Category: Book Reviews - A.B.PATTERSON

"Between Juárez and El Paso" - a great hard-boiled read by Alec Cizak.

20/9/2018

I'll confess up front that I am already a rusted-on fan of Alec Cizak's work - if you follow my blogs, you'll probably have read my reviews of others of his books.
This novella is one of the Drifter Detective series with a common protagonist, but produced by different authors. This strikes me as an interesting approach, one which I haven't encountered before in my reading (and I haven't read any of the other authors).
However, this offering from Mr Cizak is outstanding. I really enjoyed it from start to finish. Whilst at first feeling quite different on a number of levels from his other work I've read, at the same time it's a classic hard-boiled tale, with a tough and cynical PI, Jack Laramie. The setting is not long after WW2, which Laramie and his client, Shel Eastman, served in together, the effects of that awful experience lingering in their minds and infecting their lives and choices. As always, no spoilers from me, but the tale is gripping and dark. The tough PI works the case, but with dark, tragic events - not unusual for Mr Cizak's work. Plus, as I always love with his work, the social commentary is rich, incisive and damning.
If you like hard-boiled and noir, then I highly recommend this book. And its slightly alternative slant on the hard-boiled genre is a delicious surprise.
Cheers,
ABP

"I-5" - A compelling and insightful crime story of sexual slavery.

13/8/2018

This was my first encounter with the work of Summer Brenner. I took an interest when I happened upon this title as it involved crime and sex, two of my favourite story themes. It also involves sex trafficking, an area I did some work in in my final months in the police back in the day, so I always like to read about vice matters.
The level of insight which Brenner achieves in her work here must surely have come from some direct interviewing of girls caught up in the revolting and cruel world of sexual slavery. The characterization of the lead girl, Anya, is as absolutely compelling as it is tragic. And the insight into other personalities in the cast is equally perceptive, not that you're likely to have much empathy for most of the others.
My only reservation reading this was the present tense narrative, a writing style that I always find somewhat annoying, but that's just my personal taste. Here, it certainly didn't detract a jot from what was a riveting read with twists and turns aplenty. As always, no spoilers in my reviews, but you won't see the ending before it hits you.
But aside from the solid, tight plot, which keeps you entertained, for me it was the poignancy of the characters, especially Anya, and the clear understanding of the psychologies in the sexual slavery world, that made this a truly memorable read.
Cheers,
ABP

"Sunk Costs" - another excellent noir tale from Preston Lang.

10/8/2018

I've become a huge fan of Preston Lang's work - he consistently delivers superb hard-boiled and noir crime fiction. And this latest release is no exception.
Sunk Costs sees Dan, a wandering con man, getting picked up hitchhiking by a female driver. To quote: "...all Dan's instincts told him she was dangerous". Yeah, always good to listen to those gut feelings, but then we wouldn't have had the great story that follows. No spoilers here, but hapless Dan, on the quest for cash like all con men, ends up messing with not one, but two, decidedly treacherous femmes fatales! Yes, Lang is a master at depicting the base instincts of people scrabbling around the lower end of the social heap, and his characterization here is wonderful as always. You're never quite sure where to land your sympathies with Lang's motley crews, and that's part of the fun of reading him. And it's noir at its best - the ugliest parts of society, but they are all out there, they really are.
If you love your hard-boiled and noir crime, then Sunk Costs is a definite candidate for your reading list!
Great work again, Mr Lang.
Cheers,
ABP

"Invisible Women" - my review of one of the best true crime books I've ever read.

