Name three things you want in a crime book. If you answered “blood, guts and whiskey,” have I got a book for you! It’s called — wait for it — BLOOD, GUTS, & WHISKEY. It’s Todd Robinson’s third edited collection under his “Thuglit Presents” banner. And the third time would be the charm, if the first and second times weren’t already that, too.
Max Allan Collins gets you into the groove by reminding readers of the importance of short fiction, even if the market is a sliver of what it used to be. Personally, I prefer short stories to full-length novels, because they get right to the point, right to the punch. Consider lines like “That’s why James was sitting on the El with a human heart on ice in a Playmate cooler on his lap” and “The first time I saw Janis I knew she was a ballbuster” or “She had an ass like a heart turned upside down and cut in half — and that’s what we call foreshadowing, friend.” Hooked.
The author of Tom Piccirilli’s “The Return of Inspiration” finds an unlikely fan base in sex clubs, while the protagonist of Pearce Hansen’s “Community Property” is told he has three, maybe four months to live, so he immediately cops a “fuck it” attitude, which comes in handy for the events soon to occur.
Glenn Gray’s “Mr. Universe” brings new meaning to the term “‘roid rage,” and “The Cost of Doing Business” has one high price, as Michael Penncavage details in my favorite story of the bunch, about a small-town sheriff taking advantage of a convenience-store owner.
Even just the titles of the stories beg to be devoured: “Trauma Dyke” by Derek Nikitas, “Who Do I Have to Kill to Get a Little Respect Up in Here?” by Brian Murphy and, last but certainly not least, “Care of the Circumcised Penis” by Sean Doolittle. That one is especially killer.
Also contributing to BLOOD, GUTS are Craig McDonald, John Kenyon, Hilary Davidson and Dave Zeltserman, among others — even the late Eddie Bunker, here represented by “Death of a Rat.” As readers of the earlier Thuglit anthologies can attest, you can’t go wrong with this one. —Rod Lott
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES:
• HARDCORE HARDBOILED edited by Todd Robinson
• SEX, THUGS, AND ROCK & ROLL edited by Todd Robinson
Related posts:
- Sex, Thugs, and Rock & Roll
- The Price of Blood
- Half the Blood of Brooklyn
- The Color of Blood
- Blood Hunt
