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"Crooked Roads" by Alec Cizak - My review of this superb gritty collection!

29/4/2018

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Crooked Roads, by Alec Cizak. 
So, so good!  I said in my review of Alec Cizak’s novella Down on the Street that I was looking forward to becoming a rusted-on fan of his work, so much did I enjoy that book.
Well, the oxidation process is at full throttle with this awesome collection of short stories.  What sordid and seedy slices of modern life get served up here!  It doesn’t come much rawer or grittier, and the characterization is simply superb.  Mr Cizak makes his views on the evils of political correctness in writing in his foreword to Issue # 2 of Pulp Modern, and he practices exactly what he preaches in his own writing.  A fellow writer after my own heart.  If you do belong to the PC brigade, who are doing their best to turn our story-telling art into a vomit puddle of vanilla banalities, then I suggest you go elsewhere with your precious sensibilities, because Mr Cizak’s fine, honest prose will have you running in fear from real life, and real writing.
I just wanted this collection to keep going, but I’ll have to settle for getting online and purchasing anything else I can find by Cizak.  It is damned hard to pick a favourite in this assembly of social squalidness.  “No Hard Feelings” with its clash of social classes is up there.  How good is this? “…his daughter wanted to jab him a little the way daughters always jabbed their daddies – with her choice of boyfriend. If the thought of trailer trash corking her didn’t make her daddy break down and cry, she’d go to college and run a few black fellows through her.”
Later, “A Moral Majority” with its tragedy and scathing look at religious hypocrisy is superb, and as relevant as ever the ways things are going.  The twists in “My Kind of Town” are brilliant – and it definitely is one of those towns!  If I had to pick a favourite, I think it is “Patience”, with a very different take on the cop and prostitute combination.  Try this line: “She stuck out her hand in a half-dainty manner, like the streets hadn’t stripped her of an ounce of civility.”  No spoilers here, but civility is the last thing on the mind of the young whore, Patience.  But the ending is a hell of a scene of raw justice. And the sort of scene that’ll run rampant during those waking moments at 3 a.m.
Fantastic work, Mr Cizak, I’m coming looking for more.
 
And if you like gutsy, honest writing, don’t forget to sample Pulp Modern magazine – Mr Cizak is the masterful editor of that very fine magazine of pulp and noir.
 
Cheers,
ABP
 
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COPS WRITING CRIME - 2 more American cousins join The Squad.  We are now 100!

19/4/2018

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Today we welcome 2 more American cousins to The Squad, and we hit the 100 member mark!!!
That's 100 cops and ex-cops who have taken to writing crime fiction.  You won't get more realistic crime tales than those from  this Squad!
WOW!  When I started this project I had no idea it would ever grow to this.  And I haven't finished yet!

​
We have joining us today:
1.  Ed Kelemen - ex. Allegheny County Police in Pennsylvania.
2.  J.J.Hensley - ex. US police (but not sure which department) and also ex. US Secret Service.

So, today our 2 new members above join The Squad, now making us 100 in number!


46 American
27 British
9 Australian
3 Finnish
3 Canadian
2 New Zealanders
2 Dutch
2 Swedish
1 French
1 Bahamian
1 Norwegian
1 Italian
1 Czech
1 Russian


And I still have more candidates to check out.

I'll keep adding more as I come across them, and if you know of any others please feel free to drop me a line.

Check out The Squad:
Also: Cops Writing Crime
​
And please remember, my list is only for CRIME FICTION - not all the true crime and/or memoir writing by cops and ex-cops that's out there (as good as so much of that is).
​
​Cheers,
ABP
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COPS WRITING CRIME - Our first Russian member and two more Brits for The Squad!

18/4/2018

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We welcome our first Russian cousin to The Squad as well as two more Brits.  And today all our new Squad members are female ex-cops!
​
We have joining us today:
1.  Karen Campbell - ex. Strathclyde Police.
2.  Alexandra Marinina - ex. Russian Police (Moscow, I believe).
3.  Pam Chambers - ex. UK, but not sure which police force.

So, today our 3 new members above join The Squad, now making us 98 in number!


44 American
27 British
9 Australian
3 Finnish
3 Canadian
2 New Zealanders
2 Dutch
2 Swedish
1 French
1 Bahamian
1 Norwegian
1 Italian
1 Czech
1 Russian


And I still have more candidates to check out.

I'll keep adding more as I come across them, and if you know of any others please feel free to drop me a line.

Check out The Squad:
Also: Cops Writing Crime
​
And please remember, my list is only for CRIME FICTION - not all the true crime and/or memoir writing by cops and ex-cops that's out there (as good as so much of that is).
​
​Cheers,
ABP
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COPS WRITING CRIME - The Squad's first Swedes, two, and one more Aussie!

