Solved - Hardcover

Sixteen short stories--some puckish, several conspiracy- oriented, and all never-published-before (for good reason)--that rework and supposedly ``solve'' various real-life notable mysteries. Predictably, the Kennedy assassination is front and center, with William J. Reynolds tackling it from Ruby's point of view, Barry N. Malzberg focusing on governmental goons, and Rex Miller and coauthor Dr. Fred L. King pairing it with Lincoln's murder and finding compelling (to them) similarities. Barbara Paul, in the most successful entry here, assigns yet another identity to Jack the Ripper, while Brian Hodge sets a scandal-sheet reporter, in a jaunty p.i. tone, on the trail of whoever shot up John Belushi for the last time. More fanciful are William L. DeAndrea's student laser-project, which rousts the Challenger; Alan Dean Foster's glimpse of Marilyn Monroe (she lives!); and Sean Flannery's royal ``control'' of Philby, et al. Plus: Janis Joplin's o.d., Jim Morrison's death, Andropov's hospital stay, Martin Bormann's last moments, and the real Lindbergh baby kidnapper are imagined by, respectively, Nancy A. Collins, Rick Hautala, Brian Harper, Matthew J. Costello, and William H. Hallahan. Ho-hum, overall, and not as interesting as the true-crime antecedents. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

This ingenious collection presents 16 imaginative stories that speculatively "solve" unsolved crimes, shady deaths or historical enigmas. In "The Intransigents," Barry Malzberg spins a chilling scenario of the skulduggery behind the assassination of JFK. In "Closing the Doors," Rick Hautala uncannily convinces the reader that rock star Jim Morrison is actually the first-person narrator divulging the mystery-shrouded circumstances of his faked death. Some pieces are deeply satisfying, like Matthew Costello's "Shadow," about a search for Nazi mass murderer Martin Bormann; others are simply foolish, like "Diesel Dream," Alan Dean Foster's fantasy about Marilyn Monroe's demise. Selections pry into the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby, the identity of Jack the Ripper, the explosion of the Challenger spacecraft, Watergate, penetration of British intelligence by Soviet spies and the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Imparting vicarious thrills, these entertaining tales enter deeply into the real-world events they attempt to unriddle. Contributors include John Lutz, William DeAndrea, Barbara Paul and Sean Flannery.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.