Synopsis/blurb….
Zelmer Pulp brings
their A game to the mean, rain-swept streets of noir. This collection features
new stories from all the Zelmer Pulp regulars as well as stunning noir
photography from Mark Krajnak and an introduction by Brit Grit Godfather Paul
D. Brazill.
Zelmer Pulp arrives
with both guns out in this Volume 1 noir collection.
An enjoyable short story collection from the dudes at Zelmer
Pulp – 116 pages long comprising 7 tales and a piece from Hartlepool legend Mr
Brazill, plus some photographs from Mark Krjanak.
I liked the tales – some more than others which is par for
the course. 6 of the 7 authors were new to me, familiarity with Gareth Spark having only been achieved
the week before when I read his collection Snake
Farm.
Chris Leek (Smoke
‘Em if You’ve Got ‘Em) and Ryan Sayles
(War Path, That Escalated Quickly and The Subtle Art of Brutality) exist on the
device unread.
Last Exit - Chris
Leek ……. love and loss, a dead hooker and a cop looking for retribution…..a
great opening……..People say life
begins at forty. It doesn’t. The fact is it’s been going on all the while, only
you’ve been too busy to notice; forty is just the age when you start to worry
about how much of it you have left.
Omega Man - Benoît
Lelièvre …….. another tale of lost love and obsession with a sting in the
tale
Give a Good Day - Isaac
Kirkman …… a short time-trippy tale of an old man’s day – ghosts of the
past and memories, haunting……. He feels at times there are versions of himself in other worlds
crying, using up all the tears he was allotted in this life before he got the
chance.
Once Upon a Time in
the Woods - Brian Panowich …… the kidnap of a young woman goes pear-shaped –
a female Dr. Doolittle-type at one with the animals…..WTF – face biting squirrels
and frogs and princes!
Taking Flesh - Chuck
Regan …… a photographer and his nightmares about carnivals and sacrifices
Lazarus Come Forth -
Gareth Spark ….. gangsters, a girl, a takedown and betrayal
The Roach Motel
Reputation - Ryan Sayles ….. a brutal tale of a hunter looking for a murderer
……… In the back of the unmarked, squirming inside the cage,
Thomas is crying. Screaming he’s sorry. He didn’t mean it. If he could turn
back time… if only this. If only that.
Apologies mean nothing to me.
Especially from a rapist drug dealer with a chip on his shoulder who sets up a
man to accidentally kill himself and two children.
An enjoyable couple of hours reading and a nudge to myself
to get to reading Sayles and Leek at some point.
4.5 from 5
Read in April, 2017
Published – 2014
Page count – 116
Source – owned copy
Format - Kindle
There's some good writing in the little bit you've shared, Col. A bit gritty for me, unless I'm very much in the mood for 'dark,' but it sounds good. Glad you enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteMargot, I did like this collection and yes a few of the stories are quite dark.
DeleteI liked the quotes you shared. Sounds like a good book.
ReplyDeleteTracy, I've been reading a few short stories of late and this was one of the better collections I've read.
DeleteI usually feel I can ignore short stories (Edith Wharton excepted of course), but glad you enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteI'll read the Wharton in May now. I'm enjoying a bit of a roll with the shorts at the minute.
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