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Blackburn is a serial killer. But, like the rest of us, he confronts the same hypocrisies and frustrations of the world and, unable to help himself, or at the mercy of circumstance, he crosses a dangerous threshold--and he kills. In this novel, we meet many of his twenty-one victims: law enforcers, writers, adulterers, auto mechanics, and other liars. And each crime reveals another side of his psyche . . . and his disturbing rationale for murder.

When televisions worldwide begin broadcasting a nonstop, noninterruptible live performance by Buddy Holly purporting to originate somewhere in the vicinity of Jupiter, Oliver Vale--the apparent object of the broadcasts--finds himself drafted for a mission so secret that even he is not sure of its purpose. Denton ( Wrack and Roll , Warner, 1986) fills this supremely funny novel with warring space aliens disguised as humans, a robot dog, a psychopathic assassin, an overzealous psychologist and her jealous husband, a motorcycle gang, and a messianic televangelist--all to prove that rock 'n' roll never really died.

Jack has been widowed for close to a year, and his behavior has his friends worried. Arrested for public indecency, Jack insists that he was meeting a moon goddess of desire named Lily. Furthermore, he claims that she can only find him if he waits outside, naked under a full moon. To prevent further troubles with the law, Jack's friends begin taking him to a cabin in the woods each full moon. But one at a time, they are each touched by Lily and forced to deal with their desires before they can truly know their hearts.

Highlighting this collection is an ingenious new episode in the saga of Jimmy Blackburn, the eponymous serial killer of Denton's third novel. "Blackburn Bakes Cookies" might best be called the icing on the cake that is Blackburn's story, and it is appropriately delectable. Other highlights of this collection include: "The Territory," a "what if?" story revisiting Kansas in the days of the Civil War and imagining, in one small way, how things might have gone a bit differently; "We Love Lydia Love," a science-fictional examination of the ways in which modern obsessions with celebrity and stardom can change us...and the ways in which we'll never change; and "The Calvin Coolidge Home for Dead Comedians," a moving and funny trip to the afterlife, where all great comics go when they die. In assembling these stories, Bradley Denton discovered that all of them are concerned with some aspect of death. It's true. And yet (as they say), in death there is life: these eight tales brim with such vitality and joie de vivre that readers will find themselves enjoying the work of this fantastic storyteller again and again.

Table of Contents

• Foreword - (1998) - essay
• The Territory - (1992) - novella
• Skidmore - (1991) - short story
• Killing Weeds - (1986) - novelette
• Captain Coyote's Last Hunt - (1990) - short story
• The Calvin Coolidge Home for Dead Comedians - (1988) - novella
• We Love Lydia Love - (1994) - novelette
• A Conflagration Artist - (1994) - short story
• Blackburn Bakes Cookies - (1998) - short fiction
• Afterword - (1998) - essay

Sturgeon Award winning and Hugo and Locus Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, September 2004. The story can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy for Teens: First Annual Collection (2005), edited by Jane Yolen and Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Best Short Novels: 2005, edited by Jonathan Strahan, and Year's Best SF 10 (2005), edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer. It is included in the collection Sergeant Chip and Other Novellas.

With these three novellas, science-fiction, fantasy, and horror storyteller Bradley Denton takes you inside hearts and minds filled with violence, mystery, and magic--whose startling worlds are no more than half a step away from your own:

In the Hugo Award-nominated and Sturgeon Award-winning sf story "Sergeant Chip," you'll see war from the front lines... through the eyes of an enhanced soldier whose determination, skills, and loyalty are utterly unshakeable. But when Man makes a weapon of his own best friend, the consequences go far beyond what human generals can imagine.

In the International Horror Guild Award-nominated "Blackburn and the Blade," the killer-protagonist of the cult-classic novel Blackburn returns in a tale of desire and blood that pits him against an implacable enemy who may even be a God. But what this enemy doesn't realize is that in a battle against a God, it's a Devil who has a fighting chance.

Finally, in the Edgar Allan Poe Award-nominated "The Adakian Eagle," a young Army private stationed in the Aleutians in 1944 makes a gruesome discovery that may lead to his doom. His only hope lies with a tubercular fifty-year-old corporal, a former detective famous for his mystery novels. But detective skills may not be enough now, and both the young private and the old corporal could be at the mercy of dark sorcery wielded by an even darker soul.

This novella originally appeared in the anthology Down These Strange Streets (2011), edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois. It can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2012, edited by Rich Horton, and Weird Detectives: Recent Investigations (2013), edited by Paula Guran. The story is included in the collection Sergeant Chip and Other Novellas (2014).

Hugo and Nebula Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, June 1988. The story can also be found in the collections The Calvin Coolidge Home for Dead Comedians (1994) and One Day Closer to Death: Eight Stabs at Immortality (1998).

Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July 1992. The story can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction: Tenth Annual Collection (1993), edited by Gardner Dozois, and One Lamp (2003), edited by Gordon Van Gelder. It is included in the collections The Calvin Coolidge Home for Dead Comedians (1994) and One Day Closer to Death: Eight Stabs at Immortality (1998).

This book is set in an Alternate America. When President Franklin Roosevelt choked to death on a chicken bone in 1933, it signaled the start of a brave new world - a world in which America would ally with the USSR against the threat of the Anglo-Chinese Alliance - a world where the death on the Moon of rock superstar Bitch Alice sparked a Wracker explosion that would would obliterate America's space programme and leave Straight and Wracker alike at the mercy of their enemies' nuclear bomb-loaded station.

Adesina, known as "Morpho Girl," is used to handling the weird that is her everyday, but life has dealt her a tricky new hand. First, her mom, the crimefighter Amazing Bubbles, has been off since her last mission. Second, Adesina recently aged from ten to sixteen, making everyone think she's even weirder than she already is. On top of everything else, her best friend goes missing. What's a newly-teenaged joker need to do to catch a break?

Read the full story for free at Tor.com.

The Wild Cards universe has been thrilling readers for over 25 years. "Naked, Stoned, and Stabbed" is an fantastic new tale from acclaimed sci-fi writer Bradley Denton, about the hidden truths revealed when a Who concert goes haywire.

Freddie's looking for answers. Freddie's also a bit unconventional: in his looks, in his music tastes, and oh yeah, he's also a nascent ace who can manipulate sound. But he's got a gig as a roadie for The Who and the opportunity of a lifetime in New York City. See, the only thing Freddie wants is the opportunity to meet his older half-sister — and not even a suspicious fire at the Bowery Ballroom can stop him.

Read the full story for free at Tor.com.