The fiction of Lucius Shepard has more to do with Joseph Conrad than Isaac Asimov. Fascinated by deception and decay, and generally labeled a cyberpunk writer, his work transcends the limits of genre fiction. Beast of the Heartland contains seven tales that explore the darkside where science fiction meets horror. Headed by the award-winning "Barnacle Bill the Spacer," a story of high-space mutiny, the book includes "A Little Night Music," a gothic tale of insanity "All the Perfumes of Araby," where an adventurer in the Middle East links up with an ancient entity "Human History," a postapocalyptic chiller "Sports in America," a noir tale in the Chandler tradition "The Sun Spider," a mini space opera and the title story - an ingenious picture of a battered boxer on the decline.