In the late 50s and early 60s, author Donald E. Westlake, then just getting started, sold four short stories about a mild-mannered police detective named Abe Levine to Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. Levine's unique angle was that he was acutely aware of his mortality; he's in the habit of compulsively monitoring his own heartbeat and believes himself to be in danger of a heart attack. His fear of death manifests itself as a deep, pitiless rage against those who take the lives of others, and his adventures typically conclude with him expressing this anger, perhaps in an unexpected comment or, in one particularly dark episode, by driving a criminal to suicide. This volume collects all of the Levine stories, including one that Hitchcock wouldn't publish because it didn't really qualify as a mystery and another written especially for this volume. The last two stories are the best, but even when the story itself is weak, Levine's unique take on life maintains a certain level of interest.
