JOHN McMAHON - THE GOOD DETECTIVE (2019)

 

Synopsis/blurb ...

Detective P.T. Marsh was a rising star on the police force of Mason Falls, Georgia--until his wife and young son died in an accident. Since that night, he's lost the ability to see the line between smart moves and disastrous decisions. Such as when he agrees to help out a woman by confronting her abusive boyfriend. When the next morning he gets called to the scene of his newest murder case, he is stunned to arrive at the house of the very man he beat up the night before. He could swear the guy was alive when he left, but can he be sure? What's certain is that his fingerprints are all over the crime scene.

The trouble is only beginning. When the dead body of a black teenager is found in a burned-out field with a portion of a blackened rope around his neck, P.T. realizes he might have killed the number-one suspect of this horrific crime.

Amid rising racial tension and media scrutiny, P.T. uncovers something sinister at the heart of the boy's murder--a conspiracy leading all the way back to the time of the Civil War. Risking everything to unravel the puzzle even as he fights his own personal demons, P.T. races headlong toward an incendiary and life-altering showdown.

The Good Detective was a really enjoyable introduction to John McMahon's P. T. Marsh series.

Potentially it had the opportunity to go down the road of the tired and worn-out trope of the damaged detective, unhinged by personal tragedy, but fortunately it didn't.  

Lots to like here - a detective in a jam because of an ill-judged decision, scrambling to stay one step ahead of his colleagues when the guy he put a beating on rocks up dead the next day, a race-hate crime, and an escalation with a missing girl and connections back to some powerful families with political clout in the state. 

I liked the working partnership Marsh had with his colleague, Remy Martin. (Isn't that a brandy?) They compliment each other well, even if he sometimes takes liberties and keeps her out of the loop on occasions. It's as much for her own protection as his. 

I enjoyed the story. I'm a little unsure, a month or so on from reading whether there was a slightly unexplainable (other worldly) element to some of the occurrences which transpired in the book. It's not usually a vibe I go for in my reading, but there was a sublety to it if that's what it was, that didn't bump me out of the book at all.

Books which see entitled, powerful people eventually receiving a reckoning are pretty much always guaranteed to hit the spot. Great story, great setting - Georgia. Topical in its examination of attitudes to race, particularly pertinent in the South. Both historical and present day.

I enjoyed spending time with the main character. I liked the cop dynamics on display, not just with his partner. There's mistrust and tension in some of the relationships and not without reason. There's some hostility between Marsh and his father-in-law who he blames for the accident which saw him lose his wife and son. By then end of the book, Marsh has achieved some level of peace.

I'm looking forward to reading more in the series. The Evil Men Do and A Good Kill await.

4.5 from 5

Read - October, 2021

Published - 2019

Page count - 336

Source - review copy courtesy of Saichek Publicity

Format - Paperback

JOY ELLIS - CRIME ON THE FENS (2010)

Synopsis/blurb ....

DI Nikki Galena: A police detective with nothing left to lose, she's seen a girl die in her arms, and her daughter will never leave the hospital again. She's got tough on the criminals she believes did this to her. Too tough. And now she's been given one final warning: make it work with her new sergeant, DS Joseph Easter, or she's out.

Her partner, DS Joseph Easter, is the handsome squeaky-clean new member of the team. But his nickname "Holy Joe" belies his former life as a soldier. He has an estranged daughter who blames him for everything that went wrong with their family.

Their adversary is a ruthless man who holds DI Galena responsible for his terrible disfigurement.

Crime on the Fens is the first in a 13 book long series from author Joy Ellis. Overall I liked it without being stunned or amazed or driven to immediately seek out more in the series. Probably the already overwhelming weight of the existing TBR pile has more to do with that, than any fear of wasting valuable reading time on Ellis' work.

Here we have a missing girl case in the hands of DI Galena. Galena, early in the book has her card marked by her boss. She's in the last chance saloon. She is supposedly unpredictable in her methods - attracting many complaints - and is very difficult to work with. Code for not a team player. It's  something that isn't really borne out by what follows here. She's obsessed, haunted and driven. We get her back-story..... career, failed marriage and a daughter in a long-term comatose state in hospital. 

Plot-wise we deal with - a missing girl, a new partner, a period of getting to know you, an unruly estate, mask wars with feral youths, another missing girl case turning to murder, an increasingly urgent investigation, family problems, teamwork, an alliance with a local criminal king-pin, a damaged child, an obsession with a figure from the past, some distracting/diversionary tactics by our chief villain, and eventually an outcome.

I enjoyed the book, aided by a decent narration by Henrietta Meire. I liked the main character, Nikki Galena and her quick bonding with the new DS Joseph Easter. They quickly share personal confidences and have an innate sense of trust with each other. Each brings the best out of the other, which kind of makes the initial impression that was given of her a bit unnecessary. Her care, support and encouragement for the rest of her team throughout makes it doubly puzzling.

