Winner of the 2009 Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Collection. 
Monster Librarian Top 10 of ’09 Pick.

Eight stories of dark science fiction and fantasy weave a path through the underbelly of San Francisco’s most notorious district in Taste of Tenderloin by Gene O’Neill. Best known for his strong sense of place and uniquely vibrant characters, O’Neill brings the gritty underside of the city to life with eight interwoven stories of broken lives, missed dreams, and all that can go wrong with both reality and fantasy among the down and out. The city itself opens wide to swallow all comers with the temptation of its secrets and sins, while O’Neill brings dignity and humanity to a set of characters often overlooked in both society and fiction.

Table of Contents:
“Lost Patrol”
“Magic Words”
“Tombstones in His Eyes”
“Bushido”
“Balance”
“The Apotheosis of Nathan McKee”
“Bruised Soul”
“5150”

With a special introduction by Gavin O’Neill

Reviews:

• “Haunting, lyrical and often uncomfortably realistic, this slim collection of eight short stories plunges the reader into the darker side of San Francisco. Altered states of consciousness-minds changed by grief, chemistry or too much hard living-are everywhere. In “Magic Words,” an advertising executive pays a homeless woman a high price for transient success. Poignant and plausible almost to a fault, “Tombstones in His Eyes” twists the horrors of drug addiction into something harder, sharper and scarier. In “The Apotheosis of Nathan McKee,” a brokenhearted father’s descent into insanity-or is it merely invisibility?-makes normalcy seem all too tenuous. The best story of the bunch, “5150,” documents the final moments of a worn-out cop about to retire. O’Neill’s deft, authentic prose resonates with the weight of sad reality, erasing the line between knowledge and fear."
  (August, 2009) Publishers Weekly (starred review) 

Blurbs:

• “…A journey Gene O’Neill will masterfully guide you through, perhaps not into the heart of darkness, but most assuredly into the heart of great horror fiction, Enjoy the ride…”
  —Gord Rollo, author of The Jigsaw Man and Crimson 
• “His words bristle with a muscular intensity that strengthens any book or magazine lucky to contain him.”
  —Scott Edelman, editor of SF Weekly and Sci-Fi Channel Magazine 
• “There are two kinds of writer that I love, those who inspire me with what they do and those who I can’t help but envy because there is no way I could do what they do. Gene O’Neill falls squarely into the second category. I would say he was the ‘best kept secret’ of the genre but Gene’s so much more than that. My admiration (and green-eyed envy, never forget that bug-eyed beastie) has only grown since. Gene O’Neill is the real McCoy.”
  —Steven Savile, international bestseller author of: Primeval: Shadow of the Jaguar, Stargate: Shadows and Silver. 

Cover Artist:
Steven Gilberts

About the Author:

Gene O'Neill is best known as a multi-award nominated writer of science fiction, fantasy, and horror fiction.

O'Neill's professional writing career began after completing the Clarion West Writers Workshop in 1979. Since that time, over 100 of his works have been published. His short story work has appeared in Cemetery Dance Magazine, Twilight Zone Magazine, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and many more.

O'Neill has had many occupations besides writing including postal worker, contract specialist for AAFES, college basketball player, amateur boxer, United States Marine, right-of-way agent, and vice president of a small manufacturing plant. He also holds two degrees from California State University, Sacramento and University of Minnesota. He currently writes full time and lives in the Napa Valley with his wife, Kay.