When it comes to contemporary crime fiction there's no territory quite as dangerous and unpredictable as that of New York Times bestselling author Dennis Lehane. These five short stories and a play are Lehane at his visceral best. In "Running Out of Dog," a vet returning from Vietnam is asked to redirect the violent skills he learned overseas to deal with his hometown's rampant population of strays. "ICU" follows a hunted man who finds refuge in the oddest place imaginable. Surprises await a gang of Texas high-school football jocks who lay siege to a luxury home in the suburbs in "Gone Down to Corpus." And in "Mushrooms," a simple theft triggers a series of murders that forces a disillusioned young girl to consider her next move. This collection also includes "Until Gwen" and its stage adaptation, Coronado, which expands on the trenchant tale of a morally bankrupt conman father, his ill-fated son, and the woman they have in common. In Lehane's capable hands, each story faces unflinchingly the darkest depths of the human experience-sin and redemption, loss and longing, flesh and blood-delivering a knockout punch that'll have readers reeling.

ISBN: 9780061139673