31/7/2018

I don't read a great deal of true crime - I guess having investigated it for a hefty chunk of my career, reading it doesn't attract me as much as it does many people.
I got on to this title from chatting with one of the authors, Ruth Wykes, for one of her current book projects. Combined with my last year and a half as a detective being in the Vice Squad, the subject of murdered sex workers was immediately of interest to me.
This book is simply excellent. It is horrendous to read of one murder after another of these women, generally street-based sex workers and therefore some of the very most vulnerable women in society. The authors, Kylie Fox and Ruth Wykes, tackle this difficult subject with skill, writing in an informative and objective way, but displaying great compassion. A book like this, in less adept writing hands, could all too easily become a feminist-style polemic, but Fox and Wykes avoid this pitfall, and instead deliver a very readable, although incredibly sad, collection of accounts of the lives and brutal deaths of 65 sex workers around Australia since the 1970s. The appalling violence in these deaths, almost exclusively perpetrated by males, is spelled out, as it should be to illustrate its horror. The fact that only about half of these murders have ever been solved is also highlighted, with the point being clearly made that society as a whole, and the media and the cops in particular, often regard the lives of sex workers as somehow less valuable than other people. This, of course, is the central tragedy in the lives of these women and girls. Along with the perils of drug addiction, which walk hand-in-hand with sex work for many. Fox and Wykes have the breadth of understanding to see the true tragedy of the drug problem: that it is a health and welfare issue above all, rather than the crime problem that the Establishment in our society dictates it should be. As an ex-cop who has believed in drug legalisation, combined with harm-minimisation strategies, for a very long time (and whilst I was still in the police), these accounts of the dead women so strongly underscore taking a radically different approach to drugs in our society. If drugs had been legally available to these women, many of them would not have been street-based sex workers, and therefore many of them would probably still be alive, enjoying their families and friends and a much better life. There is a very sad irony here: the conservative forces, usually male-dominated, which control Australian society and create the moral taboo around sex work (despite so many of them being customers of the industry), are also the same forces who insist on prohibition of drugs (some of them are major beneficiaries of the drug trade, too). And the authors here manage to capture the hypocrisy of those in power with the corrupt links between police, politicians and the sex industry.
On a final note, there was an added poignancy for me with this book: one of the murdered girls, Clare Garabedian, was a street-based sex worker in Perth when I was working vice there in the late 90s. I met Clare several times, another very young, drug-addicted human tragedy; someone whose life could potentially have been so different. I remember when she was murdered. Fortunately, those who killed her were caught and brought to justice.
I can't recommend this book enough. All credit to the authors for their delivery: they have illustrated all the brutal and tragic aspects of these 65 cases, made many valid points of social commentary, highlighted the hypocrisy and failings in our society, and yet none of these aspects have been overplayed. Rather, the lingering effect of this book for me is the sheer humanity of it - this book is about many themes, but overwhelmingly it is about 65 people, women and girls, who tragically are no longer with us.
ABP

"I Let You Go" - superb crime thriller from ex-cop Clare Mackintosh.

29/7/2018

I came across Clare Mackintosh during my research for my Cops Writing Crime project (which you can find elsewhere on my website – I call us “The Squad”). I have decided to try and read more of my cousins in The Squad, as I love realistic police/crime writing.
Mackintosh’s debut novel was the second read for me this year from The Squad, and “I Let you Go” delivers in spades. This is quite simply a tremendous crime thriller – one of those it is difficult to put down, even as the clock ticks past one in the morning! The story is well-crafted and keeps you guessing with plenty of suspense and twists. Mackintosh’s depiction of the psychology of domestic violence is chillingly on the money, and her characterization is excellent across her cast. As you’d expect, her police characters are realistic and all-too-human, and she delivers an engrossing cross-section of society.
I loved this book – it’s a 5-star read – and will definitely be buying her next one which is now available.
Cheers,
ABP

"Manifesto Destination" - a superb hard-boiled dystopia from Alec Cizak.

28/7/2018

If I had to name my favourite two genres, then they would be hard-boiled crime and dystopias. As a writer, I wouldn’t have initially thought of blending the two together. However, that is just what Alec Cizak does in Manifesto Destination, and boy does he do it well.
Elmore Johnson is a classic hard-drinking PI who’s a sucker for the dames, but also, like any good PI character, he’s got an inherent sense of justice, and that’s what he goes looking for. I won’t give any spoilers here, but Cizak’s weaving of a tale of corporate conspiracies and social control combined with the PI quest is beautifully executed. Throwing in corrupt cops and a healthy dose of the porn industry really propels us into classic hard-boiled and noir territory. And the whole corporate nightmare scenario doesn’t take very much of a leap of imagination whatsoever – like all the best dystopias, it’s not too far in the future and it’s entirely believable, as scary as it is. As I’ve come to expect from Cizak (I’m now a rusted-on fan, I’m very happy to admit!), his prose is wonderful and there are some delicious lines that have been copied into my quote books. Try the following as a sample. The PI: “When I was bored, which tended to coincide with the lack of a bottle…”. The dames: “The illusion I allowed myself in Amber’s arms the night before worked like morphine on the soul”, and “Her voice dripped through my ears like honey and molasses eased over warm flapjacks in the middle of winter”. And society: “I couldn’t help but wonder if life might have been a little bit better before corporations decided they had a right to run the whole goddamn world.”
I really love Cizak’s work, and I’m looking forward to getting his latest release which is due out anytime soon. I’ve previously reviewed one of his other novels and a collection of his short stories, so you can see them in my blog archive. He’s also the editor of the superb Pulp Modern magazine anthology.
If you love your crime hard and gritty and dark, read Mr Cizak!
Cheers,
ABP

"Switchblade" Issue # 5 - This anthology gets darker and finer every time! It's a must read for crime connoisseurs.

