Sick Burn Cut--At Last the Reappearance of Our Lady of the Ugly Ones in Spokane, Washington

by Deran Ludd

punk gay gangster novel set in Spokane, WA

Genres: Fiction

187 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Deran Ludd takes traditional genre fiction, twists it and twists it, adds unusual characters, and tells tales pumped with action, woe, and dark humor.

Ludd is the author of three novels: Sick Burn Cut (Semiotext[e], 1992) and No Aloha (Semiotext[e], 1999; DIY ebook edition, 2010) and The Carnage Motel (DIY ebook edition 2017)

Ludd is also the author of several short stories, including eshort stories Upshot, He Has A Face Like A Steel Trap, and Hypnotizing Chickens. All my short stories are available FREE at Smashwords and from most other ebook outlets.

Reviews

[Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary is a 31 year old man with a gun in a cheap cotton dress.
What more do you need to know?

[Roger Boyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book along time ago, but it really seared my memory. It describes some unspeakably nasty events in a thoroughly entertaining way. Not one for the children.

[6655321 · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is kind of *the* definitive semiotext(e) novel of a really particular era. It goes nowhere, has some interesting writing and it reflects a really particular set of fascinations (in this case having a kind of fucked up sense of characters who are basically trans but are referred to as transvestite which is a real thing just Ludd does not really pronoun in a way that doesn't feel kinda awkward at the most charitable, guns, stiff cocktails, cigarettes, card games, gang warfare, Islam, and religious cults). And that is the problem: there are a few interesting ideas, some interesting characters, a sort-of-conflict-that-doesn't-really-advance and 2 parallel narratives but nothing really happens. I don't know anything about Deran Ludd but it seems like he was trying to be edgy but had no idea how to execute this effectively. And that is sort of a big problem because giving a really complex and interesting backstory to a character who effectively does nothing is a problem, having your main character exhibit a contradictory set of descriptors is a big problem, not having a sense of why anyone would do anything is a big problem, there are great descriptions of hating hipsters and playing complicated card games while drinking but there isn't much else and i can't really recommend this book for that reason?