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enjoyable collection
Though the SF and fantasy stories in Space on My Hands are dated and most amount to little more than shaggy dog stories, they are still quite enjoyable.The two stand-outs are the first and last ones, Something Green and Come and Go Mad, which are more serious and a bit creepy, and show what potential he had when he really applied himself. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (4)

One of my all time favorite crime novels
There are few today who recall author Fredric Brown, and those that do probably are more familiar with his work in science fiction rather than mystery (Among many other works, he was the author of "Arena", a short story that inspired many TV show interpretations, from The Outer Limits to the original Star Trek to Space: 1999).

The Far Cry is my favorite Fredric Brown authored story and one of my favorite crime stories, period.As already mentioned in other reviews, the plot involves George Weaver, an man recovering from a nervous breakdown.He takes up temporary residence in a small New Mexico town and, while there, stumbles upon a years-old mystery involving a "lonely hearts" killer.This mystery proves incredibly engaging to Weaver, and Mr. Brown uses this to paint a picture of a (then) modern man in serious decline.For George Weaver's life is filled with disappointments both large and small and this unsolved murder becomes an obsession.As Weaver's obsession grows, so too -deviously- does the reader's interest.In typical Fredric Brown fashion, the novel's conclusion is equal parts incredible, unexpected, and shattering.

Highly recommended.

Haunting, unforgettable story of murder and obsession
An alcoholic, middle-aged businessman takes a summer vaction in a remote part of New Mexico, on the advice of his doctor. George Weaver is recovering from a nervous breakdown brought on by overwork and the tensions of his unhappy marriage. He rents an abandoned house where a murder took place a few years earlier, and is urged by a writer friend to research the unsolved crime and write an article about it for a true crime magazine. What begins as a mild curiosity and the need to keep busy result in Weaver becoming completely obsessed with the case, and the murder victim. He becomes involved with the details of the young woman's tragic death to the point that it takes over his life completely, made worse by his increasingly heavy drinking. He is not pleased to learn that his wife is planning on joining him soon, and makes careful preparations so that she will not find out what he has been up to. In effect, he is having an affair with the memory of the murdered girl. To say more would be to spoil a truly gripping story. Thebook's readers will find themselves drawn into the strange story of the murder and Weaver's obsession with the same desperate eagerness to investigate that the character feels. One becomes totally involved in the mystery and the potential madness thatWeaver risks succumbing to. Brown creates a fascinating mystery and peoples it with quirky but believable characters. The Taos setting and the mountains are vividly described. The geography and landscape become integral parts of the story. Weaver is a very flawed and unhappy man, but Brown makes him interesting and sympathetic enough for readers to identify with his strange quest. This is truly an unforgettable story, and it is surprising that it's not better known. For a compelling, unusual tale that will hold the reader in thrall from beginning to end, I cannot recommend The Far Cry enough.

Noirish tale of murder and obsession.
THE FAR CRY was first published in 1951, and is considered one of Fredric Brown's best mystery novels, which is saying something indeed, considering how many great ones he penned.Slightly different from his famous "Ed and Am Hunter" series of novels about a uncle and nephew team of Private Eyes, THE FAR CRY is more of a downbeat noir type of thriller, dwelling as it does on the main character's growing depression regarding his own marriage and career, coupled with a burgeoning obsession on his part with the mystery surrounding an 8 year old murder of a girl he never knew, but whom he has become compulsively attracted to.

George Weaver is a middle aged Kansas City real estate man, unhappily married, father of two, and recovering from a nervous breakdown.His doctor recommends a summer of peace and relaxation, away from his business and family concerns.To achieve this he rents a small primitive house a few miles outside of Taos, New Mexico.The only problem is that the same house was once the scene of a grisly murder.Eight years previously a young woman named Jenny Ames had come to meet a man who she thought wished to marry her.Instead the same man, an aspiring artist named Nelson, killed Jenny with a kitchen knife and then buried her body a quarter mile from the house, the very house that Weaver is now renting.

Try as he might, Weaver can not get the events of 8 years previous out of his mind.He begins to investigate the murder and the mysterious events leading up to it.At first he believes that he will write an article and profit from it, also that investigating it will help detour his thoughts from contemplation of his own unhappy marriage, but as the summer progresses he finds himself more and more obsessed with the young Jenny Ames.To tell any more of the plot would be a spoiler, simply suffice it to say that Brown delivers as usual.I definitely recommend this one for those who like their noir dished up with believable characters and suspense.

