The Big Book of Rogues and Villains Paperback – October 24, 2017

The book is an anthology of short stories from pulp magazines depicting criminals who are sometimes "good" and sometimes bad. The stories start out in the 1800s up to the modern-day which I found fascinating. I did like the fact that I could read a story in a single sitting and not lose track of characters over a lengthy time. There are other books by the editor Otto Penzler along the same line that I intend to look into.

I am going through this collection one story at a time. It is like a scoop of ice cream on top of a piece of fresh apple pie. Some items I recognize from my older paper versions; however, the contents are superior because this has a truly well-chosen and expanded group of villains. Wonderful addition to the world of mystery.

great selection but I gave it only 4 stars because it lefi out a story about the super arch villain FANTOMAS

I got this for an English literature class. There are some really good reads in this book. I am planning on going back through and reading the stories we didn't cover in my class.

Loved

Lots of short stories covering a long period of mystery writing but many of the stories seem to be "formula" writing - fill in the characters names here. Not great even for this genre.

Awesome book

Present for my husband. He's reading it so it must be good...

An entertaining read.

Superb collection.bit bulky to hold.some illustrations could have helped.

Once again Otto Penzler has come up with a great anthology of crime stories, this time focusing on Rogues and Villains. As Penzler explains, "Roguery must be distinguished from villainy. The latter is the creature of evil and malice. It is bad behavior carried to an unpleasant extreme, generally murder. The former tends not to be vicious, prefers no serious injury to others, and defines itself as rascality soaked in humor."These seventy three stories cover the period from the late 1800`s to the 21st century, by both English and American writers, some famous (Washington Irving, H.G.Wells, Erle Stanley Gardiner), some not so famous.In any event these bad guys (and gals) are both enterprising and entertaining, a must read for all crime lovers.

"The Big Book of Rogues and Villains", a selection of short tales from across several decades and featuring writers of quality from all of those periods, is like all of the other collections edited by Otto Penzler in that it offers the reader many hours of truly enjoyable reading and as such represents really excellent value for money. the stories included comprise a very wide selection and are all fine examples of the art of short story writing. The plotting is clever and the characters well developed. take for instance "The Unpublishable Memoirs" a story only three or four pages long but how well is the premise established, explained and resolved in that brief account. These stories are by craftspeople of the art of the short story and if like me you want something you can pick up, delve into and pass whatever time you choose with, then this is for you.

I love the Otto Penzlers collections. I have all of them.