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

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