DESPITE its ominous title, "The Last Dance" - the 50th installment in Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series - is not about endings.

They described a series of reports, some with ominous titles, that failed to convey either the existence or the substance of the intensifying debate.

Despite its oddly ominous title, "The Midnight Band of Mercy" isn't really a heart-pounder - the many break-ins, chases and fights feel more like the predictable features of an action movie.

Meanwhile, less enthusiastic tracts, with ominous titles like One World, Ready or Not , were being written by raving lefties (William Greider), who now saw the withering of the nation-state as deeply problematic.

When our booking was confirmed some weeks earlier we'd received an email with the rather ominous title "Now is the Season of Mushrooms and Gizzards", inviting us to declare any food allergies and particular aversions.

In Don Bernier's video "Zoo: A Melancholy Bestiary," for instance, shots of animals in captivity are introduced by ominous alphabetically sequential one-word titles.

Especially colourful, and keeping with the work's ominous title, is the second waltz theme: its cheerful, ascending tune is suddenly interrupted, and then answered by a sinister chromatic descending passage.

Renney has repeatedly referred to Game 4 as Judgment Day, an ominous title considering that the Rangers had supposedly passed judgment before the playoffs began.

He has started a program with the unintentionally ominous title of "Port Authority Passenger Recovery in Cooperation with the Airlines."

He originally intended the title to be Night Without Mercy, but the publisher preferred a less ominous title.