It's quite a busy book with a few seemingly separate things going on all convincingly tied up by the end. I enjoyed the respect and cooperation between Galena and the old school villain on her patch. There's a decent pace to the tale and I liked the setting of the Fens for the action, albeit in a fictional town of the author's imagination.

3.5 from 5

Read - (listened to) October, 2021

Published - 2010

Page count -  285 (7 hrs 13 mins)

Source - Audiobooks

Format - Audible

JULIE MORRIGAN - UNTOUCHABLE (2018)

Synopsis/blurb ....

Matthew Goodsir is an undertaker, and a man who has experienced more than his fair share of tragedy.

Constance Trueblood is a young woman who has been accused of murdering her family, then committing suicide.

No one will accept Constance’s body to prepare her for her funeral – due to her actions, she is considered to be untouchable. Then Matthew is asked, and he agrees.

Matthew struggles to believe the Constance he knew was capable of committing the atrocities she is being blamed for, but his is a lone voice. Following a tip-off, he does some digging and is even more convinced of her innocence.

And, as events unfold, Matthew begins to realise that he and Constance have more in common than he could ever have believed possible.

An enjoyable spooky tale enjoyed on Halloween.

We have a murder mystery, a consequence of a horrific atrocity. We encounter community outrage, family grief, media intrusion, obsession, rejection, madness and a little bit of assistance from beyond the grave to help solve the crimes and bring some comfort to the bereaved. Some peace is also provided to those who have passed, but have been unable to move on.

I liked the characters here, especially the undertaker. I could appreciate his compassion and understanding towards his clientele, irrespective of the circumstances in which they came to him.  

An enjoyable hour's entertainment.

4 from 5

Julie Morrigan's work has been enjoyed before - Cutter's Deal, Cutter's Firm and Cutter's Fall 

Read - October, 2021

Published - 2018

Page count - 53

Source - purchased copy

Format - Kindle

2 BY RUSSELL JAMES

James... huh? Bill, Christina, Donald, Erwin, Peter? 

No - a couple from the 90s and untried British author Russell James

I think I have about half a dozen of James' novels in my collection. These two plus Underground, Daylight, Painting in the Dark and Pick Any Title. 

Russell has been referred to by Ian Rankin as 'the Godfather of British Noir.' I guess he knows what he's talking about.

Payback (1991)

Floyd Carter returns to London for the funeral of his brother. Was Albie's death an accident or did somebody kill him? Discovering the truth isn't easy. A gang leader demands Floyd cough up the ten grand he claims Albie owed; another wants Floyd to join his network of drug pushers. Only Floyd's childhood friend, Suzie, provides a haven. Even then, her daughter is developing some dangerous habits. Plunged into a world of drugs and violence, Floyd grapples with the facts surrounding Albie's death as bodies start to pile up. Black humor underpins the action of this fast-moving, hard-hitting thriller. Russell James "writes a muscular, undecorated prose" (Sunday Times) which perfectly captures London's criminal underworld. A typically tough and thoroughly compelling read from the author of ten novels, including Slaughter Music and No One Gets Hurt.

Slaughter Music (1994)

Tim Hawk is young, virginal – and a hit-man. He plans his assassinations well, rehearsing them with cool detachment, and his professionalism makes him a rising star in Kazan’s gang. Hawk’s only other interest, an unexpected love for baroque opera – Handel, Telemann and Purcell – is kept concealed. When Kazan returns from the Ukraine with his beautiful young bride-to-be, the naive and vulnerable Irena, Hawk presents the pair with a macabre wedding present. Other guests are shocked, but Kazan and Irena are intrigued. Then Kazan, fatefully, charges Hawk with protecting his prized young bride – half Kazan’s age, much the same age as Tim Hawk.

“When beauty’s the prize What mortal fears dying?”

It isn’t only Kazan’s marriage that is vulnerable. His empire is under siege. As threats and danger mount, Kazan’s marriage and criminal empire are undermined and he finds himself betrayed and let down on all sides. The only people he can rely on, it seems, are his wife and the trusted Hawk. On Guy Fawkes night, as a full-scale gang war breaks out, the doomed trio rush to a violent and operatic climax.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WITH GABRIEL HART

Gabriel Hart, author of the short story collection - Fallout From Our Asphalt Hell drops by to submit to a bit of gentle questioning .... 

Is the book writing full time? From your tagline on your website - Author, Journalist, Songwriter, I guess not. Definitely a writer though. Can you give us a quick biography of yourself?

