Hawthorne

I’ve been really surprised and pleased by the response to “That Damned Coyote Hill”. In its first week, it got as high as #23 (very briefly!) over at Amazon.UK’s short horror story sub-category, and in the States made it up to #44. And the reviews have been positive right across the board. Not bad for something that was put together on the fly, huh?

I didn’t have a master plan about Hawthorne, the anti-hero of the story, when I started. I just wanted to do a mysterious, taciturn and bad-ass protagonist, an uncomplicated character that exists solely to dole out brutal punishment to wrong-doers. I gave him the ugly cross-shaped scar on his forehead without knowing how he got it (I know NOW, though, no worries). I decided he wasn’t a lawman or a bounty hunter or a gunfighter. He was instead a force of nature.

I borrowed his name from another character I tried to make a go of as a series hero, Grey Hawthorne (wrote two stories about THAT Hawthorne, both published at The Nautilus Engine). No, it’s not the same guy. Maybe this new Hawthorne is the other one’s uncle or something. Or maybe they just exist in two different worlds. It doesn’t matter.

But anyway, in the week since “That Damned Coyote Hill”, I’ve had occasion to think about his future. He has an origin of sorts now, although it’ll be a long time before I tell that one, I think, as it really isn’t important. I’m about half-way through his next adventure, tentatively titled “Long Black Train”, and have another two or three taking shape in my head. What will the readers learn about the mysterious avenger Hawthorne in these new stories? Very little, actually. But the bad guys, victimizers, killers, rapists… they’ll learn what it feels like to be on the other side of the equation.

And there will be no shortage of bizarre creatures and supernatural evil.

Thanks, everyone, for giving me the chance to write this stuff. And if you really dig Hawthorne, tell a friend.

SEEING BLUE, an exclusive story by Paul D. Brazill!

Quite some time ago, back when THE BASTARD HAND first came out, I did a guest post over at Paul Brazill's blog, You Would Say That, Wouldn't You? and I managed to coerce him into doing an all-original story here at Psycho-Noir whenever he had the time.

Well, time is scarce for Mr. Brazill. He's a hard-work drivin' man. We waited a while for this story from Paul, but damn... I'll think you'll find it was worth the wait.

It's my pleasure to give to you an all-new, never-before seen short story from Paul Brazill...

SEEING BLUE
by
Paul D Brazill


First, it all turns red. And then it goes black for a very long time. After that, everything is a searing white. Until I see Blue.

Then everything hurts. Everything.

Blue reaches into a rusty tool box. Takes out a hammer. Snorts some Charlie from the window ledge. Pops a duck egg. And walks toward me.

Black, again.

***

Now, the room is a muddy brown. Early evening or late morning. An old transistor radio on the mantelpiece leaks out hits of the ‘80s.

I can make out Blue Dobson’s massive frame in the corner of the room. He is naked. His jigsaw of tattoos exposed. His long red hair tied back in a ponytail.

He’s doing press ups. And repeating a mantra, ‘Fuckemall, Fucke em all, Fuckemall, Fuck em all.’

And then I start to panic. I try to drag myself free from the rocking chair but I’m still strapped in. A pool of piss below me, splashed with blood. I scream but my jaw is broken and the movement hurts so much that once again it all fades to black.

***

Some people never learn from their mistakes. And I suppose I’m one of those people.

Just over a year ago, Natalie, my girlfriend, got a job as a receptionist at the Health Centre. After a few drinks she liked to unburden herself. Tell me all the sob stories she heard all day. It was the old dears she usually felt the most sorry for. Living alone. Abandoned by their family.

I usually zoned out; I never had a thing for other people’s problems. But when she mentioned that Mrs. Barker had just died, I had an idea. Later that night, I sneaked into Mrs. Barker’s house and looked for whatever loot I could find. I got a decent wad of cash and jewelry, too.
I paid more attention to Natalie after that.

But about a fortnight ago, I was almost caught by a neighbor who’d stopped crying crocodile tears and obviously had the same idea as me. I saw him rummaging under the bed, fat arse in the air. I scarpered pretty sharpish.

So, I thought I’d leave it a bit.