A masterpiece of low-key suspense
It's really sad to see this book out of print, and I hope Black Lizard or another reprint series will consider reviving it.This is a masterpiece of low-key suspense.Frederick Brown uses great subtlety to graduallyintroduce the mystery and draw the protagonist into it.The murdered womanin the story has a ghost-like presence; but the way she haunts the tale ismuch more credible than a supernatural tale.

The protagonist isfascinating because he seems so banal.He's no hero, and seemingly novillain, but a man forced by circumstances and finances to endure a bland,lonely, meaningless existence.It is this vacuum of meaning in his lifethat draws him to be obsessed with this murder victim from the past.

Thisis one of my all-time favorite mysteries.

Brown's other books are alsoquite worthwhile, especially MY NAME IS DEATH and THE FABULOUS CLIPJOINT. ... Read more

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Brown's novel about an ex-reporter who, disenchanted with his career writing a radio soap opera, looks to create a new show, dubbed "Murder Can Be Fun," and change genres. Things get dicey when killings happen, using our hero's unpublished scripts as a template. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The book: 5 Stars; this edition: 1 Star...
This is the first book by Fredric Brown that I have ever read.And I loved the story and found the author's style so appealing that I am determined to read anything and everything of his I can get my hands on--which will be no easy feat as it turns out.

This is a great little mystery about a man who writes a series for a radio show and soon finds himself caught up in a string of murders that are basically his stories brought to life.The trouble is that the stories have not been shown to anyone or aired yet!

There is nothing overly complicated here, to be honest.This novel was not all that long and not overly intricate but the author's writing style was very natural and the dialogue was witty and humorous.I loved the quirky characters and found myself sucked in; I couldn't put it down.

So, why did I give it 3 Stars?Because this edition (published by someplace called Blackmask.com) is ATROCIOUS.While my understanding is that Blackmask has put a lot of much loved and long out of print books back in print, and they should be thanked for that, I cannot ignore how horrible the transfer of text is (if that is the correct term--please leave a comment and let me know if I am phrasing it incorrectly).Just about every book has an error here and there, that is fine, but this is absolutely not the case here.

There are grammatical errors, spelling errors and random numbers and symbols riddling the text multiple times on just about every single page of the book.And I am absolutely not exaggerating.The first reviewer of this book also comments on this and while he was able to brush the issue off (wish I could, too) it was truly a major distraction to me and it did take away from my enjoyment of the book, overall.Would it be THAT hard to have just one person read the book and fix the errors prior to publishing it?Apparently so!

If you plan to read this, do yourself a favor and seek out a used copy of an older edition--they are cheaper and do not have the inexcusable errors that this edition does.Shameful!

A great book
Those familiar with Brown's work will know what to expect.The story centers around Bill Tracy, an ex journalist from the Blade, who now writes a radio soap opera called Millie's Millions.He is working on writing a humorous radio show called Murder Can be Fun when he realizes murders are occurring that follow his scripts and involve people he knows.Problem is, he never showed the scripts to anyone.

The character Bill Tracy is almost identical to Bill Sweeney from Brown's Book The Screaming Mimi.Which might why I enjoyed this so much because it seemed like it could of worked as a sequel or Prequel to that book(although this one is set in New York, not Chicago).

The only downside is not the fault of the material, but the publishing company.And it seems all their books have this problem: words are spelled wrong on almost every page, sometimes a letter is thrown in the middle of a sentence for no reason(I'm guessing the typist slipped and didn't realize it) and certain parts have the punctuation wrong or just placed wrongly in the middle of a sentence.Very poor publishing company.

However, It doesn't make the book difficult to read.once you catch on that sometimes they are replacing words that start with a 'h' with a 'b', you can easily figure it out and its more of an annoyance then making the book unintelligable.

So i still recommend this book and anything done by Fredric Brown. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The hypnoglyph
I read this collection of short stories the year it came out. I was in highschool.That was fifty-four years ago.I have never forgotten the Hypnoglyph. The book is an excellent collection of science fiction stories. ... Read more

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A 'Wheels in wheels' plot that is sure to delight
Brown's short novel, His Name Was Death, is a masterpiece of concentric, convoluted plotting.It starts with a simple exchange of cars and a cashed check, which then spirals into multiple linked and inescapable homicides.

