MARK WESTMORELAND (ed.) - TROUBLE NO MORE (2021)

Synopsis/blurb ....

Turn on any classic rock station, and you’ll hear Southern Rock tunes that will make you stomp your foot and sing along to. The hard-rocking pioneers of the genre left behind a legacy of hard living that endures today.

The stories in Trouble No More celebrate those pioneers. Find ramblers, gamblers, swindlers, and double-dealers within these pages, all striving to survive more than the Southern humidity.

The authors bring the rough living of the Southern Rock genre to the page, and communicate the ache of the blues. There are twenty-one stories of heartbreak, murder, robbery, and barnyard brawls.

Edited by Mark Westmoreland with stories by Bill Baber, C.W. Blackwell, Jerry Bloomfield, S.A. Cosby, Nikki Dolson, Michel Lee Garrett, James D.F. Hannah, Curtis Ippolito, Jessica Laine, Brodie Lowe, Bobby Mathews, Brian Panowich, Rob Pierce, Joey R. Poole, Raquel V. Reyes, Michael Farris Smith, J.B. Stevens, Chris Swann, Art Taylor, N.B. Turner and Joseph S. Walker.

Despite not being a massive fan of the musical genre that inspired this collection - Crime Fiction Inspired by Southern Rock and the Blues - I have to say I enjoyed these stories. Like most anthologies, or indeed single author collections that I read, some I loved, some I liked and the odd one just passed me by. I read it a few months back in December, 2021 and already struggling to think what I had for my tea yesterday, it's fair to say all of the contents are a bit of a faded memory.

The table of contents is as follows... (more for the benefit of my OCD self, than in the belief that anyone will actually read it)...

Set One: The Most Painful Acts 

Statesboro Blues (Brian Panowich) ...

Trouble No More (Mark Westmoreland)

Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More (Joey R. Poole)

Woman Across the River (Brodie Lowe)

A Trailer on the Outskirts of Town (J. B. Stevens)

Low Down Dirty Mean (Nikki Dolson)

Stand Back (Curtis Ippolito)

What’s Done is Done (Jerry Bloomfield)

Temptation is a Gun (James D. F. Hannah)

Things You Used To Do (Joseph S. Walker)

Little Martha (Art Taylor)

Set Two: Just Outright Bad Things 

No Mercy, No More (Rob Pierce)

Not My Cross To Bear (S. A. Cosby)

Midnight Rider (Christopher Swann)

Multi-Colored Lady (Raquel V. Reyes)

Blue Sky (Michael Farris Smith)

High Cost of Low Living (N. B. Turner)

Melissa (Jessica Laine)

In Memory of Elizabeth Reed (C. W. Blackwell) 

Born a Ramblin’ Man (Michel Lee Garrett)

Encore: Eat a Peach 

One Way Out (Bill Baber)

Whipping Post (Bobby Mathews)

About the Contributors

We encounter....

Stolen guitars, stolen women, unfair consequences, trailer park confrontations, family tensions, economic pressures, poor choices, sex games, myths and tokens and the power of belief, fraternal stupidity, sisterly love or not, friends, betrayal, thoughts of revenge and an unintended outcome, friendship, a bar, a woman, a set-up, the passage of time, a hillbilly hellhole and a shakedown, a life in eight scenes, another bar, a pick-up, a guitar, a dead wife, a dead husband, family tensions and history, a 7-11 type convenience store, an attempted rape, stick-up and opportunity, history, inheritance, an accident, care, regret, sacrifice, and maybe a little guilt, a gambling addiction, theft, on the run, but not fast enough - ergo consequence, an old beau, a new beau, a loving mother, a bar, a fight, a chase, a death, the passage of time and revenge, trafficking, a man, another man's woman and a sucker, a cheating woman.

The Ed.

Life, death, love, loss, regret, anger, violence, poor choices and more. An enjoyable collection. 
 

4.5 stars from 5.

Read - December, 2021

Published - 2021

Page count - 296

Source - review copy received from promoter/friend of editor

Format - Kindle