Category Archives: Noir fiction

My year in books: Tom Pitts

Posted on December 8, 2013 by Andrew Nette| 3 Comments

Piggyback-coverNext cab off the rank in the ‘my year in books’ series I’m running over December is one of my fellow authors in the Snubnose Press stable, Tom Pitts.

Tom is the author of a great little novella, which I read earlier this year, Piggyback. It’s the story of two young women who like to party and think they’ve ripped off a car trunk load of free drugs, when in fact all they’ve really done is bring down a s*** load of chaos upon themselves.

Piggyback, along with all other Snubnose Press titles (including my novel, Ghost Money), is currently just 99 cents until before Christmas.

Anyway, enough of my shilling.

Tom’s got a novel called Hustle due out with Snubnose in 2014. 

You can find him on the web here.

Tom, your five minutes start now…

Under the Dixie Moon, Ro Cuzon

I’m often seen touting the wares of French-born, New Orleans transplant, Ro Cuzon. That’s because he’s great, this book is great. It’s a huge tale with a lot of moving parts and it manages to tie them all together in an end-run marathon of staccato chapters that build and build until you think it’s got nowhere to go–then it takes you further.… Read more

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Posted in Crime fiction, Noir fiction, Snubnose Press

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My year in books: Angela Savage

Posted on December 6, 2013 by Andrew Nette| 15 Comments

Next up on the ‘my year in books’ series running on this site over December, is crime writer (and my long time partner) Angela Savage.

Angela is the author of three highly acclaimed crime novels based in Thailand and featuring the Australian PI Jayne Keeney. The most recent of these books, The Dying Beach was published in 2013 and is available here.

She’s also got a great website, or “piece of author real estate”, as I’ve heard these things referred to by book marketing people. You can find it here.

Welcome Angela

While Andrew specified that my top five reads for 2013 didn’t have to be crime, I figured crime picks would appeal to regular readers of Pulpcurry. I read a lot of crime in 2013—some 40 books as of early December—but I didn’t realise just how many were recent releases until I sat down to compose this list. The books that made the cut ultimately combine memorable plots and characters with great writing.

After the Darkness, Honey Brown

I read three of Honey Brown’s tense, atmospheric and erotic thrillers in 2013. Difficult as it is to pick a favourite, After the Darkness just pips her debut Red Queen and this year’s Dark Horse to make this list because it is one of the few genuinely scary books I’ve ever read.… Read more

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Posted in Adrian McKinty, Angela Savage, Australian crime fiction, Don Winslow, Noir fiction

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My year in books: Margot Kinberg

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Andrew Nette| 31 Comments

For the second instalment of my year in books series, I’m very happy to welcome Margot Kinberg. Margot is one of those people who make the crime fiction community such a cool place to hang out in, a mystery novelist who has a genuine passion for reading, writing and talking about crime fiction. She has a wonderful website, Confessions of Mystery Novelist. It’s full of thoughtful reviews and features on a truly eclectic selection of crime fiction. You can check it out here.

Welcome Margot.

Thanks very much for hosting me, Andrew; it’s a real honour. I’ve been asked to share my five best crime fiction reads of 2013 and to tell the truth, that’s quite a difficult undertaking. I’ve read some fantastic crime fiction this year and it’s very hard to narrow it down to just five novels. Let’s say, then, that these are five novels that have had a profound impact on me. Here they are in no particular order:

Witness the Night, Kishwar Desai

This astounding debut novel tells the story of the murders of thirteen members of the wealthy Atwal family, and the efforts of one social worker to find out what happened on the night they died. It’s an unflinching look at life in Punjab, at the choices people make and why they make them, and at the effects of class, wealth and prejudice.… Read more

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Posted in Crime fiction, Noir fiction

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My year in books: Jake Hinkson

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Andrew Nette| 5 Comments

sh_frontCover_181113Welcome to the first of a series of posts I’m going to be running on my site over December, along the theme of my year in books.

I thought it would be great to ask a dozen or so writers and bloggers whose work I dig to do me a short overview of their five favourite reads in 2013.

While, all the people I’ve asked are crime writers, I  specified their top five didn’t have to be crime. Neither did they have to be published in 2013. The individual concerned just had to have read them this year.

First cab off the rank is Jake Hinkson. A lot of you will know his work and, if you don’t you might want to check it out, because the guy knows his noir fiction. He is the author of Hell On Church Street, The Posthumous Man, and an upcoming novella with Crime Factory Publications, Saint Homicide.

He blogs on all things noir at his site, The Night Editor. Take it away, Jake.

A Simple Plan, Scott Smith

I’ve long been a fan of Sam Raimi’s excellent 1999 adaptation of Smith’s novel about three men who discover a crashed plane full of stolen money, but this year was the first time I read Smith original novel.… Read more

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Posted in Crime fiction, Noir fiction

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Beat to a Pulp Hardboiled 3 is live

Posted on November 24, 2013 by Andrew Nette| 2 Comments

Harboiled

I can’t think of a better way to finish 2013, than to have a story in a new anthology of crime fiction, Beat to a Pulp Hardboiled 3.

For those of you not familiar with it, Beat to a Pulp is an awesome little (although it seems to be expanding each time I look) US operation run by hardboiled crime fiction enthusiast, editor and all round gent, David Cranmer.

It features regular short crime fiction by some of the coolest writers around. David’s also increasingly active publishing his books and novellas under the Beat to a Pulp imprint.

If this sounds like your kind of thing, add it to your bookmarks because it’s a great site.

Anyway, for the last three years running, David has collected the best of the fiction appearing in Beat to a Pulp and released it as an anthology.

I have a story in the latest anthology, Beat to a Pulp Hardboiled 3. ‘One Ashore in Singapore’ features my character Gary Chance, formerly of the Australian army and now a professional criminal. It’s a down and dirty tale of false identities, double dealings and the challenges of finding late night accommodation.

It’s my chance to play with some of the big girls and boys of the US hardboiled crime fiction scene – Patti Abbott, Hilary Davidson, Chris F Holm, Kieran Shea, Josh Stallings, Sophie Littlefield, Keith Rawson, and Fred Blosser.… Read more

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Posted in Crime fiction, Noir fiction

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