This is a collection of 23 short stories of suspense and terror.

This is the first of the Robert Payne series, written in 1994. Payne is an ex-FBI profiler who gets offered $10,000 in an unmarked envelope to find the killer of a young girl. If only it were that easy. A Ramble House book

Publishers Weekly: "A strong collection." 13 tales by a master of the dark suspense story. Lethal parents, a rapist cop, a con trying to go straight, a dying vigilante. "One of our finest contemporary short story writers regardless of genre" (Jon Breen, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine).

Against this background McCain tries to enjoy himself during the long Labor Day weekend party the town sponsors every year, reuniting with several old friends who appeared throughout the first six novels. Now that they're all in their late twenties some of the old grudges and rivalries seem silly until two of them are murdered for what seems to be a motive buried in the past With the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Bob Dylan irritating those over thirty and the boys in long hair and girls wearing blouses without bras irritating people even more Sam McCain is forced to realize that his old world,...