“Why is it always a blonde?” About once a year there comes along a book that irks me for a strong reason. A very strong reason. It might be the author’s vast credentials that appear to have been squandered, the inability to push the genre when it wishes to do so badly, or just the…
“’I don’t steal from anyone who can’t afford it, and I don’t hurt anyone who doesn’t deserve it.’” Jason Statham decided to star in a crime movie that doesn’t require driving. Called it “Parker.” Being the first adaptation of Richard Stark’s Parker series to use the main character’s name, I found this version to be…
“’I’m going to drink his blood, I’m going to chew up his heart and spit it into the gutter for the dogs to raise a leg at. I’m going to peel the skin off him and rip out his veins and hang him with them.’” If Raymond Chandler invented the hardboiled genre, Richard Stark perfected…
“You’re broke, eh?” “I been shaking two nickels together for a month, trying to get them to mate.” This is the novel that penned the hardboiled genre, giving greatness to short, snappy sentences and tough anti-heroes. What this is not, however, is a noir novel. One is defined by the terse sentence structure, the tarter…
“’I guess I’d be bitter, too, if I saw all my friends turn into gods while I was still the bum on the corner, hoping they’d throw me a nickel.’ ‘See? It’s that asshole thing that’s going to get you killed soon.’ ‘Did I hurt your feelings again? Sorry. When this is over, I’ll send…
Smiling always seems to annoy people more then insulting them. Or maybe I have an annoying smile. I entered this book with a bit of apprehension. I heard many people gush over these books, saying they’re the best Detective Fantasy books around. Being a noir writer, I hate the illusion that people give stating that…
Acerbic Writing 