Black Cat Weekly #117

Hal Charles, Tom Purdom, Algis Budrys, Francis Jarman, Stephen Wasylyk, Anna Tambour, Elizabeth Elwood, Mark Thielman, Jack Ritchie, A. Earley

Summary

We successfully completed Thanksgiving, but now we’re trapped in the dead zone between roast turkey and roasting chestnuts. When our first December issue arrives, we’ll kick off holiday celebrations anew, though, with more great novels and short stories.
 
But in the meantime, we have an original crime story by the always-masterful Elizabeth Elwood (thanks to Acquiring editor Michael Bracken), a Early Christman treat by Mark Thielman (thanks to Acquiring Editor Barb Goffman), a mystery classic by Stephen Wasylyk, and part 2 of Tiger Island, the only novel from acclaimed short story author Jack Ritchie. Plus, of course, a solve-it-yourself puzzler from Hal Charles.
 
On the more fantastic end of things, Anna Tambour works wonders with “orms”… Tom Purdom shows there’s still a place for individualism in the future… Algis Budrys brings a detective down the mean streets of the future, in search of a missing man… A. Earley has a sugary tale of (among many things) Russian aggression in the future… And we have part 2 of Francis Jarman’s historical fantasy, The Eagle’s Wing. Good stuff!

Available since: 11/26/2023.

Print length: 321 pages.

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Billion Dollar Bracket

Drew Bridges

Many lives collide in this quest to win a billion dollars for picking all the winners in the annual National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball tournament. Some are looking for riches, others for simple survival and personal redemption.

Mathematician Sinclair Dane sponsors the contest, seeking money for a safety net for her troubled mother. She does not have a billion dollars to pay a winner. Risking her reputation and possible legal charges for fraud, she pins her hopes on the astronomical odds against anyone picking all the winners.

Math professor Lewis Cusac uses the basketball contest to teach remedial math to college students, two of whom are playing in the tournament. He enters the contest and finds himself having selected all the winners with only three games remaining. He also gets a call from the NCAA investigators for suspicion of trying to fix the outcomes of games.

Add to the mix a retired casino operator, a group of twenty-something social media wizards, and professional basketball's next megastar.

As the contest goes global, the story races to an ending that will surprise the reader.

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