Editing by Elizabeth

December 09, 2011

The Death of Ronnie Sweets by Russel D McLean

You’re probably familiar with Russel D McLean’s books featuring Dundee, Scotland based private investigator J. McNee (The Good Son and The Lost Sister ), but before he cut loose with those powerhouse full length crime fiction offerings McLean gave the world glimpses of what was to come via a series of short stories featuring the character Sam Bryson.

Also a Dundee, Scotland based private investigator, the tales of Sam Bryson have heretofore been scattered hither and yon throughout crime fiction publications such as Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Thrilling Detective Mystery Magazine, Spinetingler Magazine, and Needle.

As a result, most people have not been fortunate enough to read all of them, and many have never had the good fortune of meeting Mr. Bryson at all. Fear not, as The Death of Ronnie Sweets (and other stories) features the complete Sam Bryson collection.

The collection opens with the eponymous “The Death of Ronnie Sweets,” in which Bryson is hired by the parents of a young man who was brutally beaten and left for dead. In addition to being an interesting case, was Ronnie an innocent victim or mixed up in something unsavory, the story gives us a glimpse of Bryson’s past as a police officer and sets the tone for what’s to follow; namely, edgy, well-crafted stories that don’t flinch from tackling some of the more unpleasant aspects of life: crime and corruption, danger and doubt, regret and revenge amongst others. →

December 06, 2011

Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles by Edward A. Grainger

Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles by Edward A. Grainger I have a confession to make. As a general rule, I don’t read Westerns. I find that too often the stories get lost in the author’s desire to provide the reader with every little period-accurate detail they’ve researched, and bogged down with unwieldy “cowboy” lingo in the dialog. And while that may appeal to some, it’s just not my cup of tea.

I have another confession to make. Edward A. Grainger, aka David Cranmer, is turning me into a convert. You see, Cranmer doesn’t write Westerns per se, he writes well-crafted stories with engaging characters that just happen to take place in the Old West. And he does it very, very well. Don’t get me wrong, the adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles are unquestionably Westerns, but Cranmer never loses sight of the real prize: character and story. And that makes all the difference in the world to this reluctant reader of Westerns.

It helps that Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles, both U.S. Marshals, are charismatic and unique individuals. Laramie is known to display an unorthodox streak as questionable as the outlaws he hunts, his behavior often fueled by the approach to life that was ingrained in him having been raised by Native Americans. For his part, Miles brings the challenge of being one of the first black Marshals into play, showing how his status as a black man in the 1880s Old West can make both all the difference in the world and none whatsoever to how he does the job… often at the same time. →

November 28, 2011

The Eradication Dilemma by William Wilkerson

The Eradication Dilemma by William Wilkerson Imagine a genetically altered plant disease exists that could wipe out the production of cocaine worldwide virtually overnight by specifically targeting and destroying coca plants. Now imagine you are in the position of making the call whether to unleash that virus.

The decision whether to do so or not isn’t as easy as it may initially seem, as DEA Agent Jake MacQuilkin learns when he’s thrust into that position in William Wilkerson’s The Eradication Dilemma.

After serving for years as the DEA’s point man in Latin America, MacQuilkin leaves the department after a bust gone wrong causes the death of a fellow agent… who also happened to be his fiancée.

MacQuilkin’s called back into action when the genetically altered virus starts wiping out coca crops in Bolivia despite the program having officially been shut down by the US Government. Now, instead of destroying the cocaine industry, the agency actually wants MacQuilkin to use his expertise and experience in Latin America to find and stop whoever is behind the rogue unleashing of the virus. →

November 16, 2011

The Writing on the Wall by Julie Morrigan

The Writing on the Wall by Julie Morrigan Having previously read Julie Morrigan’s short stories various places online, I was quite pleased when she offered her first collection, the outstanding Gone Bad, earlier this year. So imagine my excitement when a mere months later – with a novel, Convictions in the interim – Morrigan released yet another collection, The Writing on the Wall.

