Such a brilliant image on the cover of SEX, THUGS, AND ROCK & ROLL, that X-ray shot of a man blowing his brains out, only with the expelled gray matter represented by the book’s contributing authors. Don’t agree? Then you’re better off not even attempting to digest its contents, because this one’s not for the faint of heart or easily offended.
For the rest of us, however, it’s a big ball of awesome. Edited by Todd Robinson, who’s the mastermind behind the Thuglit crime-fic website, the book holds 23 tales representing “the best of neo-noir fiction.” It’s Thuglit’s second hold-in-your-hands anthology, following last year’s HARDCORE HARDBOILED. They’re so good, I hope they become annuals.
I can think of no better story chosen to start the book than the one that does: Jason Starr’s “Double Down,” a brief bit about a guy with a gambling problem who’s hired to tail another’s cheating wife, and quickly figures out a way to increase his fee. Next is Jordan Harper’s “Like Riding a Moped,” narrated by an obese woman who works in a jewelry store, which she’s agreed to help her no-good, out-of-her-league boyfriend knock over. The power and sadness behind this one reminded me of Sidney Lumet’s tragic heist film BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD.
In “A Flood of Mexican Porn Star Tits,” the book’s most over-the-top piece — and I mean that in a good way — Justin Porter’s protagonist flees to Mexico to beat a drug charge, makes some pesos drawing porn comics, and attracts a most unwanted fan in a male prisoner. The ending equates to a terrific punchline.
Its tonal opposite can be found in “Bullets and Fire,” in which the seemingly unsuckable Joe R. Lansdale details the lengths one young man will go to for the bitter taste of revenge. Here, it entails joining a dirtier-than-dirt gang, and his initiation is beating the crap out of a little girl. That’s just for starters.
Equally poignant is “The Days When You Were Anything Else,” by Marcus Sakey. It concerns an ex-con bartender trying to right the wrongs of his past when his estranged daughter is kidnapped, and the asked-for ransom is beyond his means and will require drastic measures. Same goes for the parole officer behind Mike Sheeter’s excellent “Violated” when one of his sex-offender clients gets a little too personal.
That desperation also informs Anthony Neil Smith’s “Cramp,” only comically, as a quartet of friends rob a state-line porn shop, but things don’t go as planned because one of them has food poisoning. It’s sick as, well, shit, but also darkly, deadly funny.
Richard J. Martin Jr. has the most experimental story among the bunch in “Eulogy for a Player,” in which the narrator schools you, the reader, on all you need to know about being a pimp. Allan Guthrie takes the most liberties in terms of setting — the 12th century! — with the Viking tale “Haermund Hardaxe Was Here.” Paintball informs Hugh Lessig’s “We All Come from Splattertown,” while an act of terrorism takes center stage in the nerve-racking “Black Sun,” from Gary Carson.
Another standout comes late in the book with “Customer Service,” in which Matthew Baldwin tells what happens when a hitman is asked to cancel a gig, but refuses to waver on his no-refund policy.
With some of these stories having been published online beforehand, length is not a problem. They set out what they intend to do and get out of there before trouble brews, much like a burglar ransacking a business. Occasionally, there’s one that’s a tad too obtuse to play like the rest, but such spots are minimal and, thus, not worth singling out.
Robinson’s done another bang-up job assembling this lineup. Here’s proof that the short story isn’t just alive and well, but kicking … you right in the balls. —Rod Lott
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES:
• HARDCORE HARDBOILED edited by Todd Robinson
Related posts:
- Grit, Noise and Revolution: The Birth of Detroit Rock ‘n’ Roll
- Hardcore Hardboiled
- BULLETS, BROADS, BLACKMAIL & BOMBS >> 10 That Were Great in 2008
- Out of the Gutter #1
- Friend of the Devil
