Tuesday 15 July 2014

ANONYMOUS-9 - JUST SO YOU KNOW I'M NOT DEAD


Synopsis/blurb….

Three hardboiled blockbuster short stories from the vivid imagination of Anonymous-9, author of HARD BITE, the award-winning, bestselling novel published by Blasted Heath (Scotland) and New Pulp Press (USA). 

JUST SO YOU KNOW I'M NOT DEAD contains three previously published shorts: "Triangulation" about an unusual love triangle gone very wrong, "2,984,000 Pounds of Pressure" about the best or worst day in the life of a gas company employee (you be the judge) who discovers a missing child, and "Dreaming Deep," a tribute to horror master H. P. Lovecraft set on a tugboat in Long Beach, California and featuring a sidetrip to Atascadero, the real-life penal asylum for the criminally insane. 

ABOUT ANONYMOUS-9: Listed as a one of the freshest, most inventive writers in crime fiction today, Anonymous-9 is named on many blogs and "Best of" lists year after year. She is the winner of Spinetingler Mag's Best Short Story on the Web, 2009, recipient of a 2012 Readers Choice Award from The House of Crime and Mystery, Canada and was on MYSTERYPEOPLE'S Top 5 Debut Novels of 2013. She has been nominated for 2 Thriller Awards sponsored by the International Thriller Writers and two Derringer Awards sponsored by The Short Mystery Fiction Society. 

JUST SO YOU KNOW I'M NOT DEAD is intended as a gift for loyal readers as well as the uninitiated and will be offered as a free download as often as possible. www.anonymous-9.com

Elaine Ash (AKA Anonymous-9)
Short and sharp, 3 tales about 40 pages in total and just what the doctor ordered to boot me out of the reading doldrums.

If we’re going Gold, Silver and Bronze on these 3 tales from the demented psyche of the author (only joking, Elaine!)…..

Bronze for Dreaming Deep…..mainly because I don’t go overboard on “horror” elements in my reading. That said it was an entertaining read.

Silver – Triangulation. A tale regarding naivety and friendship, death and money.

Gold by a fair distance in my opinion – 2,984,000 Pounds of Pressure …….upsetting, disturbing, bleak and miserable, but full of hope, with a certain ambiguity about the ending…. only not in my head as I know how things get resolved! I’ve been thinking about this story on and off in the few days that have elapsed since I read it - I don’t think you can ask for anything more from your reading. Noir can have a happy ending – even if I have to supply it myself!   

4 from 5

I read and reviewed Anon-9’s Hard Bite back in November 2012. The link to my review is here. My favourite ever novel featuring a monkey! 

I'm not alone in loving it as Rob Kitchin had it as one of his favourite books of 2013.

She has a follow-up out in September of this year called Bite Harder – something I’ll keep an eye out for.

Fortunately I also have Elaine’s The 1st Short Story Collection waiting for me on my kindle to tie me over.


Notorious cheapskate that I am, I picked up these 3 shorts when they were free on Amazon UK recently.  

10 comments:

  1. Col - I like short stories, and this might be a good way to get to know Ash's work. Thanks, and glad you enjoyed these stories.

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    1. Margot, I think I ought to read more of them than I currently do. It might help me speed through a few more books, plus I can sample an author's work like you say, without making a bigger commitment..

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  2. I wish I liked short stories. I buy collections of them all the time and almost never read them. Yet I complain about the length of many novels.

    I am hard to please :)

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    1. Bernadette, I've neglected the format for a while, but then I'm very non-discriminatory, in so far as I buy books of all types and don't read them! I want to try and read more full stop, but I think some short stories might get me going again.

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  3. Glad you liked these, and I do admire these titles, but you know the score - probably not for me.

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    1. Moira, I should have mentioned the stunning outfits in my post!
      Hopefully the next one appeals to you more.

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  4. I am like Bernadette, I buy short story collections and then I don't read them. Getting to enjoy short stories is still a goal for me. Anyway, I have Hard Bite but still haven't read it. Someday soon.

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    1. Tracy - I hope you enjoy Hard Bite when you get to it. I'm hoping to read more shorts the second half of this year.

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  5. Col, how do you find such unusual books? I like the overall package, the anonymity of the writer, the title, and the stories inside.

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    1. Prashant, I like hunting around for small press crime publishers that give "unknown" authors a platform. I read the first Anon-9 book HARD BITE late 2012, thanks to BLASTED HEATH - the publisher, who were looking for people to read and review.
      I saw a review by someone of these 3 short stories on Goodreads recently and then decided to catch up with her - so got them myself.


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