During the last two years of navigating a work injury, writing has been full-time since I’ve been at home. I treat it like an eight-hour job even when I’m not getting paid for all of it, trying to build a body of work while doing literary journalism side-hustles. But whether I’m working a novel, short piece, or interviewing another author or reviewing books, I like to treat it with the same vitality. I was previously most known for being a musician, but I feel that shifting dramatically since the energy you exude writing tends to give larger returns, even if it remains on a personal level. But I still make music — my band Jail Weddings is just dusting off its near future.

*I’m about to start your short story collection, Fallout from Our Asphalt Hell. Can you pitch it to a potential reader in 50 words or less? (*Read now!)

FfOAH is a twenty-piece collection of what I’m calling “world-burning fiction” as opposed to world-building, considering the stories deal mainly in terms of societal and personal decay. It’s literary pulp; or pulp for readers who might think pulp is passe. Genre-fiction for readers who might be sick of genre fiction.

How long from conception to completion did the stories in the collection take to write? Were they written expressly with a collated collection in mind or organically over a period of time and the thoughts on a collection came afterwards? 

No, these were all collected from 2015-2021, though most of them were written during 2020 while the world was on fire, so those have a particular cynicism as a result. But to keep my own darkness at bay, I was submitting work like crazy these last two years, to keep some kind of momentum, so the collection just happened on it’s own — 80% of the pieces have been previously published online or in print, and suddenly there was an opportunity for it after Close to the Bone released my poetry book, so after seeing how many pieces I could legally reclaim for this, I added some unpublished pieces near and dear to only myself, to get them as far away from me as possible, finally.

How did you hook up with Close to the Bone?

Through Stephen J Golds, as he had just taken on as editor of their poetry imprint, First Cut, when I signed on for it last winter. He put the word out that Craig Douglas was taking subs for larger projects, and I quickly realized I had enough pieces to compile a collection. Craig and everyone there have been great to work with, zero bullshit professionalism.

When you have an idea then sit down to construct your stories – do you know what the end result is roughly going to look like? Are you a plotter, or do you make it up as you go along?

It all really depends on my mood. I’m pretty conceptual, so I rarely write blind, but I don’t find myself doing strict outlines, even for larger works. Actually, I will even suppress an idea for days, as if to say to the story “you haven’t earned my time yet,” until the overall volume of the piece increases in my head. When it screams loud enough, I sit down and let it rip, mostly out of spite.

Are there any subjects off limits?

No. But there should be a big distinction — a believe a writer should actually be leaning into taboos rather than away from them, as it’s a writer’s job to dissect unholy subjects wholly to reach a better understanding. Some writers don’t do enough with their taboos when they choose to merely scratch their surface — that’s the only time I believe taboos are crude, when their inclusion is arbitrary rather than being fully explored. Taboos aren’t there to be merely rhetorical.

Do you have a typical writing schedule?

I try to write every day. I’m usually am able to because I mentally flog myself if I don’t, and those days are painful as a result. So, writing days are the good days — I wake up at 5am, read for an hour or two, take the dog for a walk, have breakfast, start writing. Break for lunch, resume. Most days I have to go to post office around 3, then I come back home, write for another two hours, then have dinner then try to be in bed by 9am so I can do it all again. It’s all very, very exciting as you can tell.

Are there any unpublished gems in your bottom drawer?

I have two novels being shopped right now. Typically, if a manuscript doesn’t go out, it’s in my bottom drawer because I decided it’s not a gem.

What’s the current project in progress?

I’m working on a novel called Carnivorous Gardens. A post-apocalyptic ecological disaster novel where, very unfortunately, musicians are the last people alive in Los Angeles. I’m exploring what they might do at their insular worst, the boy’s club Lord of Flies behavior that might ensue, especially when the few women left have decided they’re terrified of them for good reason, drawing a line in the sand.

What's the current band/group/project called?

While we are dusting off Jail Weddings, I’m doing solo work from my album Ego Jingles that was released last summer. Much more quiet, avant-torch country stuff, my life long love for Jody Reynolds is possibly coming out.

How different is creating fiction to songwriting? Isn't it all storytelling? Do you compose as well?

Here is the difference — I think a musician is going to be first one to assume their own words are profound, the first one to pat themselves on the back, because of the whole “fan” aspect and the live audience adoration thing. And if you’re in band, you’re more likely to have a group of enablers that aren’t going to let you know if your shit stinks, largely because of that yes men gang mentality. A musician is more fueled by praise, basically. Music relies far more on the cloying audience, where a writer is just going to be plugging away no matter who is paying attention. Writing is a lot harder to not just do well, but more elusive for a writer to tell if their shit is any good, largely because of its solitary element; where in the act of gaining perspective, you often lose it — until you start editing with extreme prejudice. Musicians rarely edit themselves.

What are the last five books you’ve read?