7/4/2018

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We welcome our first Swedish cousins to The Squad as well as another fellow Aussie.
​
We have joining us today:
1.  Anders de la Motte - ex. Stockholm Police.
2.  Fleur Ferris - ex. Victoria Police (I believe).
3.  Anna Karolina - also ex. Stockholm Police.

So, today our 3 new members above join The Squad, now making us 95 in number!


44 American
25 British
9 Australian
3 Finnish
3 Canadian
2 New Zealanders
2 Dutch
2 Swedish
1 French
1 Bahamian
1 Norwegian
1 Italian
1 Czech


And I still have more candidates to check out.

I'll keep adding more as I come across them, and if you know of any others please feel free to drop me a line.

Check out The Squad:
Also: Cops Writing Crime
​
And please remember, my list is only for CRIME FICTION - not all the true crime and/or memoir writing by cops and ex-cops that's out there (as good as so much of that is).
​
​Cheers,
ABP
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COPS WRITING CRIME - 3 more Brits join The Squad!

6/4/2018

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So here are 3 more British ex-police cousins to join The Squad.
​
We have joining us today:
1.  John Rigbey - ex. CID from the Metropolitan Police.
2.  Gavin Smith - ex. Lincolnshire Police.
3.  Kate London - also ex. CID from the Metropolitan Police.

So, today our 3 new members above join The Squad, now making us 92 in number!


44 American
25 British
8 Australian
3 Finnish
3 Canadian
2 New Zealanders
2 Dutch
1 French
1 Bahamian
1 Norwegian
1 Italian
1 Czech


And I still have nearly a dozen more candidates to check out.

I'll keep adding more as I come across them, and if you know of any others please feel free to drop me a line.

Check out The Squad:
Also: Cops Writing Crime
​
And please remember, my list is only for CRIME FICTION - not all the true crime and/or memoir writing by cops and ex-cops that's out there (as good as so much of that is).
​
​Cheers,
ABP
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COPS WRITING CRIME - 5 more members join The Squad today!

3/4/2018

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I did say yesterday that I'd been busy on this project, and so here are 5 more members join The Squad today: three Americans and two British.  And two of our American cousins are pretty big names in the crime fiction world, but their pasts also have police and PI backgrounds.
​
We have joining us today:
1.  Nancy Taylor Rosenberg - deceased recently in late 2017.  She served in three police departments: Dallas, New Mexico, and Ventura.
2.  Jonathan Ross - deceased in 2005.  The pen name for John Rossiter, who served as Chief Detective with the Wiltshire Constabulary.
3.  Parnell Hall - worked as a PI in New York.
4.  Don Winslow - also worked as a PI in both New York and California.
5.  John Wainwright - deceased in 1995.  He served in the West Riding Constabulary.

So, today our 5 new members above join The Squad, now making us 89 in number!


44 American
22 British
8 Australian
3 Finnish
3 Canadian
2 New Zealanders
2 Dutch
1 French
1 Bahamian
1 Norwegian
1 Italian
1 Czech


And I still have nearly a dozen more candidates to check out.

I'll keep adding more as I come across them, and if you know of any others please feel free to drop me a line.

Check out The Squad:
Also: Cops Writing Crime
​
And please remember, my list is only for CRIME FICTION - not all the true crime and/or memoir writing by cops and ex-cops that's out there (as good as so much of that is).
​
​Cheers,
ABP
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COPS WRITING CRIME - 3 more members for The Squad!

2/4/2018

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I've had a fresh burst of research for this project, so 3 more members join The Squad today: one Canadian, one American, and one Dutch.
​
We have joining us today:
1.  Ted Wood - British born, but moved to Canada and served in the Toronto Police.
2.  Joe Gores - deceased in 2011.  Was a PI in San Franciso for many years.
​3.  Janwillem van de Wetering - deceased in 2008.  Was in the Amsterdam Reserve Police.

So, today our 3 new members above join The Squad, now making us 84 in number!


41 American, 20 British, 8 Australian, 3 Finnish, 3 Canadian, 2 New Zealanders, 2 Dutch, 1 French, 1 Bahamian, 1 Norwegian, 1 Italian, and 1 Czech.

And several hours of research this morning has given me over a dozen more candidates to check out.

I'll keep adding more as I come across them, and if you know of any others please feel free to drop me a line.
Check out The Squad:  Also: Cops Writing Crime

And please remember, my list is only for CRIME FICTION - not all the true crime and/or memoir writing by cops and ex-cops that's out there (as good as so much of that is).
​
​Cheers,
ABP
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