Featuring six short stories and a novelette, The Writing on the Wall proves that Morrigan is both a talented and versatile author, one who inhabits her short stories as comfortably as a second skin.

“Shadow Man” takes an already terrifying experience, sleep paralysis, and pushes the concept even farther. Those who experience sleep paralysis vividly experience as waking hallucinations things people normally only encounter in their dreams. But what if what you were encountering was neither a hallucination nor dream, but real?

“The Black Dog” demonstrates that while reading may be both fundamental and fun, some books are more powerful than others. Far more.

In “Chocolate Button Eyes” a man out on a date gets a bit more than he was expecting when he’s invited back around to his date’s place for an after dinner drink. “Lust makes men stupid and I’m thankful for the fact.” Guys, this one will make you reconsider just who’s about to get lucky when you go home with a woman you barely know. →

November 15, 2011

Skating Over The Line by Joelle Charbonneau

I should have learned by this point that being impulsive always got me into trouble. – Rebecca Robbins

Considering the misadventure Rebecca found herself caught up in upon her return to Indian Falls in series debut Skating Around The Law, you really would think the concept that impulsive = bad would have sunk in a little deeper. Fortunately for readers it did not, as Rebecca returns for another rollicking adventure in author Joelle Charbonneau’s second Rebecca Robbins mystery, Skating Over the Line.

Still stuck in tiny Indian Falls trying to unload the roller rink she inherited from her mother, things seem to be looking up for Rebecca when her realtor informs her a buyer has finally been located. Rebecca’s escape back to Chicago is interrupted, however, when her grandfather, Pop, and the folks down at the Senior Center implore Rebecca to help locate a car which has been stolen.

Despite having run afoul of Deputy Sean Holmes for her unwanted “assistance” investigating the town’s last crime wave, Rebecca just can’t say no to Pop, the man who helped raise Rebecca after her father walked out when she was twelve. Unfortunately, things get complicated quickly when the missing car turns up ablaze in a cornfield, Rebecca’s deadbeat father blows back into town – and promptly goes missing, along with his car – and a group of menacing men start lurking around the roller rink leaving poorly penned threatening notes… in Spanish.

Throw in a sexually frustrated best friend who’s trying to snag the local Lutheran Pastor, a new rink manager who’s more obsessed with directing his film than doing his job, Rebecca’s gorgeous but slightly patronizing boyfriend, Pop’s wildly popular at the Senior Center Elvis impersonator act, and Rebecca is in for another off-the-wall adventure. →

November 11, 2011

Pulp Modern by Alec Cizak, Editor

Over the past nine days I’ve reviewed four short story collections (Crime Factory: The First Shift, West Coast Crime Wave, The Chaos We Know, and Noir at the Bar), am serving up Pulp Modern today, and have at least two more on the immediate horizon. Clearly the crime fiction/pulp/noir short story is enjoying a resurgence in popularity.

And you know what? It’s good stuff. I mean really good stuff. In fact, there are so many talented authors out there it can sometimes seem overwhelming figuring out where to jump in, which is why these collections are so great; they’re one stop shopping for a smorgasbord of talent.

Pulp Modern is such a collection, and editor Alec Cizak has distinguished Pulp Modern by expanding the spectrum of its roster to include not only crime fiction, but stories with Western and fantasy themes as well. It makes for a pleasant change of pace, and exposed me to a couple of authors I may otherwise not have come across in the wild. A few standouts…

“Legacy of Brutality” by Thomas Pluck features man-mountain Denny, previously seen in the short “Rain Dog” (Crimespree Magazine, Issue #43). Having come up hard – If there was a God, I’d beat his ass for making this hateful world. – Denny learned early it’s better to listen than talk, and that you have to set things right yourself if you want justice in this life. Brutally good stuff. →

November 09, 2011

Noir at the Bar by Ayres and Phillips, Editors

Birthed in the mean streets of Philly, escaped to the back alleys of St. Louis, recently spread to the dark side of the City of Angels, there’s a disturbing phenomenon that threatens to expand to even more unwitting cities in the future. It is… Noir at the Bar.