I’m often reading 2-3 books at once, so right now it’s WAIF by Samantha Kolesnik, The Sex Shops of Sherman Oaks by SJXSJC, Undone Valley by William R. Soldan, Oblivion by David Foster Wallace, Adrenaline by James Robert Baker, and Spider Kiss/Stalking the Nightmare by Harlan Ellison.

Favourite activity when not working or writing?

Every morning I hike three miles in my small town’s nature preserve. Hiking, or immersing myself in nature is really important to me — that silence and disconnect from online noise allows me to start the day sorting my shit out without invasive influence. It’s sort of thrilling in the sense that I have no idea what I’m going to think about every morning, and it usually dictates what direction the rest of my day will go.

What’s the last film you watched that rocked you?

 

Without a doubt, there was a film called Nuevo Orden (New Order) released last spring that completely destroyed me. It’s Spanish/French directed by Michel Franco, a near future dystopian take on class uprising where nothing is what it seems. It’s sort of in the vein of recent Korean class-issue cinema like Parasite, only this is far more brutal and nihilistic than anything in that ilk that’s come before it. One of those “We are all pawns” anti-morality films. It really doesn’t get any more bleak, though I believe it’s a really important film.

What are the last three pieces of music you’ve listened to?

The Gun Club “Pastoral Hide and Seek” LP, These Immortal Souls “I’m Never Gonna Die Again” CD, then just yesterday coming home from camping, my buddy Dave Fields turned me onto The Satyrs — this gorgeous piano instrumental called “Tribute to the great Joseph Carey Merrick.” Like a poor man’s “Moonlight Sonata.”

 

-----------------------------------
RANDOM TRIVIA FUN QUESTIONS

When did you last have a fist fight?

Unfortunately, my fighting days were never fair enough to either party to qualify as a fistfight: It was either me kicking the shit out of someone because they deserved it, or someone kicking the shit out of me because I had it coming. Luckily, it’s been years, maybe even a decade — I know the six years I’ve lived in the desert have been relatively peaceful.

Have you ever been thrown out of a bar or a club?

Yes, more times than I can count. The most memorable time was a festival at this club in Los Angeles, where my band Jail Weddings played earlier in the day. By the time night fell, I had lost track of my members whereabouts, so I just kept drinking until security kicked out for general belligerence. As I was sulking outside, one by one, I see my other band members getting ejected roughly, all for difference reasons independent of each other, until nearly all of us were outside laughing maniacally. We took a lot of warped pride in that.


What’s the worst meal you have ever eaten?

I’m pretty easy to please with food — recalling moments of destitute from my past where I wasn’t sure where my next meal was coming from, or doing long drives on tour where there was no time to eat, I’m typically just glad it’s there. I think our modern foodie/connoisseur culture has really spoiled us, made us forget to be grateful for food to just keep us alive. I’m trying to find the courage to eat my first bug — many are saying with food shortages, we’ll have to get used to that as an option for protein.

Do you have any irrational fears?

If I do, they’re very personal. There seems to be a trend lately of people really advertising their phobias as a way to define themselves, or appear “quirky” or something, but the less I do that, I find the easier they are to conquer. My inner circle of friend know my irrational fears, so occasionally venting to them helps lift the burden.

What’s your favourite holiday destination?

Portugal. I’ve only been once, but I think about it every single day. If I ever came into money, I would reserve the option to live there for a year or so, just to let it really seep into me.

When did you last tell a lie?

There is a story in my new collection called “The Distant Prince,” and I wrote it back in 2016 as a sort of fable to show the inherent black magic of lying. To my knowledge, I don’t think I’ve harbored even a little delusion since — I need to answer to that story now. It’s kept me honest.

---------

Many thanks to Gabriel for his time.

Visit him at his website - www.gabrielhart.net  

Catch up with him on Twitter - @GabrielHart77

And checkout the short story collection ..... 

Fallout From Our Asphalt Hell

Author/poet/journalist Gabriel Hart compresses twenty pieces of his most turbulent 'world burning' fiction spanning 2015-2020, including the previously unpublished American nightmare Artificial Midnight and Skattertown.

"Gabriel Hart is hands down one of the most energetic writers out there. In fact, I’m hard-pressed to name one besides Hunter S. Thompson off the top of my head that could crank out line after line of insightful, muscular, serpentine prose and make it look so easy. And Hart’s energy isn’t only apparent because he’s a musician, a journalist, a fiction writer, and a poet whose seemingly tireless productivity is tough to keep up, but because the words he lays down—no matter the form or genre—are highly charged and consistently propulsive. Always. Without fail. I have yet to read a paragraph or stanza or sentence of his that I haven’t reread multiple times simply out of reverence for the skill on display."

— William R. Soldan, author of In Just the Right Light

DOROTHY GILMAN - THE UNEXPECTED MRS POLLIFAX (1966)

Synopsis/blurb ...

