Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Born Bad | 1986 | Andrew Vachss | Buy |
| 2 | Another Chance to Get It Right | 1993 | Andrew Vachss | Buy |
| 3 | Everybody Pays | 1999 | Andrew Vachss | Buy |
Andrew Vachss published three short story collections between 1986 and 1999, each packed with the dark crime fiction that defined his career. Born Bad (1986) came out a year after his debut novel Flood and established his short fiction voice with terse, angry stories about the criminal underworld. Another Chance to Get It Right (1993) blended fiction with illustrations and took a slightly different approach, combining short narratives with visual art.
Everybody Pays (1999) is the largest and most varied of the three collections. It includes stories connected to the Burke series universe as well as standalone pieces, all written in Vachss’s signature clipped prose style. These collections are a good entry point for readers curious about Vachss but not ready to commit to an eighteen-book series. The stories are short, blunt, and effective, and they capture his worldview in concentrated form.