And then Natalie mentioned that Mrs. Dobson had snuffed it. She was the grandmother of Blue Dobson, who had once committed a string of post office robberies and killed three people while he was on the run. Blue was eventually caught and given two life sentences but the loot from the robberies was never recovered. This seemed like a window of opportunity well worth jumping through.

I wasn’t to know that Blue had escaped from prison when he’d been notified of his nan’s death. That he’d go back to her home.

***

Sunlight peeks through the lace curtains. Blue is in the corner of the room, gurgling, puking, grasping his heart with his baseball mitt of a hand. After some time, he stops moving. As the day becomes brighter, it becomes clear that he’s croaked. Brown bread. Heart attack, maybe. Overdose. Whatever.

I wriggle around enough to topple the rocking chair over. It hurts. It hurts so much that I black out again. When I come to, I struggle free from the shattered chair. Crawl over to Blue.

And the suitcase full of money. My jaw hurts as I grin. I untie my ankles. Get to my feet.

The sun has risen over the tower blocks. The day is bright. The skies are blue. And the copper on the balcony, pointing a gun at me, smiles.

The end.

© Paul D Brazill 2011

Kindle Review: LIVERPOOL FIVE, by Luca Veste

Luca Veste has been a long-time supporter of other writers with his remarkable blog Guilty Conscience, but LIVERPOOL FIVE is his first outing as a writer of fiction himself. I gotta say, he acquits himself quite nicely.

This is a brief collection, five short, sharp tales seeped in heavy irony and a sort of wry dark humor.

The first story, “Dreams”, is maybe the hardest to define, as it’s basically a simple set-up: a young man enjoying daily conversations with an old man, until the little knife twist of remorse at the end.

“Model Behavior” also has a nice twist; the narrator strikes up a renewed friendship with a girl he knew in school who is now trying to break into modeling, but doesn’t really pursue the friendship—much to his later horror. The end of this one actually gave me a bit of a chill…

In “Heavy Sleeper”, a man’s tendency to sleep through anything turns out to be his undoing. Clever little piece.

“Peeling Spuds” is a mean little story about a much-abused wifey finally snapping. It’s my favorite in this collection.

And Veste leaves us with “He Ain’t Heavy”, a dark tale about family, and the possibility that we don’t really know our loved ones as well as we think.

Over-all, the stories in LIVERPOOL FIVE are solid and compelling, and Veste’s voice as a writer is remarkably self-assured, considering that he only just started doing this stuff. I have every confidence that he’s going to get better and better. LIVERPOOL FIVE is recommended.

Kindle Review: ADVENTURES OF CASH LARAMIE & GIDEON MILES V. 2, by Edward A. Grainger

The Western is alive and well, as evidenced by the work of Edward A. Grainger, better known ‘round these parts as one Mister David Cranmer. A few months back, he released THE ADVENTURES OF CASH LARAMIE & GIDEON MILES, a short story collection of remarkably thrilling tales—see my review here. Almost instantly, we readers were harassing him for more, and he’s delivered, in spades. THE ADVENTURES OF CASH LARAMIE & GIDEON MILES VOLUME II is, believe it or not, far, far better than the first volume. The action scenes are cleaner and there’s more emotional depth. It’s clear that Grainger-Cranmer has evolved as a writer, gotten closer to perfecting his craft. Maybe this comes from the deep understanding he seems to have of his hero, Cash Laramie.

The collection starts with “The Origin of White Deer”, the almost novella-length story of young Cash (before he was Cash), his last good-byes to the Arapahoe family who raised him, and his first violent encounter with the white world that set him on his path as a seeker of justice.

The very short “Maggie’s Promise” is a scathing, heartfelt indictment of racism—a theme that runs through a lot of the Cash Laramie stories.

“Miles In Between” shifts the focus to Cash’s sometime partner, Gideon Miles, and it’s the only story in the collection this time to feature him (aside from a very brief cameo later on). Gideon hasn’t been nearly as fully developed as Cash, and I hope in the next volume we get more about him.

“Cash Laramie and the Painted Ladies” is a very clever mystery story in which our man Cash displays some knowledge of Lepidopterology that comes in remarkably handy.