Each chapter starts from the viewpoint of a different character at first.There is a smooth mix of dialog internal to the narrating character in each chapter along with completely believable conversation.Often, there is great irony between what is going on in the conversation versus what is going through the internal mental dialog.

The novel resolves itself quickly, and satisfyingly.The setting Santa Monica is described very accurately.Brown has mid century LA down cold as he spins his tale.

You will not be disappointed if you make an effort to find this fine work. ... Read more

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Howard Perry has become a drunk—a skid row bum. It wasn't always so and he has hopes of returning to be a respected university student. But now he spends his days washing dishes to buy enough booze to hopefully blackout at night. His only friend is a prostitute name Billie the Kid. But Billie is just a working girl, and it would be stupid for him to care too much for her. Of course Perry isn't exactly making the smartest choices as he continues his downward spiral. And when he goes to borrow a drink from Billie's neighbor, whom soon turns up murdered, things are looking even worse for Perry. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

short but Fredric Brown stories all are keepers
Was misleading,course it was kind of a Fredric Brown story itself. The rubes paying less than a dollar for a collector's item. Don't feel anything but happy though.He excelled in short stories too. Good solid plots and fun twists. Intelligent. Many serious and awesome. Loved words. However they misspelled his name, grab 'em while you can. My first Kindle buys. Deepest thanks. Try the Kindle THE SCREAMING MIMI for the full length book and the original Bantam front cover art work to die for.A Pleasant Hill at the end of Summertime, a chapbook of creeping horror
Barry EysmanMad Killer on the Loose

Short noir tale
This isn't a full length book.Not sure how many pages it would be in a real book, but I read most of it during a 30 minute car ride.

Decent noir mystery.Fredric Brown knew how to write em. ... Read more

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BILL TRACY, ex-newspaperman and radio script writer, had to find out who was using his murder plots... for keeps. ... Read more

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Ed and Am have gotten away from the Carney life. These days, they're working for the Starlock Detective Agency. Ed's first case is a wealthy client trying to sound out whether an investment's worth it. But then he finds a body with its throat cut, and hears some external howling that might just be from a werewolf. ... Read more

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Lycanthropy and Disappearing Bodies
Ed Hunter, rookie detective with the Starlock Detective Agency, gets his first solo case.He goes to the country to check out an investment opportunity for a wealthy young lady who's appealing for more reasons than the size of her bank account.

He has trouble sinking his teeth into the assignment because of a beautiful girl who isn't what she seems, a disappearing body, and a narrow minded sheriff who shoots first and asks questions later.

On his way to interview the inventor, who may be in radio contact with Mars or Jupiter, Ed finds a body with the throat torn out.Ed leaves the body, finds a phone, and reports the crime.When the sheriff can't find the body, he beats Ed up, which makes Ed determined to [1] return the favor, and [2] find the body again.

The plot thickens as Ed unravels who killed whom, the true identity of his dream girl, and exactly where those radio signals are coming from.He gets everything sorted out, and then confronts the problem of keeping the sheriff from killing him before he can expose whodunnit.

"The Fabulous Clipjoint" is supposed to be the best Ed and Am Hunter mystery, but I got more reading pleasure from "The Bloody Moonlight." ... Read more

Product Description
Dell First Printing No. 7478. "The most nefarious lineup of thieves, swindlers and murderers that anyone ever dared put together in one book." Contents are divided into two sections. Department of Murderers includes: Accident by Agatha Christie; Mr. Markham, Antique Dealer by John Dickson Carr; Mr. Bowley's Sunday Evening by H. C. Bailey; and The Fifteen Murderers by Ben Hecht. Department of Assorted Crooks includes: A Trap to Catch a Cracksman by E. W. Hornung; A Personal Magnet by O. Henry; The Quagg Peerless Sciatacata Co. by George Randolph Chester; The Brazen Serpent by R. Austin Freeman; The Cablegram by T. S. Stribling; The People versus Kelleher by Thomas McMorrow; Thubway Tham, Thvilian by Johnston McCulley; The Blind Spot by Leslie Charteris; and Town Wanted by Fredric Brown. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Lost Gem of Important Works
Fredric Brown is underrated. His short works in this book are a collectionof pulp-scifi, the influences of which can be seen in the evolution ofpostwar American scifi. One of the short stories was even eventually usedas the basis for a script of the original Star Trek TV show ("TheArena").

His concepts and ideas are some of the darker and morecreative in science fiction. His work is an important foundation. ... Read more