Thomas Pluck's Blog, page 74

Off the Record!

Crime-writin' pal Luca Veste gave an update on his OFF THE RECORD anthology, stories inspired by classic rock songs. I'm doing Freebird. Play some Skynyrd, man! Check it out at:



GUILTY CONSCIENCE





© 2011 Thomas Pluck

Legacy of Brutality

I'm not real smart, but I listen good.

I learned early, you don't talk much, people ignore you. When you're big like me, they call you a big dumb ox and stay out of your way.

"That boy dumb as dirt and twice as ugly."

"Look like someone try knock his brains out with the ugly stick."

Growing up, I heard it all. Momma told me not to get in no more fights, or I'd get kicked out of school. Didn't matter anyway. I never finished, but not for getting in fights. Without Momma, the state took me in. So I fought back, until they left me alone with the weight pile.

I still hit the gym every day. It keeps me out of trouble. When I was a kid it got me in trouble, but now it keeps me out of trouble. Funny how that is.

The girls don't want nothing to do with me. I don't blame them. I got a lot of scars. I hear 'em sometimes, "That boy look like a rape machine."

I never hit no woman. Anyone says I did, they can answer to my own two hands.





If you'd like to read more, pick up Pulp Modern #1 at Createspace and Amazon.



"Legacy of Brutality" continues the story of Denny "the Dent" Forrest from my story Rain Dog in Crimespree no.43, so if you enjoyed that short story, this one's quite a bit longer and gets Denny in a lot more trouble...










© 2011 Thomas Pluck

Bullets and Beginnings

While I was on vacation, I received the First place Bullet Award from Geoff Eighinger for my story "Black-Eyed Susan," which appeared in Powder Burn Flash. It was picked as the best crime story online in September 2011, and I'm honored to be chosen. CHECK IT OUT and read my story and the second and third place winners, both excellent stories- "Road Kill" by William Dylan Powell and "Moving Day" by Laurie Powers.



Also while I was away, Patti Nase Abbott posted "How I Came to Write This Story," a piece I wrote about my story "A Glutton for Punishment" which appears in Beat to a Pulp. Thanks to Patti for letting me jaw about a tale that means a lot to me, on her fine blog.





© 2011 Thomas Pluck

Review: Headstone

Headstone by Ken Bruen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



This was my introduction to noir poet Ken Bruen, and I will be diving into his prolific writings immediately. The latest in the Jack Taylor series, Bruen peels back the veneer of Galway and shows the machinations of the idyllic seaside town through real and broken people who love it. Jack Taylor is a hard drinking man who believes "law is for the courthouse and justice is served in the alleyways," a dinosaur relic in our ethically wobbly times. With a verbal economy verging on poetry and a masterful eye for human character, Bruen is a force of nature and his latest novel with the Mysterious Press is a treasure. If you haven't read him before, like myself, you'll be kicking yourself for waiting so long.



View all my reviews

Review: Paris Trout

Paris Trout by Pete Dexter

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



An amazing picture of a small Southern town post-Korean war, where a psychopathic man has risen to be pillar of the community. WE see him through his wife, the black girl he murders in a fathomless rage, his lawyer, and the Eagle scout war hero who aims to be the new face of the town. Written in a laconic and poetic voice reminiscent of James Crumley, this novel will take you into the darkness of the human heart and leave its mysteries intact. Winner of the national book award, and deservedly so.



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Neon Pink 80s Time Machine

Like the Tangerine Dream soundtrack to my favorite crime film, Michael Mann's gleaming gritty THIEF, the latest neo-noir crime tale DRIVE has an amazingly lush score that immerses you in its dead-end fantasy world.





You can download it at Amazon, but I hope they release a vinyl version, maybe a picture disc or one with a hologram-etched scorpion on one side and his primer gray Malibu street beast on the other.