Mrs. Virgil (Emily) Pollifax of New Brunswick, New Jersey, was a widow with grown children. She was tired of attending her Garden Club meetings. She wanted to do something good for her country. So, naturally, she became a CIA agent. This time, the assignment sounds as tasty as a taco. A quick trip to Mexico City is on her agenda. Unfortunately, something goes wrong, and our dear Mrs. Pollifax finds herself embroilied in quite a hot Cold War--and her country's enemies find themselves entangled with one unbelievably feisty lady.

A bit of a punt was taken on this one, the first in a 14 books long series, featuring Emily Pollifax, a bored widow of a certain age who offers her services to the CIA. On the surface it had the potential to border on farce or the ridiculous, but I found myself really enjoying this one from the mid-60s.

Mrs Pollifax presents herself at Langley, volunteering service for her country and after a mix-up is assigned to collect some important documents from a bookstore in Mexico City. It's secrets from South America, but the jig is up and the opposition are trying to intercept the goods.

Rather inevitably things do not go to plan and she and another American, Farrell are kidnapped and renditioned to Albania of all places. Get out of that one, Emily.

Great fun from start to finish. I really liked the main character - stoic, capable, calm, experienced and ready to deal with whatever happened to her next phlegmatically. I enjoyed the direction the story took. Numerous scrapes and incidents, both in and out of captivity and an interesting cast of characters including a Chinese General, her travelling companion, her Albanian captors, a family of goat herders, a Russian agent, a British scientist, some American spy types and an over-bearing neighbour.

I was reminded a bit of Lawrence Block and his adventurer-cum-agent, Evan Tanner. I was amused throughout and didn't know what was going to happen next. No real tension in the book at all, just some humorous escapades with never a dull moment. 

Great writing. Why has it taken me so long to discover Dorothy Gilman and Emily Pollifax?

I'm looking forward to trying more from this series (already have in fact). 

4 from 5

Read - (listened to) October, 2021

Published - 1966

Page count - 240 (8 hrs 18 mins)

Source - copy from Audiobooks

Format - Audible 

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WITH ANTHONY NEIL SMITH

I'm delighted to have one of my long time favourites on the blog today answering a few questions about his latest book (and other things) - The Butcher's Prayer - which is I'm happy to report one of the best books I've read this year. See yesterday's blog post.

Ladies and gentlemen ..... Anthony Neil Smith

Is the book writing full time? If not, what’s the day job and can you give us a quick biography of yourself? 

Not full-time. Nope. Never got there. But I love being a Professor of English at Southwest Minnesota State University. It’s been over 15 years now. 

A quick bio: Call me Neil. I’m fat. I love Mexican food, cheap red wine, my 2 & 3/4ths cats, and my wife. I once co-created an e-zine called Plots with Guns and edited that thing into the ground. I’ve published fifteen novels, two and a half novellas, a fuck-ton of short stories, two essays (I think) and exactly two poems. I like Americana and roughed-up blues, 1970s Italian crime flicks, Brit noir and fancy hotels.

*I’m about to read your latest offering – The Butcher’s Prayer. Can you pitch it to a potential reader in 50 words or less? (*Done and dusted now)

No.

Wouldn’t that be great if I just stopped there? No? 

Anyway, it’s inspired by a real murder. I used to go to church with the killer (before he was a killer, obviously). And it’s haunted me for a long time. 

Failed preacher turned cop. Failed Christian and husband turned drug dealer turned murderer. Lunatic turned fugitive. What happens when the killer you’re chasing turns out to be your own brother-in-law? Is your father, older brother, and sister going to help you or hinder you? What prevails: faith, family, or justice? Mississippi swamp noir. 

I didn’t count the words. 

You’ve written a ton of books – at least fifteen – in three different series as well as standalones – do you have a favourite of the bunch? Which one are you most proud of?

It’s difficult, you know, to pick one fave at this point, but some of them hold special places, more than others. WORM, for instance, never got a fair shot. I had a heart attack halfway through writing it, and it introduced Slow Bear, who went on to have his own novella, which most readers love. At the moment, I’m most proud of WORM. And I had high hopes for Billy Lafitte in YELLOW MEDICINE and three other books, but due to…I have no idea…the 3rd and 4th books just fizzled. I was hoping to turn Billy into a long series character, but there’s no point if the readers aren’t there. 

ALL THE YOUNG WARRIORS was the one my ex-agent and I thought would go to auction, but ended up rejected by all of NYC. Thus, my ex-agent became my ex-publisher (Blasted Heath) and we tried it as an e-book original. It was the closest to a real mainstream thriller I’ve ever written. 

Which would you press into the hands of a new reader first? 