26/7/2018

Oh, yes! Another volume of hard-boiled and noir that should be on every crime connoisseur’s shelf, and looking well-read! All the pieces are really good, as we've come to expect from Switchblade. I've highlighted my personal favourites, but must stress at the outset that I loved them all.
Lisa Douglass opens the volume with a superb piece of noir poetry, “The Hidden”.
Then we’re into the 12 short stories, all a damned fine read.
“A Good Week’s Work” by Rob Pierce: Card games, money, guns, greed and doublecrossing. Not every one can walk out a winner, that’s for sure.
“Nasty Habits” by Alec Cizak: And habits don’t come any nastier than paedophilia. To use a quote from this piece: “A toucher. Lower than a chunk of petrified dog shit loitering between Satan’s toes.” Well, in this town, you really, seriously need to be careful what you ask for. And what you actually get? Dark, violent justice here. It’s great writing by Cizak, and definitely one of my top choices from this excellent Switchblade collection.
“Discretion” by Court Merrigan: Giving a blow-job without your hubby watching can be a problem. But with your hubby watching – this is one violent and twisted tale – excellent!
“Play Your Hand” by Danny Sophabmisay: An adultery case for a nasty PI with a gambling problem. What could go wrong? So much, and it’s so well written. A sample: “…he stopped to put a song on the jukebox. ‘Come on Eileen’. It was a bold choice for someone whose wife had been covered in frat semen.” My first taste of Sophabmisay’s work, but one of the highlights here for me.
“Chemo Queen” by Tom Barlow: Everyone has secrets, some are just much dirtier than others. And what do you get when two con artists go up against each other? A hell of a story.
“Daughter of Diamonds” by Jack Bates: Competing women, hungry for diamonds, and a gun thrown into the mix. Our man here is in serious trouble.
“The Comforter” by Rick Risemberg: The comfort of revenge, one you never see coming. What happens when you mess it up with organized crime.
“Crossing Lines” by Tony Genova: When you’re paid to transport bags, don’t let your curiosity get the better of you. The bags are closed for a reason.
“China Township, MI” by E.F.Sweetman: A sociopathic college dropout, discreet package deliveries, and a neo-Nazi guy wanting a blow-job. Yep, the motto is not to run out of petrol. This piece by Sweetman, my first read of her work, is right up there for me.
“These Hills” by Chris McGinley: Misery and addiction in Appalachia, poaching, death, musings on heaven, and a preacher who says he’s never going to get there. This is a bitingly dark look at a small town.
“Vanishing Girl” by Robb T. White: Strippers, spiked drinks, rapists, clueless cops, and serial killers. A nice girly joint, this one, and a terrifically twisted noir tale. And this is up there with my favourites, too.
“Bad Dog” by Timothy Friend: Canine noir? Yes, and the bite is well worth the bark. This is an out-there POV shift that works beautifully.
Then we round the issue out with three flash fiction pieces.
“The Big Blind” by David Rachels: A card game with the ultimate high stakes.
“Lama Todd” by Preston Lang: Religion, fraud, and a lovely twist. Mr Lang is one of my favourite indie crime authors.
“Lights of San Francisco” by Tom Andes: Delicious double deals, and then say goodbye to those lights.
Switchblade’s editor, Scotch Rutherford, again excels himself with his curation of superb hard-boiled and noir crime writing. This anthology really has grown into a haven of some of the best indie crime writing around, and it’s a crime reader’s wet dream!
Can’t wait to get my hands on Issue #6.
Cheers,
ABP

An excellent crime thriller from an ex-cop - "Among the Shadows" by Bruce Robert Coffin.

