Posts Tagged ‘The Big Book of Espionage’

A Guide to the Big Book Series

October 21st, 2021

For the past fourteen years, the Big Book series has gathered an enthusiastic following of mystery junkies, science fiction nerds, and fans of really, really (we mean REALLY) large books. This groundbreaking series gathers short fiction spanning countless genres into enormous and gorgeously packaged anthologies. Edited by literary icons like the Edgar Award–winning editor Otto Penzler and powerhouse authors Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, they are the perfect gift for a loved one. There is a big book for every person out there! To help navigate the many fabulous books in the series, we’ve put together a guide of these fan favorites. Enjoy!

 

 



The Big Book of Victorian Mysteries 

This newest anthology in the series assembles Victorian society’s lords, ladies, and most miserable miscreants in a selection of exhilarating mysteries. Curated by Otto Penzler, this collection brings together incredible stories from Arthur Conan Doyle, Thomas Hardy, Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, and Guy de Maupassant among other legendary writers of the grand era of the British Empire. So, brush off your dinner jackets and straighten out your ball gowns for these exciting, glitzy stories.

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The Big Book of the Continental Op

This hard-boiled anthology features all twenty-eight stories and two serialized novels starring the Continental Op—one of the greatest characters in storied history of detective fiction—collected for the first time ever in one volume. The Op is a tough, wry, unglamorous gumshoe who has inspired a following that is both global and enduring. He has been published in periodicals, paperback digests, and short story collections, but until now, he has never, in all his ninety-two years, had the whole of his exploits contained in one book. Enjoy!

Read an Excerpt | Buy the book


The Big Book of Science Fiction

This anthology is quite possibly the greatest science fiction collection of all time—past, present, and future! Literary power couple Ann and Jeff VanderMeer transport readers from Mars to Mechanopolis, planet Earth to parts unknown. Immerse yourself in the genre that predicted electric cars, space tourism, and smartphones. Sit back, buckle up, and dial in the coordinates, as this stellar anthology offers worlds within worlds.

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The Big Book of Female Detectives

This stunning collection brings together the most cunning, resourceful, and brilliant female sleuths in mystery fiction. The seventy-four handpicked stories in this collection introduce us to the most determined of gumshoe gals, from debutant detectives like Anna Katharine Green’s Violet Strange to spinster sleuths like Mary Roberts Rinehart’s Hilda Adams.

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The Big Book of Jack the Ripper

These chilling stories take their inspiration from the historical enigma whose name has become synonymous with fear: Jack the Ripper. More than a century after the infamous serial killer’s reign of terror, the man “from hell” continues to live on in the imaginations of readers everywhere—and in some of the most spectacularly unnerving stories, both fiction and nonfiction, ever written. The Big Book of Jack the Ripper immerses you in the utterly chilling world of Red Jack’s London, where his unprecedented evil still lurks.

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The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries

On a jollier note, don’t miss a great holiday gift, The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries. Otto Penzler collects sixty of his all-time favorite holiday crime stories—many of which are difficult or nearly impossible to find anywhere else. From classic Victorian tales by Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Thomas Hardy, to contemporary stories by Sara Paretsky and Ed McBain, this collection touches on all aspects of the holiday season, and all types of mysteries. They are suspenseful, funny, frightening, and poignant.

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The Big Book of Reel Murders

This anthology rolls out the red carpet for the stories that Hollywood is made of. Lights! Camera! Action! This cinematic book in the Big Book series takes us behind the curtain to uncover the stories that became some of the greatest films of the silver screen. Otto Penzler delivers the director’s cut on these classic short stories and the films they gave rise to. So grab your Sno-Caps and a jumbo box of popcorn and curl up with these cinematic tales.

Read an Excerpt | Buy the book


Also available in the Big Book Series:

The Big Book of Classic Fantasy
The Big Book of Espionage
The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps
The Black Lizard Big Book of Locked-Room Mysteries
The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories
The Big Book of Rogues and Villains
The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories
The Big Book of Ghost Stories
The Big Book of Adventure Stories
The Big Book of Modern Fantasy