Guest's Crime Fiction Choice - Alan Griffiths...

WARNING: Adult content...
Today I'm well chuffed to welcome my good friend Al' - a 'Brit Grit' cockney geezer, who's a dab hand with pen & ink... little cockney rhyming slang joke there... no? Okay. Over to you Al...

Alan Griffith's Crime Fiction Choice

HARD BITE by ANONYMOUS-9 - Beat to a Pulp, Dec.2008.

Recently I’ve been privileged to be one of the few hot-off-the-press readers to peek at Anonymous-9’s completed novel length manuscript of Hard Bite. And, in my humble opinion, a humdinger of a novel it is. Tightly plotted and twisty narrative, great characters, a page turner….

But I digress because today I’d like to beg a few minutes of your time to acquaint you with the original, award winning short story.

When Col kindly asked me to write a few words for this feature I immediately thought of Hard Bite. Why? Well, when I first read this story it just struck a chord. Had me thinking, Hell, I wish I could write like that. And, whenever I re-read this story (which I do) it inspires me to try…

I like to kill people.

It's important to admit the truth to yourself, even if you lie to others, and I do a lot of lying in my line of work. Inside my head, I try to keep the truth black and white, no grey area: I like to kill. I love to kill, people.

So starts Anonymous-9’s Spinetingler award winning short story Hard Bite; published online at Beat to a Pulp and in print within the BTAP Round One anthology.

Did the voice get your attention? Grab you by the throat and shake you a little? Mulling over a decision: Should I connect with this nut job and keep reading?

I think it did.

Because for me it is the voice of A-9’s wise-cracking protagonist that is the key to this brilliantly told story.

As the piece unfolds you realise that this is not just a cold hearted, deranged and cynical psychopath but, after a cruel blow by fate, a wheelchair bound cripple. Who is hell-bent on bringing righteous vengeance to evil people.

What do you do with your life motherfucker???? ..........Sorry, I rant sometimes. Sorry, buddy. Keep reading. Please.

The killer is talking to you. Calling you buddy so you will set aside any preconceived ideas or prejudice; engage and listen to his story.

And, what an original tale it is.

A Los Angeles rock n roll ride: A hardboiled narrative, pared to the bone; sprinkled with deliciously dark and tragic humour. Spiced with a thirteen-year-old capuchin monkey helper with a porn habit, a rental chic that lets our killer hero have his wicked way free once a week, a transsexual surprised in the shower and a fight-dog execution scene.

I kill for extremely personal reasons. Starting with the individual who hit me with his black BMW, carrying me ten blocks on the grille, braking so I'd fall off, and gunning over top of me, shattering my neck, crushing my left arm and feet, and squashing my large intestine to mush. I can't digest much of anything, but my dick still works. Go figger.

But for me it is all about the voice.

Don’t just take my word for it; check it out. And when you have been blown away by Hard Bite check out M-N-S (n): murder-necrophilia-suicide at Plots with Guns and The Master Bedroom also at Beat to a Pulp.

Hard Bite is not just a one off. Anonymous-9 is a seriously talented writer, transcending the Crime and Horror genres. This mysterious lady has been nominated for a Spinetingler award for Best Short Story on the Web twice over (2009 & 2010); winning it once (2009).

My hat is doffed to you, A-9 and thanks for the entertainment!

And thank you, Al!

BIO:
Alan Griffiths, a rookie writer, hails from the badlands of South London, England. His fictional crimes can be found on websites such as: A Twist of Noir, Thrillers, Killers n Chillers and Radgepacket Online. His story, ‘Concrete Jungle’, features in the e-book anthology Discount Noir published by Untreed Reads. ‘Say Hello, Wave Goodbye’ will be published in the forthcoming Byker Books anthology: Radgepacket – Tales from the Inner Cities Volume 5. His literary hero is Ernie Wise and when the mood takes him he blogs at: http://britgrit.blogspot.com/

Guest's Crime Fiction Choice - Ian Ayris

WARNING: X-rated language from the start...
Today's guest reviewer is fellow Brit, Ian, a talented yarn-spinner I admire, whose top notch stories seem to be popping up everywhere.

Ian Ayris's Crime Fiction Choice.

SAVANT by A.J. Hayes, A Twist of Noir, October 2010.

'Fuckin' guns. It's always fuckin' guns. They think they pull a fuckin' gun and everybody just goes shit that's a fuckin' gun and falls down.'

With an opening like that, you just know you're reading something special.

And it's like that all the way through. The writing. Sharp and nonchalant all at the same time. Breaking so many rules of convention yet making you think, no, this is how writing should be. This is how writing can be.

Savant introduces us to Jimmy, a twelve year old autistic kid with a penchant for, well, violence. We see him standing amidst bodies, the 'skinny black kid in the red shrift-store hoodie'.

The narrator, Jimmy's friend, Holmes, lets us in early on there's something special about Jimmy, something to be wary of. So when local drug lord Sanchez turns up and starts waving his gun around, we're just waiting. Waiting for Jimmy.

And Jimmy... Jimmy doesn't disappoint.

A brilliantly written and conceived tale that knocked me flat when I first read it, and continues to do so.

Talk about a writer finding his voice.

Fantastic.


Bio:
Ian Ayris has had over thirty short stories published both online and in print. He lives in London, with his wife and three children, and his debut novel 'Abide With Me' will be published through Caffeine Nights Publishing late 2011. Ian blogs at ianayris.blogspot.com and can be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/ian.ayris

Col Bury's Crime Fiction Choice...

Col Bury's Crime Fiction Choice #10

CHARLES IN CHARGE - by Sean Patrick Reardon

Sean chose the rarely used 2nd POV for this Halloween short over at TKnC, and expertly pulled it off.

When a family man fighting his demons takes a trip to the fairground with his teenage daughter, things go horribly wrong, culminating in an unexpected denouement.

Col Bury's Crime Fiction Choice #11

PILLOW TALK - by Jodi MacArthur

Found this beaut over at Beat to a Pulp. From the title, I initially thought it was gonna be a cosy number, but how wrong could I be?

The central character, Henrietta, has to be one of the most disturbing female protags I've read in any short around. Fierce, yet unembellished, in its delivery, this creepy tale will keep you shuddering long after the final word.

Col Bury's Crime Fiction Choice #12

SLASH AND BURN - by Matt Hilton

In the third of the Joe Hunter crime thriller series, Matt Hilton provides the compulsory action, bullets, explosions and body count. However this time, not only is it sprinkled with dark humour, but also a pleasantly surprising touch of romance for tough guy Hunter, which adds further story depth.

In this adventure, Hunter is up against a murderous businessman (Huffman) who has kidnapped Hunter's dead, Special Forces friend's sister in a bid to save the former's corrupt empire from crumbling. If this isn't enough, the formidable Bolan twins on Hunter's tail remind me of Heavyweight Champs, the Klitschko brothers.

When reading a novel it's preferable to learn something new, and here I could certainly tell from the face-to-face combat that it was penned by a martial arts expert. The author is the first to concede it won't be everyone's cuppa, but if you like escaping via entertaining, dynamic prose and the thrill of the chase - in this case, from Florida through to Little Fork, Kentucky - then look no further than Slash and Burn.