Violence, they often say, is a male prerogative. But someone forgot to tell women like ¿Baby¿ Frontanetta in the first story of the collection, or Francie, for whom robbing an armored car isn¿t that big a deal, if only her lover will ¿man up¿ to assist her. Even parricide isn¿t beyond the pale for her. There are the twins Bella and Donna, aptly named, as the narrator of ¿the Birthmark¿ will discover. There¿s semi-literate Bobbie from West Virginia, a gorgeous lap dancer in a sleazy club in Cleveland, who knows what price men will put on owning beauty like hers. Come meet them all¿the hustlers, con artists, thieves, and all-around trouble-makers; you¿ll see what the women in these pages are capable of¿but beware: they are not your mother¿s ¿ladies.¿