5,0 su 5 stelle
Another Killing
Recensito negli Stati Uniti 🇺🇸 il 14 febbraio 2018
A lot of crime fiction in this one, including a couple of mob stories; and a vintage reprint from classic pulp author Emille Tepperman. There are a couple sci-fi stories—all hard sci-fi, a fantasy tale that fashionably challenges the patriarchy, and a truly terrifying horror tale, that I wouldn’t recommend reading before bed. And I can’t not mention the “Letter From the Editor”, where Alec Cizak both generously pays homage to contemporary journals and editors in the indie noir community, and declares war on the PC garbage doled out by the New York Five.
Here’s the breakdown:
Buzz Me Blues by Russell Thayer (crime/noir):
An eager young jazz pianist is introduced to heroin, and a sleazy agent. It’s preparation meets opportunity, meets an opportunist and a needle—a night from hell that makes her want to watch the world burn. Unlike any reprint, this tale gives us a modern perspective on a timeless situation we all know, while staying in period.
Black Lab by Jim Thomsen (crime/noir):
A house sitter sets up a meth lab in a middle class family home. I got to read this one in its earlier stages, and was impressed by its progress. There is some interesting sociology and characterization sparked by the protagonist with a foot in two very different worlds. It proves once you’ve crossed the line, you’re over it; and that a man’s philosophy has its own compass.
After Midnight in the C’est La Vie Lounge by Tom Andes (crime/mob):
Killing off a wiseguy is like removing a piston from the machine; and the outfit usually wants cash for what that earner was worth—or, a replacement part for the syndicate machine. This is some pure 1970s southern mob noir. My favorite line is: “Maybe this is what redemption looked like: doubling down on your sins.”
Eleven Irritated People Preston Lang (crime/noir):
Lots of great irony in this one. Most of us know jury duty by way of “Twelve angry men”, and a trip to the downtown courthouse every few years, hoping your name isn’t called. It isn’t a scary place, unless you’re the defendant, but either way, between the metal detectors, and the bailiffs, you figure it’s all wired tight. But just like the legal system itself, it’s filled with loopholes, and those are exactly what one defendant asks his square-pants brother to exploit. Some great sociology from Preston Lang at his introspective best.
Second Chances by John Teel (crime/mob):
Friendship and business are somewhat separate, unless you’re talking mob politics, then it’s your friends who you’ve got to worry about bumping you off. Another tight mob story—something a lot of authors are afraid to tackle. Not sure why. Police procedurals that everyone seems to love (and never grow sick of) are hard-lined by institutional rules and protocol, juxtaposed against humanity. Are mob stories so different? There’s always wiggle room for originality in this genre, as John Teel proves with “Second Chances.”
Sacrifice by Robert Petyo (crime/noir):
A twisted tale of a cunning man with a disturbing ideology, and how he makes things right with the universe. A man convinced offering up a human sacrifice will bring good fortune. This story is well plotted and self-aware, even from a fantastically delusional POV.
Quick Cash Fast by Charles Roland (crime/noir):
On the southside of Monroe, SC, people have a habit of putting money towards a slow death. Simon, a local entrepreneur decides he can beat the rat race by dipping in and out of the smack business—into the loan sharking business—and into the car business; a local deputy discovers several murder victims have signed over the titles of their cars to a man in the car business. Legal loan sharking: it’s everywhere, and it’s easy money, as long as you take collateral—however you can get it. Simon’s old man is a lifer, but he manages to fill the guy’s head with good advice. This is a great story about peoples’ levels of consciousness.
A Long Journey’s End by Mathew X Gomez (fantasy):
A female master swordsman (or is it swordswoman? I chose to believe there isn’t any PC police in this fantasy realm) returns to her village, to find her feeble father is paying protection money to a local tough guy. It’s a familiar story, albeit with a female protagonist, that is tasked with proving skill with a blade can trump size and more testosterone. Gomez manages a fierce warrior spirit in his protagonist, without unconsciously masculinizing her.
Tick-Tock in the House America built by Marc E. Fitch (horror):
This is a truly terrifying tale. An Iraq vet with severe PTSD is assigned a pig (the VA was all out of dogs) to wake him—since humans waking him tends to incur his blind wrath. I’m not going to get too much into the plot. It’s pretty straight forward. I knew where this story was going pretty early on, but it didn’t matter. This one hit home. Like the slow fall of a speeding comet; or the imminent frame by frame precursor to a violent car crash: knowing what’s coming doesn’t make it any more palatable. This tale brilliantly taps into themes of detachment, helplessness and desolation, despite being set in a world so interconnected by immediate digital communication.
Double Jeoprady by Susan B Abramski (sci-fi):
A new biotech start up convinces a lazy consumer to cut his work load in half by purchasing a clone of himself. Abramski answers some philosophical questions about something as talked about and imminent as AI, that only seem obvious after the fact. This tale has themes and a tone most Philip K Dick fans can appreciate.
Godhead by J. Robert Kane (sci-fi):
A victim of a random act of violence becomes convinced he has been endowed with a pschokinesis allowing him to spontaneously combust human flesh. Violence understood, and violence unseen, along with an unhealthy appetite for omnipotence, allow this hard sci-fi piece its compelling twists.
No Living Witness by Emile Tepperman (crime/noir):
This old-school 1930s reprint is a reminder of just how good the old drugstore paperback pulps really were. Ruthless, simple and direct, it’s got the perfect noir ending.
In closing, I’ll say that for PM #2, vol. 2, I like the addition of the added reprint, and art direction-wise, I preferred the new aesthetics RK included in this one—overall, and especially when the opening images for stories that were spread across two pages. The print has a gorgeous cover, but the Kindle adds full color to the images inside.
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