For those unfamiliar with the concept, a Noir at the Bar ceremony consists of a tribe of crime fiction aficionados, writers and readers alike, gathering together to partake of booze and listen to sensual and sinister original works read aloud by their creators. It is, from all accounts, an exhilarating and surreal experience one is lucky to escape without a trip to the local hoosegow.

Previously reserved only for those fortunate enough to live nearby, or crazy enough to make the pilgrimage, the demented minds behind the St. Louis chapter of Noir at the Bar have come up with a way for everyone to get a taste of the debauchery. Editors Jedidiah Ayres and Scott Phillips present to you, Noir at the Bar, the anthology.

Featuring stories from eighteen top-notch writers currently working in crime fiction, Noir at the Bar is a hide the women and children collection of some of the most creative and deliciously disturbed short fiction ever rounded up in one volume.

As always it’s like Sophie’s Choice picking only a few to highlight, but here ya go… →

November 09, 2011

Motor City Shakedown by D.E. Johnson

Note: Details of the first book in this series, The Detroit Electric Scheme, are discussed in both Motor City Shakedown and, to an extent, this review of it.

D.E. Johnson I had my life back. This time I wouldn’t waste it. – Will Anderson

Detroit, 1911. When we last saw Will Anderson, heir apparent to the Detroit Electric car company, he and his then fiancée, Elizabeth Hume, had barely survived a nasty encounter with crime boss Vito Adamo.

Will’s best friend did not survive, and the guilt Will feels over his friend’s murder, as well as the terrible pain he suffers as a result of his mangled right hand, have driven Will to morphine addiction to dull his demons.

Determined to set things right and avenge his friend, Will begins with Adamo’s driver, intending to work his way up the criminal ladder to the boss. Unfortunately for Will someone beats him to the punch, and it’s a nearly decapitated body he finds upon entering the driver’s apartment.

Now Will’s a suspect in a murder he didn’t commit, and his quest to find the real killer starts him down a path that ends smack dab in the middle of an all-out mob war.

Will unexpectedly gets helped out of his police jam by the Gianolla crime family, who promptly turn around and use that leverage to squeeze Will into being their point man for the Teamsters’ entry into Detroit Electric. With the lives of Elizabeth and his family at stake, Will finds that hard times make for strange bedfellows as he begins to wonder if the enemy of his enemy – Vito Adamo – may actually be, well, if not his friend then at least a potential ally. →

November 08, 2011

The Chaos We Know by Keith Rawson

If you’ve read author Keith Rawson’s work before – and if you haven’t, why the hell not? – you know that his is a guerrilla warfare, take no prisoners style of writing. I mean, there’s a reason the man’s blog is called Bloody Knuckles Callused Fingertips.

The Chaos We Know, Rawson’s recently released collection, features over twenty of his short stories and represents a mixture of new offerings and previously published work. A few of the standouts…

“The Anniversary Weekend” conclusively demonstrates that crank is never an appropriate anniversary gift. When two reformed tweakers find themselves without the kids and with $100 to burn on their anniversary weekend they decide to cook up a batch of meth. The collapse into paranoia and brutality that follows is nothing short of epic. Definitely should have stuck with a nice cake.

“Three Cops” proves to be one too many for a strung-out junkie on a delivery run when what starts as a routine traffic stop for littering ends with a hostage situation in a rest stop bathroom. What happens in between, well, you have to read to believe. Let’s just say there is apparently nothing a junkie won’t do to hide his stash… and gun.

“The Sons of Greatness Take It In The Ass” takes the reality show craze and combines it with the current economic climate to great effect in this stark, but darkly humorous, offering. Having recently lost his union job to a crony of one of the wise guys who control the union leaders, a young family man comes up with a unique way to get both revenge and some money. →

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