Created by Mike Resnick
(1942-2020)
Down on his luck (naturally) Big Apple gumshoe JOHN JUSTIN MALLORY needs a bit of sunshine in his life when we first meet him in 1987’s Stalking the Unicorn.
His wife has has run off with his partner, who’s–surprise, surpise— also taken a powder. As a result, the business is going to pot as well, and just to add to the fun a couple of legbreakers are on his case. No wonder his drinking’s getting out of hand.
Or at least that’s what he keeps telling himself — that it’s the booze getting to him. How else to explain that’s he’s suddenly found himself in a bizarro parallel universe Manhattan populated by demons, rogue elephants, dragons, pink elephants, blue-nosed reindeer , Chinese sandmen, kinky catwomen, vampires, and horny leprachauns. Or the fact that a small green elf has apparently hired him to recover a missing unicorn.
Stalking the Unicorn was always something of a cult fave, and twenty years later, Resnick, a well-regarded sci-fi and fantasy author finally relented and brought Mallory back in a couple of sequels, Stalking the Vampire (2008) and Stalking the Dragon (2009).
Mike Resnick was the all-time leading award winner, living or dead, for science fiction and fantasy short fiction, and the author of over sixty novels, more than two hundred fifty stories, and two screenplays, and the editor of at least forty anthologies. He won five Hugo Awards and scored a record-breaking thirty-six or so nominations, and won the Nebula Award five times. But his affection for the P.I. genre was obvious–besides the trio of hybrid fantasy novels featuring Mallory, he also gave us (relatively straight) private eye Eli Paxton.
UNDER OATH
- “Mallory remains a great character, the classic world-weary knight in trenchcoat armor, with a strong supporting cast…It’s clear Resnick is having fun with the characters, setting, and mystery itself. Readers who enjoy a lighthearted caper through familiar-but-not territory will find this a pleasant read. Recommended.”
— Gumshoe (August 2008) - …Mixtures of fantasy and private-eye noir, laced with healthy doses of humor, these are little nuggets of goofy perfection, absolutely guaranteed to make the author’s legion of fans cheer out loud—and then start clamoring for the next full-length Mallory adventure.”
— Booklist (starred review) on Stalking the Unicorn
NOVELS
- Stalking the Unicorn: A Fable of Tonight (1987) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
- Stalking the Vampire (2008) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
- Stalking the Dragon (2009) | Buy this book
SHORT STORIES
- “Post Time In Pink” (1991, Pink Elephants and Hairy Toads)
- “The Blue-Nosed Reindeer” (1992, Christmas Bestiary)
- “Card Shark” (May 1998, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction)
- “The Chinese Sandman” (Winter 2002, Black Gate)
- “The Amorous Broom” (2004, Masters of Fantasy)
- “Shell Game” (2007, The Solaris Book of New Fantasy)
- “The Long And Short Of It” (2008, The Dragon Done It)
- “Stalking the Zombie” (2012, Stalking the Zombie)
COLLECTIONS
- Stalking the Zombie (2012) | Buy this book
Collects all eight short stories, the title story appearing here for the first time, with an introduction by Resnick, and a preface by Connie Willis.
RELATED LINKS
- Down Those Mean Skies…: Sci-Fi P.I.’s
An ever-expanding list of Sci-Fi and Fantasy P.I.’s.
Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.
