Tag Archives: Crime Factory: The First Shift

Crime Factory femme fatales

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Andrew Nette| 3 Comments

I have been meaning to post for the last few days about the March 5 launch of Crime Factory Publications.

It was a good night. A decent sized crowd rocked up to Grumpy’s Green in Fitzroy to hear readings by Adrian McKinty, Leigh Redhead, David Whish Wilson and Megan Abbott. The jazz band After Dark My Sweet, were on fire. We even sold a few copies of the local edition of Crime Factory: The First Shift.

The highlight for me was meeting US noir author Megan Abbott. Not only is she a fantastic writer, she was incredibly generous with her time and thoughts about all things crime fiction and noir.

She read was from her upcoming book Dare Me. Dare Me is her most contemporary novel to date, set amongst the world of competitive cheerleading. I’d never thought about cheerleaders as akin to US servicemen or, better still, the modern American equivalent of gladiators. But talking to Megan about what inspired Dare Me, and the research she did for it, neither analogy sounds too far from the mark.

I can’t tell you how much I am dying to read it.

I won’t say anything more now. I managed to grab an hour before the launch to interview Megan for the next issue of Crime Factory.… Read more

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Posted in Adrian McKinty, Crime Factory, Crime Factory Publications, Crime fiction, David Whish-Wilson, Femme fatale, Leigh Redhead, Megan Abbott, Tart noir

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Crime Factory: The First Shift Australian edition cover

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Andrew Nette| Leave a comment

I know I’ve been going on a lot on this site about Crime Factory Publications in the lead up to our March 5 launch.

Yes, that’s the one with readings from Edger Award winning author Megan Abbott, acclaimed Irish thriller writer Adrian McKinty, Perth-based crime writer David Whish-Wilson and author of the Simone Kirsch PI series, Leigh Redhead.

Well, I just wanted to give you a sneak peak at the cover for our Australian print only version of the book that came out last year through New Pulp Press in the US, Crime Factory: The First Shift. It includes stories by Ken Bruen (London Boulevard), Roger Smith (Dust Devils), Frank Bill (Crimes in Southern Indiana), Hilary Davidson (The Damage Done) and 23 others. First Shift is a great opportunity for local readers to check out the new wave of noir and hard-boiled writers in the United States who you won’t see much of in Australian bookshops.

We’ll be selling it on the night. It’ll also be available as print on demand from our website www.thecrimefactory.com

Anyway, while Iv’e got your attention, just a quick reminder that the venue on March 5 is Grumpy’s Green, 125 Smith Street, Fitzroy. Kick off is 7pm, with readings starting around 8pm. … Read more

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Posted in Adrian McKinty, Crime Factory, Crime Factory Publications, Crime fiction, David Whish-Wilson, Leigh Redhead, Megan Abbott, Noir fiction

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Who Is Gary Chance? Buy Dark Pages, Volume One, and find out

Posted on November 20, 2011 by Andrew Nette| 6 Comments

On-line publisher Trestle Press released the first of a series of international noir and hard-boiled anthologies over the weekend.

Dark Pages: Volume One tries to answer the question: What is noir/hard-boiled like all over the world? What does it mean in your country and how does it read?

The anthology contains twelve stories from authors in USA, England, Ireland, Poland, New Zealand and Canada. There’s a few contributors whose work I’m familiar with, including pulp hack Paul D Brazill (and Paul, if you’re reading this, that’s a compliment) and Julia Madeleine, and a whole lot who I’m looking forward to reading for the first time.

I’m one of two Australian contributors.

My story, ‘One Ashore in Singapore’, is the second tale of mine to find its way into print featuring the character of Gary Chance. Chance is a tough as nails ex-Australian army veteran who now makes a living pulling heists for anyone who’ll pay.

My first Chance story ‘Two Men and a Car’, appeared in Crime Factory: The First Shift, published earlier this year by indie US crime publisher, New Pulp Press. You can order Crime Factory: The First Shift here at Barns and Noble and Amazon.

Chance will also appear in early 2012 in an anthology of local crime fiction by a new Australian publisher, Dark Prints Press.… Read more

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Posted in Crime fiction, Noir fiction

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Psycho preacher alert: Heath Lowrance’s The Bastard Hand

Posted on September 27, 2011 by Andrew Nette| 3 Comments

Ever since seeing Robert Mitchum as Harry Powell in the 1955 classic, Night of the Hunter, I’ve had a thing for itinerant unbalanced evangelical preachers.

Which is one reason I enjoyed Detroit-based writer Heath Lowrance’s debut novel, The Bastard Hand, so much.

The book is narrated by Charlie, a drifter fresh out of a psychiatric care where he was put after killing a policeman. He’s having a few problems adjusting to post-institutional life, little things, like the fact his hands glow with the power of God in the presence of wrongdoers.

After getting mugged within hours of arriving in Memphis, Charlie befriends a Baptist Reverend called Phineas Childe, agreeing to accompany him to the town of Cuba Landing, where the Reverend will be working.

Although Childe is no match for Mitchum’s Powell in the killing stakes, he is nonetheless a lying, drinking, womanizing, sleazy opportunist who manages to be charming and menacing at the same time.

Lowrance takes the reader on a wild ride through the corruption and deceit that bubbles away beneath the surface of Cuba Landing. Along the way we meet some great characters, including a couple of backwoods moonshiners, a bent mayor and his cop flunky, and a stick up gang of crack heads.

The Bastard Hand is by turns a lurid hard-boiled suspense novel and an elegant piss take of evangelical religion and small town mores.… Read more

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Posted in Book Reviews, Crime fiction, Noir fiction, Robert Mitchum

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New crime anthologies and Ned Kelly Awards

Posted on September 1, 2011 by Andrew Nette| 3 Comments

An interesting trend that seems to be occurring parallel with the rise of e-publishing is the growing popularity of short story anthologies.

I’m told by people who know about these things, that anthologies are not popular with mainstream publishers. Well, e-publishing is now allowing small niche publishers to get their product out there.

Exhibits A and B are two upcoming crime anthologies, both of which I have stories in.

In September, the first Crime Factory anthology will be available through US indie crime publisher, New Pulp Press.

Crime Factory: The First Shift contains 28 noir stories from established and emerging authors in the US, UK, South Africa and Australia. There’s names Australian crime readers may be familiar with, including Ken Bruen (author of The White Trilogy and London Boulevard), Adrian McKinty (Falling Glass), and local writer, Leigh Redhead (Thrill City).

First Shift is also a chance for Australian audiences to check out several members of the new wave of noir writers in the United States who are relatively unknown here, including Hilary Davidson, Dave Zeltserman, Scott Wolven and Dennis Tafoya. South African writer, Roger Smith, whose upcoming book Dust Devils is on my to read list, also contributed a story.

You can pre-order Crime Factory: The First Shift here at Barns and Noble and Amazon.… Read more

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Posted in Angela Savage, Australian crime fiction, Crime Factory, Crime fiction, Crime fiction and film from Africa, Ned Kelly Awards, Neo Noir

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