I’d start them off with YELLOW MEDICINE and HOGDOGGIN’. Before that, I was not as sure of
myself. After that, I was completely full of myself (kidding…). Billy Lafitte is a combo of my heroes, like Milo from Crumley, or Easy from Mosley, or Lou Ford from Thompson. Those books are gonzo noir, southern noir, Dakota noir, black comedy lie Chester Himes, transgressive. Yeah, if you like Lafitte, maybe you’ll go on to like WORM and SLOW BEAR. 

Do you have a favourite format to work in? Novel, novella, short story? 

Novel, above all else. I love to read novels, and I love to write them. I’m also getting into that area between novella and novel. I miss the shorter novels of the older pulp paperback days. I still like writing a short story now and then, but it’s much more rare now. Although I’ve currently got the bug and I’m working on a few. 

I think when I first discovered you and your work (early 2000s?) you were part of an unholy trinity (along with Sean Doolittle and Victor Gischler, if I’m not mistaken) that ran Plots With Guns website. I used to love your showcasing of short story talents. When did that venture cease?

While Sean is one of our best friends, he wasn’t involved with PWG except to publish a story in it (which went on to become THE CLEAN-UP), and to cheer us on. It was originally me and Hunter Hayes while we were in USM’s Center for Writers grad program. Hunter moved on to lit studies after a while. He’s a big fan of Elmore Leonard and Martin Amis. He was responsible for the name, too. 

Victor ended up as a silent partner, and he wrote a column called “Hard-boiled Dixie.”

The first version of it went from 1999 to 2004. It was growing a lot, but I was also taking on a new job and doing more of my own writing. So I shut it down. But when some other zines – ThugLit, for example – started making their mark, I got jealous and wanted to start it all over again. We picked up again in 2008, but once again my own job and writing got in the way, so I passed it along to the fantastic team of Sean O’Kane, Gonzalo Baeza, and Erik Lundy. They did a fantastic job until 2011, when we all decided to call it a day for good. 

Are you still in touch with your PWG cohorts? 

Well, I talk/text with Victor and Sean Doolittle nearly every day. We’re still very close, even though we live in three separate states. I haven’t traded emails with Hunter in a very long time, when I asked if he was okay with me moving ahead with PWG 2.0, and he was. We had another editor and columnist, Trevor Maviano, who I’ve lost touch with. We connected again for the second run for awhile, though. He’s a monster crime writer, but I think he couldn’t stand the business side of it. I understand.

I still talk to Sean and Erik every now and then. Not sure why I haven’t talked to Gonzalo in a long time. 

No chance of a PWG comeback?

I actually sold the name and domain to Sean, so it’s his call if it should ever return. Now, if I ever had *real* money, like Hollywood or lottery money, then I’d probably buy it back and turn it into a zine and small (really small) press, really nice editions in small print runs. But that’s just daydreaming.

Can you remember what your first published piece was and when? 

It was a short-short crime piece called “The Third Example” – written as part of a pamphlet about an Atkins-like diet that turned people into raving murderers – in a small magazine called Crimestalker Casebook. It took well over a hundred submissions before landing that first checkmark. 

Do you have a typical writing schedule? 

I wish I did. When things are going pretty well, I try to go for a few hours midday, maybe between 10 and 2. I can get about a thousand words a day on a novel. But when the day job interferes, then I either go for days or a week without adding a word. Sometimes I’ll just shut it down for even longer, but I hate when that happens. I’ll try to get at least a page of something in the afternoon. 

I can’t write at night, though. I don’t get people who can do it really late. Once I get home from the office, around 5 or 6, I’m done with fiction.

Do you insert family, friends, and colleagues into your characters? 

I take the fifth. 

I mean…they’re composites. I don’t think I’ve ever had a character just be a person I know. 

When you have an idea and you sit down to construct your story – do you know what the end result is roughly going to look like? Are you a plotter, or do you make it up as you go along? 

Not always, but most of the time. The only book I plotted completely beforehand was ALL THE YOUNG WARRIORS. I wrote several outlines, each one longer than the last, until the basic story was down. But the others are usually half-baked. The endings come after not much longer, though. I was just thinking about the two books I’m working on right now, and I am pretty sure about the ending for one, but have no clue how the other is going to turn out. 

Are there any subjects off limits?

I have not found anything yet. I mean, I have to want to write about it. I wouldn’t do it just for shock value. While I lean towards transgressive work, I’d say I’m nowhere near as transgressive as some of my favorites in that category. I think the sex scenes I write feel like amateur porn – meaning a mix of real sex and something a bit ridiculous. Sex is messy, smelly, noisy, and awkward, which is why it’s interesting. And there’s a big difference between realistic violence and the over-the-top ridiculousness of exploitation violence. I think sex and violence in art has a purpose.

