Stephen Dobyns

"Witnessing a gruesome motorcycle accident in the seaport city of New London, Connecticut, newcomer Connor Raposo sees a strangely familiar man with an Elvis haircut at the scene and is embroiled in a small-time con operation." --

After his wife and daughter die in a fire, set by a jealous student, Jim Hawthorne takes a job as headmaster of a New England prep school. But escaping his past is not easy and here too murder comes his way.

"This new collection from best-selling poet and novelist Stephen Dobyns focuses on the hard, ephemeral truth of mortality, including the section "Sixteen Sonnets for Isabel" about the recent death of his wife; the poem "Laugh," a portrait of the late poet Hayden Carruth; and the poignant parable of a horse in a bar. In true Dobyns fashion, these poems grip and guide readers into a state of empathy, ultimately raising the question of how one lives...

In a war-torn Latin American capital, a group of old friends gather at the home of Dr. Daniel Pacheco for their semiannual reunion. Kept prisoners by an emergency curfew, they wander into revelations of brutality and deception. The evening's centerpiece is the host's gradual disclosure of his obsession with Señora Puccini, whom he met as a young socialite. Now his housekeeper and sexual slave, she quietly serves dinner as Pacheco details the limitless...

A racing horse famous for biting people's backsides is bought for a million dollars. The new owner is overjoyed until PI Victor Plotz notices the horse has stopped biting. So what? So, maybe someone switched horses at the last moment, an observation that puts Plotz's life in danger.

Charlie Bradshaw is spending his 41st birthday in New York, trying to track down Sam, the son of his great high school love. Sam has gotten himself involved in a big-time drug deal, and everyone -- from Sam to the New York cop on the case -- wishes Charlie would go back to Saratoga to do his sleuthing. But a combination of stubbornness and savvy -- to say nothing of Sam's enticing girlfriend -- keeps the small-town cop deep in the Big City mystery....

A collection of poetry draws from the poet's eight published volumes and includes several new poems.