Mystery Writers of America Presents The Blue Religion

New Stories about Cops, Criminals, and the Chase

By: Michael Connelly, Inc. Mystery Writers of America

Narrated by: Alan Sklar, Karen White, John Lee

From Hawaii at the turn of the twentieth century to the post - Civil War frontier, from smoggy Los Angeles to the woods of Idaho, these gripping stories trace the perils and occasional triumphs of lawmen and women who put themselves in harm's way to face down the bad guys. Some of them even walk the edge of becoming bad guys themselves.

In T. Jefferson Parker's "Skinhead Central", an ex-cop and his wife find unexpected menace in the idyllic setting they have chosen for their retirement. In Alafair Burke's "Winning", a female officer who is attacked in the line of duty must protect her own husband from his worst impulses. In Edward D. Hoch's "Friday Night Luck", a wanna-be cop blows his chance at a spot on the force---and breaks his case. In Michael Connelly's "Father's Day", Harry Bosch faces one of his most emotionally trying cases, investigating a young boy's death.

The magnificent and never-before-published Connelly story alone is worth the price of admission and---combined with eighteen unexpected tales from crime's modern masters---makes this an unmissable collection.

©2008 Mystery Writers of America, Inc. (P)2008 Tantor

Critic reviews

"A high-quality anthology.... This is one of those rare themed anthologies that can be enjoyed at one sitting." ( Publishers Weekly)

So so

Some good stories, some very good. A couple fair. Narration was similar and made it hard to listen to a couple. I’d have appreciated a few extra seconds between stories, too. Overall, not as good as many of the other anthologies I’ve read or listened to.

Huge Yariety of Stories

Huge Yariety of short stories each with a different narrator keep the listener intrigued and interested.

The stories are good.

The narrators are good but the editing needs work. There is hardly a second before one story ends snd the next begging. Way more time should be allowed so you realize you are at the end.

If you love short stories, this is for you!

This is a great collection of short stories that feature cops as main characters.

As another reviewer mentioned, many are not traditional mysteries. Some simply explore the world from a cop's-eye view. All the stories are standalones - they don't tie into an author's existing series. If you don't already like short stories, please consider these issues before buying.

If you are a fan of the short story form, however, you've just found a big buffet of really good food. There's enough variety to keep things interesting. Some stories have intriguing twists and others just make you think.

I've listened to several short story collections lately and this one was especially good.

This selection may not be what you expect

These short stories are not bad. However, even though they are from the Mystery Writers of America, they are not mysteries. These are a series of stories about the lives and personalities of police and ex-police. Some are good, some are not. Just be warned that even though one of these stories is by Michael Connelly, these are not anything like Connelly's Harry Bosch stories, or any type of mystery story at all.

I liked the book good plots held my attention, the

interesting well written story line was believable the readers were good with the characters.

Good and bad and just so-so.

The Connelly intro and his short story were pretty good, although I really don't like short stories, Connelly and Burk stories were listenable. Connelly's Bosch story was the best of the lot- quite good. Burk's story was OK, but just OK it started with a bang, then fizzled - same goes with Parker's entry. I listened to a few of the others, but none that I tried were worth the effort. I skipped the majority of the book. Listened to the beginning of a few, got bored with each and didn't finish. If you like the short story format, maybe this book is for you. I'm glad it was free. Anthologies are not my thing