"'Flint Kill Creek' and 'Friend of My Heart' appeared in Conjunctions. 'The Nice Girl' and 'Mick & Minn' originally appeared in Boulevard and was reprinted in Pushcart Prize XLIX: The Best of Small Presses. 'The Phlebotomist,' 'The Siren: 1999,' "The Heiress. The Hireling,' and 'Bone Marrow Donor' appeared in Ellery Queen. 'Weekday' appeared in Salmagundi. '***' was first published in a different form as 'The Appointment' in Weird Fiction Review. 'Happy Christmas' appeared, in a shorter version, in Vanity Fair. 'Late Love' appeared in The New Yorker." -- Page 256."

"These new, recent, and reformulated stories by Joyce Carol Oates, collected here for the first time, showcase a wide range of crime fiction and psychological suspense. A young, insecure woman finds her relationship changing as she grows more and more dependent on a man who likes to take her on long walks beside a dangerously roaring creek. Another woman, nervous around men, not quite knowing how to act when paid a compliment, becomes flustered when a doctor suggests they go out for coffee, or possibly a drink. She finally decides that she will join him when he suggests they meet at his home. A man is so forgetful that his wife panics and yells into his phone, asking where their daughter has gone. A young man is curious to see why sirens have filled the night and the police arrest him, beginning an unimaginable nightmare. A woman resents that a colleague has achieved greater success and thinks she ought to do something about it. It is impossible to know where a story by the creative genius of Joyce Carol Oates will end and what frightening paths will lead to that end"--

Flint Kill Creek -- Phlebotomist -- Heiress. The hireling -- Weekday -- Friend of my heart -- Bone marrow donor -- Happy Christmas -- Nice girl -- Mick & Minn -- Late love -- Siren: 1999