17/5/2018

If you follow my blogs then you'll know about my project "Cops Writing Crime" - so far I've collected over 100 crime fiction authors who have been cops or law enforcement. See the page here Also: Cops Writing Crime
I've only read a small handful of these authors, so one of my reading goals for this year was to start getting into the works produced by my fellow former officers from around the world.
So, number one on my Cops Writing Crime TBR pile was Bruce Robert Coffin, a former cop of nearly 30 years service in the US.
Coffin's debut novel is Among the Shadows, and centres on Detective Sergeant John Byron. It sits pretty firmly in the crime thriller camp, and it has that very most important quality any novel in this sub-genre should have - I didn't want to put it down. I don't do spoilers, so you're not going to get bits of the story here. Suffice to say the plot is gripping.
Of course, my interest with my Cops Writing Crime project revolves around the sheer realism cops-turned-authors can, and do, bring to writing crime fiction, whichever sub-genre they're creating in. The great Joseph Wambaugh was my first ever exposure to this, whilst still a serving officer myself. It resonated so much.
Coffin's work is right up there on the realism scale. Hardly surprising given his long service as an officer. But aside from the realistic crime story and details, it is all those brushstrokes of police life that define such writing. Among the Shadows is right up there with Wambaugh in its superb characterization of police and how they interact, both with their "clients" and with each other. And each other on so many levels - professional and personal are inseparable in real police life, and Coffin captures this flawlessly. What's not flawless, of course, are the cops themselves, and again this aspect is perfectly crafted in this novel. The conflicts for the characters here are both external and internal, and drive their motivations, for good and bad. There's no shortage of corruption in this tale, just as there isn't in real policing. No doubt Coffin had to survive that dark side of the Force, and I can relate to that. In fact, every aspect of this novel simply oozes evidence of bearing personal witness.
I really, really enjoyed this novel and Coffin's direct and realistic prose. If you like your police thrillers realistic, it doesn't come better than Bruce Robert Coffin. Read him.
His second novel is out now, so I'm ordering that ASAP.
Cheers,
ABP

A great pulp and fantasy read - Broadswords and Blasters Issue 2!

16/5/2018

Pulp across the spectrum is the name of the game here, and the editors deliver a great selection of work, once again. I really enjoyed Issue 1 of Broadswords and Blasters, so what does one do then? Get online and buy further issues, of course! So I’ve now read # 2 and # 3, with two more on my TBR pile.
So here’s my wrap for # 2. The cross representation of different types of pulp is in full swing again, ranging from fantasy to sci-fi to crime to western. Yes, I did say western: “A Western Promise” by Calvin Demmer is one of my favourites, with the tough man hero having to keep an awful promise whilst fighting aliens – just excellent.
And I’m loving being taken outside of my normal reading zones. I think I mentioned that in my review of Issue 1, but it was certainly reinforced this issue, too. It's even inspired me to put pen to paper, away from my usual hard-boiled PI yarns.
I enjoyed all the stories here. If I were to pick other highlights for me, they were the stand alone tough female protagonist yarns: “The Oath Breaker” by Grey Harlowe, and “The Eye of the Sun” by D.J.Tyrer. I love a kick-arse female lead, and these both served that up. Being a crime writer, the crime sample did it for me, “Kane and Grable” by Michael T. Best, with an ex-girlfriend of an entirely different type! And then up there as equal top billing for me was “The Soul Plantation” by Sara Codair. This was a human/alien story turned on its head, but in the great tradition of an allegory which stirs your inner thoughts and stays with you.
So, Mr Gomez and Mr Mount, bravo again for editing such an excellent magazine.
My review of Issue 3 will follow in a few days.
Cheers,
ABP

A second dose of pulp pleasure - "Pulp Modern" (2,2) edited by Alec Cizak.

7/5/2018

Editor Alec Cizak excels again with Issue # 2 of “Pulp Modern” (volume 2). Every story in this collection of pulp across genres was a great read. One of the features of good pulp writing that I love is the big middle finger it presents to political correctness.
Cizak’s opening editorial is a piece worth reading in itself, as he delivers a succinct and visceral onslaught against the evils of the PC brigades. As he writes, “Honesty is the precise opposite of ‘political correctness’, and that’s the venue I operate in. Corporate-controlled media is garbage.”
Never a truer word spoken on the subject, and long may the likes of such anthologies celebrating raw and honest writing thrive.
As always, I can’t come up with a favourite here, but some choice pieces: Jim Thomsen’s “Black Lab” with the dark humour of violent meth-cookers meeting a Griswald-type family (oh, and the Labrador, of course!); “Eleven Irritated People” by Preston Lang, one of my favourite Indie crime authors, is a delicious twisted take on the jury story; Charles Roland does a great job with his schemers and hustlers in “Quick Cash Fast”; moving to fantasy pulp, Matthew X. Gomez in “A Long Journey’s End” rolls out a kick-arse female warrior to dream about (if you like those sort of women!); and for the dark side of cloning possibilities, “Double Jeopardy” by Susan E. Abramski is a nightmarish treat.
I’ve singled out 5, but all 12 of the stories in this issue are superbly written and a real credit to the pulp tradition.
And if you like the tradition, you simply must start reading “Pulp Modern”.
Cheers,
ABP

Pulp in all its glory and across genres - "Pulp Modern" (2,1) edited by Alec Cizak.