However, I’ve wanted to write a book for a while now, inspired by an awful story about a drunk K9 cop on camera kicking his dog, hard, several times. The dog lived and was taken away from him, but I just couldn’t help but think “Is this guy redeemable at all?” What if this was a one-time mistake and now he’s lost a dog he cares about? Everyone I’ve talked to about this has told me “No. Don’t. You can’t write it. He’s not redeemable.” But what am I currently doing? Yep, I’m drawn to the fact that no one feels anything but hate for the guy. There’s a story there. 

How long from conception to completion did The Butcher’s Prayer take? Was it a smooth process or were there many bumps in the road along the way? 

Because this was inspired by a crime from the 90s, I’d say I’ve been mulling this book for over 20 years. But I actually began writing it after a long depression where I thought I was done with novel writing. I’d burned out on three novels for a company that just didn’t bother with any sort of promotion. Sales were almost nonexistent, and I felt like it was done. But I started working on Butcher’s in either late 2017 or early 2018. I wrote the first fifty pages three different times, starting with a blank page. I ended up writing it relatively quickly, especially because I lucked out on a referral to one of the best agents in the world. The guy even called me and said we could work together. And then he pretty much disappeared. But hey, it drove me to finish the book, try other agents, and eventually find a home for it at Fahrenheit 13 in 2020. Chris Black saw the good in it. 

Did the end result mirror both your expectations at the start of the process, or is it a very different book to what you imagined? 

I think it followed what I set out for it. The last page was one I wasn’t so sure about. But Chris Black assured me it worked perfectly. 

Was there one spark or germ of imagination which started the story off in your minds?

The murder that set this off in my mind was when a butcher who used to go to my church shot a man, then used his butcher tools to dismember the body and throw the pieces in the bayou behind his house. My stepdad was the funeral director in charge of dealing with all the parts and just the look on his face…whoa.

I had sat across from this butcher only a few years earlier at a church Valentine’s dinner as he proposed to his girlfriend. So it was shocking to find out he’d fallen so far. 

You’ve had a variety of publishers over the years and you’ve outlived several of them, have you found a spiritual home with Fahrenheit Press? I think they’ve been responsible for your last few coming into print. 

Ha, yeah, I am the kiss of death for publishers. One things they’ve all had in common: small, indie presses (well, okay, Bastei Lubbe was a big corporation. That was the exception). It felt to me, twenty years ago, New York publishers were willing to take chances on riskier books, or dark crime novels. But by the time I got ready to send out my stuff, that had changed. The indies took me in, gave me the freedom to write what I wanted. I especially am grateful to Allan Guthrie for being my agent, then publisher, then editor for nearly fifteen years. He founded the digital publisher Blasted Heath and gave five of my books a home. 

Fahrenheit is publishing amazing authors and great books. I mean, Ian Ayris alone is enough to justify what they do, but then they keep on going! They really do take risks, and after reading quite a number of their books, I talked to Chris Black and showed him SLOW BEAR, which I had hoped to turn into a novel, but I ran out of story too soon. But he was excited to take it for the Fahrenheit 13 noir imprint. 

I hope to finish out the Slow Bear trilogy with F13, but I’m moving on to another publisher now for my next novel, and it’ll be unlike anything I’ve ever been involved with before. Sorry I can’t announce it yet, but soon. Very soon. 

Are there any unpublished gems in your bottom drawer? 

Not in the bottom. I’m sitting on one right now called MURDERAPOLIS that I thought would be a big, epic Don Winslow or Richard Price style book. But we’ll see. My new publisher hasn’t read it yet, so I’m crossing fingers.

What’s the current project in progress? 

The K9 dog novel is the current one. I published a piece of it over at Punk Noir Magazine, called “Underdog.” 

But I’m also working on book two of a series I’m starting with the new publisher. I think it’s pretty different from my recent books…but I change up what I’m doing every book anyway. 

What’s the best thing about writing? The worst? 

I like seeing the finished product, with the cover, the typesetting, the binding. It feels real, not just a “hobby” in my head. Writing is a bit like directing a movie in my head. I get the final say.

The worst is the feeling of starting over every time I write a new book. It feels like I can’t break the “thousand reader club” to get more eyes on the books. Starting a new story is excellent. Starting from ground zero with sales, well, that’s hard. 

Moving on…. What are the last five books you’ve read? 

Yikes. Let me see…not counting the unpublished books I’m reading for friends, I’ve been rereading Garcia Marquez’s novellas for my lit class. Jim Goad’s The New Church Ladies, David Gordon’s The Bouncer, Bonnie Jo Campbell’s Mothers, Tell Your Daughters, and Jonathan Ames’ A Man Named Doll. 

Who do you read and enjoy? 

So so so many people. But let me again mention Ian Ayris, who deserves to be a literary star. ABIDE WITH ME is a masterpiece. 

Is there any one book you wish you had written? 

