Review: BEAT to a PULP: Hardboiled

BEAT to a PULP: Hardboiled by Glenn Gray

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Disclaimer: I have a story in this anthology.
But leaving that out, this was a great read. You got some quick hard slaps of pulpy goodness from John Hornor Jacobs, Amy Grech and Ron Earl Phillips, a heartbreaker from Patti Abbott, a great tense tale by Kieran Shea, a yakuza black comedy by Garnett Elliott, shenanigans at the morgue with Glenn Gray, and one hell of a finisher: a Joe Hannibal tale from Wayne Dundee, which shows us all how it's done. Written with the ease of a natural storyteller, his tale of a hitman popping up at a lake resort didn't go where I expected, and introduced me to a trio of masterfully crafted characters. The kind of writing that makes your inner reader joyful and your inner writer humbled.
Overall an excellent collection spanning the legacy of hardboiled, from newcomers like myself to a legend like Mr. Dundee, who began Hardboiled magazine.

And to toot my own horn, the story of mine in here is "Black-Eyed Susan," picked out for several top-5 lists at Death by Killing, and winner of the Bullet award in September.

Check this one out, you won't regret it.



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