Alive in Shape and Color

MWA Grand Master Block follows 2016’s In Sunlight or In Shadow—which gathered stories inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper—with an anthology whose theme is a bit more nebulous: stories inspired by iconic paintings, from the cave drawings at Lascaux to Georgia O’Keeffe’s Red Cannas. Among the 16 contributors are such luminaries as Joyce Carol Oates, Lee Child, and Michael Connelly, most of whom are best known for their thriller and mystery fiction. Standouts include David Morrell’s Van Gogh–inspired “Orange Is for Anguish, Blue for Insanity,” which chronicles an artist’s horrifying descent into madness; Jeffery Deaver’s “A Significant Find,” in which a husband-and-wife archeologist team makes what seems to be the discovery of a lifetime in the caves of southern France; and Joe R. Lansdale’s “Charlie the Barber,” which uses a charming Rockwell painting, First Trip to the Beauty Shop, as a jumping-off point for a horrifying tale about a robbery gone wrong. Other selections aren’t so memorable. Still, the fascinating premise has yielded some dark gems that are worth the price of admission. [em](Dec.) [/em]