First, I’d have to time travel back to the 50s or 60s, where I think I’d do a good job writing Gold Medal or other pulp novels, like HILL GIRL or SWAMP BRAT, those country exploitation books, real Erskine Caldwell territory. And somehow that would lead me to writing THE KILLER INSIDE ME, because the fascination with what Thompson did there is eternal. Lou Ford. Wow. What an asshole. 

Favourite activity when not working or writing? 

My wife and I love to travel, be it to England, Scotland, and Ireland, or across our own country to Colorado, down to New Orleans, Cancun Mexico, Italy. But when I’m home, I like to cook Mexican food, and I like listening to a lot of music. I play a little guitar, so that’s a nice pastime.

What’s the last film you watched that rocked you?

This is the toughest question. I am really a bit stumped. I had to save it for last and come back. 

The one I’ve thought about most lately has been THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT, There is some brutal stuff in there, but also a few gorgeous images. It reminded me of a much more disgusting movie called THE GOLDEN GLOVE, which covered similar ground, but not as “classy.”

TV addict or not? 

Oh yeah. Less so as the years go by, but I still watch a lot. I like the noise of it. But I get annoyed with the bandwagon-hopping for so many shows, it’s sometimes like people know they’re supposed to like something to be considered cool or hip, and it spreads like bacteria. Yeah, my wife and I got tired of Justified, couldn’t stand Wandavision, on and on. 

What’s the must watch show in the Smith household? 

We always watch Good Mythical Morning first thing every night. It’s just a silly show on YouTube, but these guys are really fun. We also love Taskmaster, a ridiculous UK show. 

The last few things we’ve enjoyed: Line of Duty, Better Call Saul, Big Bang Theory. 

What are the last three pieces of music you’ve listened to?

GA-20, “Give Me Back My Wig,” Ethel Cain, “Crush,” and Muddy Waters, “Champagne and Reefer.”

I am all over the map on music, but I grew up on 70s rock, loved hair metal as a teenager, then got into Christian rock for a decade, not so much anymore. Now I’m a big Americana fan and what I call raw blues and raw country: I like it stripped down, lo-fi, nasty-sounding guitars and amps. 

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RANDOM TRIVIA FUN QUESTIONS 

What’s your favourite vegetable? 

Is a chili pepper a vegetable? Is a potato? I’m going to go with avocado. 

When did you last have a fist fight? 

Never! My only real fight was in junior high school. This kid kept bugging me, so we had a shoving match in the gym locker room, then later we wrestled like idiots in gym class. The coaches called it off, and that was that. 

Have you ever been thrown out of a bar or a club? 

Not yet. Man, I’m boring.

Do you have any tattoos? 

No. Don’t want any.

What was your first pet’s name?

Tabby (a small mutt).

What’s the worst meal you have ever eaten? 

I had a pigeon, I think, in Prague that also had some gross foam on it that looked like spit. 

Or the potato salad my dad forced me to eat when I was a kid, making me hate it forever. 

Do you have any irrational fears? 

I think the books cover all my irrational fears. I have so many it’s hard to list them. I’m just a nervous guy.

What’s your favourite vacation destination? 

Iceland. I really felt at home there, in a way. I was in awe everywhere we went. It’s crazy expensive to live there, unfortunately, but the fact that it’s a small country, amazing in its stark, rough beauty, makes it appealing to me. 

When did you last tell a lie?

Probably earlier in this interview. 

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Many thanks to Neil for his time and do yourself a favour check out his work.

To date I've enjoyed The Butcher's Prayer, XXX Shamus (as Red Hammond),  Yellow Medicine, The Drummer, Psychosomatic, All the Young Warriors, The Cyclist and To the Devil My Regards (with Victor Gischler)

You can catch up with him at the following haunts... 

Website - anthonyneilsmith.com

Twitter - @AnthonyNSmith

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/anthony.n.smith

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/anthonyneilsmith/

And check out his latest and possibly his best ....

The Butcher's Prayer 

Called to a crime scene when a terrified woman raises the alarm on a horrifying murder, Detective Hosea Elgin finds the victim’s body has been dismembered with professional precision.

Very quickly, two small-time drug dealers are identified as the probable assailants and a manhunt is launched to bring them into custody.

With the two suspects on the run, the consequences of their actions continue to spiral out of control and it becomes clear that while one of them is focused on survival, the other wants only revenge.

As the net begins to tighten on the fugitives, Detective Elgin finds that the case begins to move very close to home and what began as just another murder investigation is developing into something much more personal.

The decisions he makes and the actions he takes may well solve the case and bring the criminals to justice, but in the process he might just tear his family and his church to pieces.

With The Butcher’s Prayer, Anthony Neil Smith shows once again he’s a writer at the very top of his game. This immersive piece of Southern Gothic Noir certainly isn’t for the faint-hearted but with the skill and nuance we’ve come to expect from Smith he dazzles with writing that is precise, measured and never gratuitous.