© 2011 Thomas Pluck

Introducing... Pulp Modern

Today marks the release of the first issue of Pulp Modern, the new quarterly edited by Alec Cizak- formerly of All Due Respect. It is currently available on CREATESPACE and will be available on Amazon within the week, if you prefer. Ten bones for a monster collection of pulp crime, adventure, science fiction, westerns from the likes of my literary hero Lawrence Block and other writers whose work I rush to read whenever it sees print. And me, yeah. Whew. Got a chill there.



My story "Legacy of Brutality," the first Denny "the Dent" Forrest story, appears here. If you enjoyed  "Rain Dog" in Crimespree Magazine #43, get yourself some Pulp Modern. You'll see Denny at the gym, learn how he got so huge, and see his unique form of right and wrong put into play once again.



Please follow the link above to purchase. I'll buy you a beer if you're disappointed. And I'll buy you two if you're not.



The line-up:

LAWRENCE BLOCK

JIMMY CALLAWAY

JAMES DUNCAN

C.J. EDWARDS

GARNETT ELLIOTT

MELISSA EMBRY

EDWARD A. GRAINGER

GLENN GRAY

DAVID JAMES KEATON

JOHN KENYON

CHRIS LA TRAY

YARROW PAISLEY

MATTHEW PIZZOLATO

THOMAS PLUCK

STEPHEN D. ROGERS

SANDRA SEAMANS

COPPER SMITH



Interior art:

BRIAN ROE



Cover art:

JEREMY SELZER





© 2011 Thomas Pluck

Dead Man's Shoes

This is one of my favorite revenge films. It is not a pleasant film to watch at all. Not for its violence, which is generally off screen, but for the raw pain of Paddy Considine as a soldier who fled his mentally challenged brother and comes home to wreak havoc on the local trash who've been tormenting him. No film captures the roots of guilt and shame in vengeance as good as this one.



Read my full review at Jimmy Callaway's LET'S FIGHT EVERYBODY! film blog.



© 2011 Thomas Pluck

Review: Drive

Drive by James Sallis

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



A brilliant clutter of scenes of a man's life that form the empty whole of a noir icon, the criminal savant getaway driver. A stunt man, a child survivor, a Parker-esque ghost of vengeance who wants only to be left alone...
Sallis cuts this novel to the bone, it is a mere 117 pages but it satisfies and paints a huge canvas by leaving so much white space between the art that our mind fills in the blanks. You can read this in one sitting; I chose to savor it. As an e-book it is a little harder to follow because the page breaks aren't well formatted, so I'd suggest print.
It's a truly masterful characterization and a terrific story. It was inevitable that it would become a movie. The movie itself captures much of what is told here but tells its own tale. I'd highly recommend enjoying both. The film is a Michael Mann-inspired blast that shocks us with its silence and long still interludes, much as Sallis's novel takes "less is more" to a perfectly executed extreme. The soundtrack is a lost '80s album. The garish pink title script tells it all.
The performances are all pitch perfect. If you say you like noir you owe yourself to read the book and see the film.

Modern movies often leave me cold; so does nihilistic noir. But both book and film thrilled me like I'd discovered the genre for the first time.




View all my reviews

PROTECT acknowledges our work

Thanks to the hard work of Fiona Johnson, Ron Earl Phillips, and everyone who contributed stories to the Lost  Children Flash Fiction Challenge- our donations have been recognized.



(Direct link to their website)

Thomas Pluck and Fiona Johnson - Flash Fiction Friday

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Thursday, 22 September 2011 09:00












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Thomas Pluck, a writer and long-time PROTECT supporter, and his friend Fiona Johnson have teamed up to do a fundraiser for PROTECT, Scotland's Children 1st and Living Water for Girls. We give them both our heartfelt thanks and appreciation for their efforts.

We invite you to visit Flash Fiction Friday to read some of the stories submitted. For Pluck's interview with Fiona Johnson, click here: "Checking in with The Lost Children Challenge," Fictionaut Blog, a literary community for adventurous readers and writers.

If you would like to visit Pluck's website, click here.

And, stay tuned for news about an e-book anthology, the second part of their fundraising efforts, with the proceeds going to PROTECT and Children 1st.


 

© 2011 Thomas Pluck