Lee Child - Vengeance: Mystery Writers of America Presents

ALSO BY LEE CHILD

Killing Floor

Die Trying

Tripwire

Running Blind

Echo Burning

Without Fail

Persuader

The Enemy

One Shot

The Hard Way

Bad Luck and Trouble

Nothing to Lose

Gone Tomorrow

61 Hours

Worth Dying For

The Affair

ALSO FROM THE MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA

The Blue Religion

(edited by Michael Connelly)

Death Do Us Part

(edited by Harlan Coben)

The Prosecution Rests

(edited by Linda Fairstein)

CONTENTS

Introduction by Lee Child

THE FOURTEENTH JURORby Twist Phelan

LOST AND FOUNDby Zo Sharp

THE MOTHERby Alafair Burke

BLIND JUSTICEby Jim Fusilli

THE CONSUMERSby Dennis Lehane

MOONSHINERS LAMENTby Rick McMahan

RIVER SECRETby Anne Swardson

HOT SUGAR BLUESby Steve Liskow

THE FINAL BALLOTby Brendan DuBois

AFRICA ALWAYS NEEDS GUNSby Michael Niemann

THE UNREMARKABLE HEARTby Karin Slaughter

IT AINT RIGHTby Michelle Gagnon

SILENT JUSTICEby C. E. Lawrence

EVEN A BLIND MANby Darrell James

THE GENERALby Janice Law

A FINE MIST OF BLOODby Michael Connelly

LEVERAGEby Mike Cooper

THE HOTLINEby Dreda Say Mitchell

BLOOD AND SUNSHINEby Adam Meyer

IN PERSONA CHRISTIby Orest Stelmach

THE HOLLYWOOD I REMEMBERby Lee Child

About the Authors

Copyrights

INTRODUCTION

Editing this anthology was a lot of fun not least because Mystery Writers of Americas invaluable and irreplaceable publications guy, Barry Zeman, did all the hard work. All I had to do was pick ten invitees. And write a story. And then later on read the ten winning stories chosen by MWAs blind-submission process. Piece of cake. Apart from writing my own story, that is, which I always find hard, but thats why picking the invitees was so much fun I love watching something difficult being done really well, by experts.

It was like playing fantasy baseball who did I want on the field? And just as Major League Baseball has rich seams of talent to choose from, so does Mystery Writers of America. I could have filled ten anthologies. Or twenty. But I had to start somewhere and it turned out that I already had, years ago, actually, when I taught a class at a mystery writers conference in California. One of the after-hours activities was a group reading around a fireplace in the motel. A bit too kumbaya for me, frankly, but I went anyway, and the first story was by a young woman called Michelle Gagnon. It was superb, and it stayed with me through the intervening years. So I e-mailed her about using it for this anthology more in hope than in expectation, because it was such a great story, I was sure it had been snapped up long ago. But no it was still available. Never published, amazingly. It is now.

One down.

Then I had to have Brendan DuBois. Hes a fine novelist but easily the best short-story writer of his generation. He just cranks them out, one after the other, like hes casting gold ingots. Very annoying. He said yes.

Two down.

And I had Twist Phelan on my radar. Shes a real woman of mystery sometimes lives on a yacht, sometimes lives in Switzerland, knows about oil and banks and money and she had just won the International Thriller Writers award for best short story. I thought, Ill have a bit of that. She said okay.

Three down.

Then there was the overtalented but undersung Jim Fusilli. He wrote two great New York novels that I really loved, and then four more just as good, and hes the rock music critic for the Wall Street Journal. We make lists together, like the top three bands most dependent on their drummers for their sound. (Led Zeppelin, the Who, and the Beatles, obviously.)

I asked; he said yes.

Four down.

And then, purely by chance, in the course of a conversation Karin Slaughter told me shed just finished the nastiest story shed ever written. Which had to be something, right? With Karin? I didnt ask. I just told her.

Five down.

Alafair Burke was next. Ive followed her novels from the very beginning and loved them all. Then she went and wrote a terrific story for Michael Connellys MWA anthology a few years ago. I thought, Hey, she did it for him, she can do it for me. I asked. She said yes.

Six down.

Then, because Im a transatlantic person, I thought about a couple of great writers from the old country. First up: Dreda Say Mitchell. Shes five novels into a terrific career, and I find her narrative voice completely fresh and utterly addictive. I asked; she said yes.

Seven down.

Then, Zo Sharp. If I were a woman, Id be Zo. If Jack Reacher were a woman, hed be Zos main character, Charlie Fox. A natural fit. I asked; she said yes.

Eight down.

Two spots left.

I thought: Lets complete the lineup with a couple of heavy hitters. I waited until both of my targets were drunk and happy at the Edgars, and I asked. Michael Connelly first. A busy guy, but a nice guy. He blinked. He said yes.

Nine down.

Then I turned to Dennis Lehane. Equally busy guy hed just had a kid. But equally nice too. He blinked. Twice. But he said yes.

Bingo.

So then it was about sharpening my editorial blue pencil and waiting for their stories to show up. They did, but I didnt need the pencil. I think there was a spelling mistake in there somewhere, but authors like these dont need help. So then it was about waiting for the MWA winning stories to arrive.

The way it works is that any paid-up MWA member can submit a story; the authors name is replaced with a code number, so the judges read each story blind. The selection panel evaluates them all and chooses the ten best. The panel for this anthology was Heather Graham, Tom Cook, David Walker, Joe Trigoboff, and Brendan DuBois (pulling double duty, which was good of him he could have written another nine or ten stories, probably, in the time it took). I thank them all for their hard work, and for their excellent judgment the ten they came up with are first-class, and when the numbers were matched to the names, it turned out we had an interesting bunch of people.

Ladies first: Anne Swardson submitted from Paris, where shes been living for fifteen years as a heavy-duty financial journalist. Tough gig, but hey, someones got to do it. C. E. Lawrence is a multitalented New Yorker writer, performer, poet, composer, and prize-winning playwright. Quite irritating. Janice Law is already an Edgar-nominated short-story writer (but the panel didnt know that remember the code numbers). Shes had stories published all over the place, so its no surprise she made the top ten.

And the men: Rick McMahan is a special agent with the Department of Justice, so he walks the walk, and naturally hes also published here and there. Adam Meyer is an accomplished movie and TV writer and novelist and short-story writer who comes from New York but lives in DC. Michael Niemann is a German guy who lives in Oregon and is mostly a nonfiction writer specializing in African and global issues. Orest Stelmach is a thriller writer from the Northeast. Hes fluent in four languages, which is four more than me on an average day. Darrell James lives in California and Arizona and is a multipublished and award-winning short-story writer, and also a debut novelist. Steve Liskow lives in Connecticut and is also a published novelist and short-story writer. And finally, Mike Cooper is a former financial guy from the Boston area whose stories have won a Shamus Award and been selected for