tart. Then you can go out, pick up your husband at his favorite bar and see just how far he'll go. What can possibly go wrong?

Your Aunt Grace is dying and you are her only living relative so you would be the logical choice as sole heir to her fortune. However, Aunt Grace has nine cats that also figure into the equasion. Will you split the fortune 10 ways? Or will that plan you've hatched help you keep it all? What will you do?

It's been decades since the beatings and harassment and the humiliation of this high school bully, yet here he was big as life standing right in front of you at the car rental counter. You may never get this chance again. Go for it. Tell him what a jerk he was and how you'd like to punch his lights out. You jump over the counter, ready to exact your vengeance but you stop. Your bully is supporting himself on two crutches and he has braces on both legs. Now what? You can't very well beat up a cripple. Or can you?