Very uneven collection spanning Thompson's career. Divided into three parts, the first covers the 1920s and 30s, mostly peices written for "true" crime pulps. These are perhaps the most interesting because they show the most development. The middle section covering the 40s but more so the 50s effectively proves that Thompson is best at novel length. The short story format is too brief for him to build up either suspense or the characters. The final section covering the 60s and 70s is mostly excerpts from unpublished and unfinished work and is very rough. Nothing in this book comes close to his best. ( )