“Gun Justice” is probably my favorite this time out—Cash is out for vengeance against the lowlife who killed a beloved friend of his, and the fact that the killer has retreated to a town where everyone is on his side doesn’t change a thing. Cash faces off against the lot of them in a brilliantly crafted action scene.

“Cash Laramie & the Masked Devil” is also a bit of a mystery tale, with a satisfyingly Scooby-Doo-like ending.

And finally, the somber “Reflections in a Glass of Maryland Rye” finds Cash drunk and lamenting a horrible mistake in a story that examines the high cost of violence, and how the quest for justice can sometimes lead to monstrous tragedy.

THE ADVENTURES OF CASH LARAMIE & GIDEON MILES VOL. II is a top-notch collection, not just for Western fans, but anyone who appreciates solid stories told with emotional resonance and total conviction. I hope Grainger never stops writing them.

Kindle Review: SMOKE, by Nigel Bird

If you’ve read BEAT ON THE BRAT or DIRTY OLD TOWN, you know already that Nigel Bird is one of our most skillful and insightful short story writers. He’s able to flesh out a character and make him seem real in a few short paragraphs, and no matter how awful or violent the events of the story, Bird always maintains a strong sense of compassion and humanity.

This is all doubly true in his new novella from Trestle Press, SMOKE. It’s Bird’s longest published work to date (that I know of) at about 53 pages. It’s a beaut.

A duel narrative fuels this tale—in the first, a teenager named Jimmy gets himself involved with a bunch of bad sorts planning to rip off a load of cash gathered from illegal dog fighting. In the parallel thread, wheelchair-bound Carlos tries desperately to win back his girlfriend (Jimmy’s sister) from the thug she’s involved with, going to extreme measures to do so. The two stories intertwine through supporting characters and it all comes to a brutal head that not everyone will survive.

I was surprised at Bird’s willingness to go to some very nasty places in SMOKE. He doesn’t flinch from ugly violence. But really, the violence isn’t what his stories are about. SMOKE, like all of Bird’s work, is really about the strength of the human will.

"That Damned Coyote Hill" now on KIndle

My e-short from Trestle Press, "That Damned Coyote Hill", is now available on Kindle. It's .99 cents for a story jam-packed with Western action and weird horror, featuring a mysterious protagonist called Hawthorne.

Let me know if you enjoy it, okay? And the standard leaving of reviews is always appreciated. If enough of you dig Hawthorne, I have a few more of his tales to tell...

A Kindle Explosion

Hoo-boy, there’s lots of good short story collections and novellas just out at the moment, aren’t there? It seems that we’ll have a dry spell of a month or so when nothing of note comes out, and then—whammo—all the stuff we want to read hits at once and next thing you know you’ve fallen waaay behind.

Here are some superior collections that have seen the light of day just in the last few weeks. I’ve tried to be very selective here about the ones that are absolute must-reads. Let me know if I’m missing any gems, okay?

A few weeks ago, Keith Rawson released his collection THE CHAOS WE KNOW. Brilliant and brutal stuff. My review for it is here.

Nigel Bird and Chris Rhatigan edited the comprehensive PULP INK, which I only just reviewed a couple days ago. That’s here.

And speaking of Nigel Bird, his new one is called SMOKE. Haven’t read it yet, but looking forward to it. Nigel is one of my favorites.

Luca Veste, the fella putting together the upcoming anthology OFF THE RECORD, has just released LIVERPOOL FIVE.

The long-awaited collection from Patricia Abbott, MONKEY JUSTICE, is out as of today.

Edward Grainger (David Cramner) has just released the second volume of killer Western tales featuring Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles in, appropriately enough, THE ADVENTURES OF CASH LARAMIE AND GIDEON MILES, VOLUME TWO.

The always concise and remarkable Katherine Tomlinson hits us with her new collection JUST ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE.

The latest in Paul D. Brazill’s DRUNK ON THE MOON series comes from Richard Godwin, and it’s called GETTING HIGH ON DAISY.

And Jason Michel of PULP METAL has put together a “best of” from that twisted e-zine, called LAUGHING AT THE DEATH GRIN.

That’s all I can think of at the moment. Anybody else? Regardless, I can tell you that each one of these is bound to be well worth reading. Enough good stuff to see you right through the Halloween season, at least…