7/5/2018

A belated review (updated from my initial entry on Goodreads).
This was my first go at this anthology magazine, and I'm really, really impressed. I am definitely going to be a regular reader of this one. As I've said before, one of the aspects of anthologies of short fiction I love is the introduction to a wealth of authors new to my reading list. And I certainly was not disappointed here - I'll be searching out individual works from several of the featured writers.
Of course the collection lives up to its "Pulp Modern" title - full of noir, twists and hard-boiled delights. The editor, Alec Cizak, has done a tremendous job collecting the variety of pulp here – all darkness, but with a great ride across different genres. I did enjoy the whole lot, whether crime, horror, or fantasy. Hard to pick a favourite – a common problem I have with anthologies. However, “Lady of the Mask” by L.S.Engler is up there – it’s a dance with terrible twist. “Now is Not a Good Time to Die” by Mark David Adam is great, and a salutary reminder of the perils of picking up in bars! Also really enjoyed “Housewarming” by fellow Aussie, Lucy Kiff – and it’s the neighbours from hell.
Cheers,
ABP

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

29/4/2018

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

Hard-boiled romp with style - "Pine Box for a Pin-up" by Frank De Blase.

31/3/2018

This was my second De Blase novel, and I loved it every bit as much as the first, A Cougar's Kiss.
Great character, Frankie Valentine, along with the ladies, cops and bad guys in his world. It's a really good hard-boiled yarn, up there with the very best in the genre.

A sample:
‘She looked both delicious and dilapidated, a beautiful bleach blonde train wreck. I didn't know whether to feel bad for her or feel her up.’

Aside from a fantastic cast, the story rolls along at a good speed with action and twists. Absolutely loved it!

Cheers,
ABP

Femmes fatales abound in this great hard-boiled collection - "Busted Valentines and Other Dark Delights" by Frank De Blase.

31/3/2018

I’d previously loved Frank De Blase’s novels, A Cougar’s Kiss and Pine Box for a Pin-up, and so went looking for more.
This collection of short stories delivers the same hard-boiled style I liked so much in the novels. There are hustlers, hookers, and desperados aplenty. Even a paedophile priest - always good for a dark, twisted crime tale.
And, as seems to be a trademark of De Blase, those femmes fatales. So well done.
Try these:
The ‘red-hot redhead’ at the bar: ‘whoever poured her into that green dress had obviously forgotten to say “when”.’
Or the ‘brunette knockout with a brain that wouldn’t start and legs that wouldn’t stop...’.

De Blase creates the characters who inhabit his seedy worlds with absolute style, and his plots are always a great read.
I love his work. Off to find another one now!

Cheers,
ABP

Very noir, very hard, very good indeed! "Dirty Words" by Todd Robinson.

27/3/2018

I first encountered Todd Robinson’s name as the editor of the excellent Thuglit magazine, a noir anthology which sadly ceased production in 2016. That was just before I’d heard of it, as I started exploring the juicy world of indie anthology magazines. However, I have bought and read several back issues of Thuglit since and have been absolutely impressed. I also came across one of his short stories in a back issue of All Due Respect magazine and loved his writing style.
And so I started looking for more of Mr Robinson’s work. This brought me to Dirty Words, a rip-roaring collection of 11 of his short stories. Hard-boiled and noir are on a pedestal here.
As the man himself says in his introduction:
“So if you normally spend your hard-earned loot on crime stories that feature a nice scone recipe, you might as well stop right here. It ain’t gonna get any better for you.”
No shit, Sherlock. Not a scone recipe in sight. However, if it’s meals of violence, drugs and sex you’re after, this would be a great addition to that shelf in the kitchen.
The collection that follows is a scorching variety of glimpses into the underbelly of society, and all those truly interesting characters who live there, or survive, or try to, or die horribly along the sordid path. There are only two things all the stories have in common – they’re as hard and dark as hell, and they’re beautifully written.
Mr Robinson knows his art, and I’m going to be looking for more.
Cheers,
ABP