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Happy Hour and Other Philadelphia Cruelties
A young grifter steals an overcoat. As he discovers forty-thousand dollars in its inside pocket, the coat’s owners come after him. The action never stops as his pursuers seem to be both ahead and behind him at all times, killing and destroying everything in their wake to catch up with their money and the young thief.
Happy Hour is as breathless as writing can be.
Knighton’s debut novella is accompanied by a selection of short stories that can run with the best of American Noir literature. It’s cold out there, folks
Happy Hour is as breathless as writing can be.
Knighton’s debut novella is accompanied by a selection of short stories that can run with the best of American Noir literature. It’s cold out there, folks
- GenresCrimeShort Stories
220 pages, Paperback
First published June 6, 2015
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185 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 7, 2017
Knighton writes as well as the best noir authors. Happy Hour is a relentless, energetic, and punchy novella that reminds me of his hometown predecessor, David Goodis. If you love noir and haven't read Knighton, get on it!
September 16, 2015
Terrific dark noir fiction collection!
The title story alone is worth the price of the book - one of the best chase scenes I have ever read! The rest of the stories are great, too. Many of them are small vignettes that hit you like a punch in the guts.
Excellent writing combined with well-rounded, interesting characters.
You can't go wrong with this book!
The title story alone is worth the price of the book - one of the best chase scenes I have ever read! The rest of the stories are great, too. Many of them are small vignettes that hit you like a punch in the guts.
Excellent writing combined with well-rounded, interesting characters.
You can't go wrong with this book!
June 10, 2019
Some great stories, and some not so great.
March 22, 2021
Pleasantly surprised
These were very entertaining stories. Various shady characters in the underbelly of Philadelphia getting into all sorts of trouble. Glad I discovered it!
These were very entertaining stories. Various shady characters in the underbelly of Philadelphia getting into all sorts of trouble. Glad I discovered it!
July 6, 2016
In addition to being one of our American heroes (a lieutenant in the Philly fire department), Tony Knighton is an author who should be garnering some attention soon. His fiction is dark and gritty and as dirty as the Philadelphia streets he writes about in his novella HAPPY HOUR and the other "Philadelphia Cruelties" included in this debut collection.
The title novella in the collection is a frantic urban chase story through a landscape filled with all the elements of a gritty, down and dirty noir classic. The characters range from the amoral protagonist and spiral downward in varying levels of lowlife till we find the tale scraping the bottom of society's barrel, painting a cast of perfectly fucked-up characters on a dark and brutal canvas. The story wastes no time going from zero to light-speed as Knighton draws us in, his voice concise and sharp as a well honed razor blade:
"The big guy turned and looked as the door opened; more people came in, another well-dressed group of six or seven, all mostly young. They worked their way through the crowd toward the back room and it was apparent that they, like others in the bar were in the grip of that early Friday night expectancy. I remembered that feeling, that it was all out there in front of you— the evening, the weekend, your whole life."
That voice combined with near perfect character development, and breathtaking, unapologetically violent action makes for an excellent classic sounding pulp-noir story with a heart that belongs to the darker side of fiction.
HAPPY HOUR all by itself makes this book an outstanding and worthy addition to the pulp universe. Add in all the other little shots to the heart and you have a collection of dark and brooding crime fiction befitting the shelf of any fan of dark fiction and pulp noir. From a serial killer that makes a poor and damning choice to an arsonist with a shocking secret, Knighton's stories surprise and delight with their unflinching violence and gleefully twisted themes. HAPPY HOUR AND OTHER PHILADELPHIA CRUELTIES reads like a masterclass in American pulp-noir fiction, Knighton's imagination and storytelling ability adding strange and unexpected twists and turns to every single story in the book.
If you're a lover of happy endings you should probably stay away from noir in general, and you should stay away from this one for damn sure. Knighton writes bleak, brooding noir like a man possessed and you won't find much glitter in the frozen, filthy backstreets of this Philadelphia thrill ride. If you like your fiction pulpy and dark, this is what you're looking for. HAPPY HOUR AND OTHER PHILADELPHIA CRUELTIES is as pulpy as they come and black as a winter night in Philly. If you love noir and you haven't read the work of Tony Knighton, do yourself a favor and remedy that soon.
The title novella in the collection is a frantic urban chase story through a landscape filled with all the elements of a gritty, down and dirty noir classic. The characters range from the amoral protagonist and spiral downward in varying levels of lowlife till we find the tale scraping the bottom of society's barrel, painting a cast of perfectly fucked-up characters on a dark and brutal canvas. The story wastes no time going from zero to light-speed as Knighton draws us in, his voice concise and sharp as a well honed razor blade:
"The big guy turned and looked as the door opened; more people came in, another well-dressed group of six or seven, all mostly young. They worked their way through the crowd toward the back room and it was apparent that they, like others in the bar were in the grip of that early Friday night expectancy. I remembered that feeling, that it was all out there in front of you— the evening, the weekend, your whole life."
That voice combined with near perfect character development, and breathtaking, unapologetically violent action makes for an excellent classic sounding pulp-noir story with a heart that belongs to the darker side of fiction.
HAPPY HOUR all by itself makes this book an outstanding and worthy addition to the pulp universe. Add in all the other little shots to the heart and you have a collection of dark and brooding crime fiction befitting the shelf of any fan of dark fiction and pulp noir. From a serial killer that makes a poor and damning choice to an arsonist with a shocking secret, Knighton's stories surprise and delight with their unflinching violence and gleefully twisted themes. HAPPY HOUR AND OTHER PHILADELPHIA CRUELTIES reads like a masterclass in American pulp-noir fiction, Knighton's imagination and storytelling ability adding strange and unexpected twists and turns to every single story in the book.
If you're a lover of happy endings you should probably stay away from noir in general, and you should stay away from this one for damn sure. Knighton writes bleak, brooding noir like a man possessed and you won't find much glitter in the frozen, filthy backstreets of this Philadelphia thrill ride. If you like your fiction pulpy and dark, this is what you're looking for. HAPPY HOUR AND OTHER PHILADELPHIA CRUELTIES is as pulpy as they come and black as a winter night in Philly. If you love noir and you haven't read the work of Tony Knighton, do yourself a favor and remedy that soon.
May 28, 2020
Happy Hour and Other Philadelphia Cruelties is a collection of short crime fiction by author Tony Knighton, with the title story being the first and longest, verging almost towards novella length.
This could just be a personal preference, but I struggled to get through the collection. I found the writing to be dry, and there was barely a likeable character to be found in the whole lot. It’s a sparse style, which might fit better with fans of noir, but for the most part, the stories read as a list of events that happened, rather than an actual story.
This is especially true of the title story, which felt like the same thing happening, again and again, in slightly different locations. Not to mention the women in this collection are so flat, with so little agency it really did feel like I’d gone back to the height of noir.
There was one story that really stood out – one that slipped more into sci-fi, set in a world where oxygen is a precious commodity, and rain must be avoided. It’s the one story where we actually root for the main character, and with the focus on him and his son, it was hard not to get attached.
For the most part, however, the stark style and flat characters really didn’t gel with me. I like characters I can root for, in some way, characters I can actually connect with, even if they’re not the best of people.
This book didn’t hit that note for me, but I can definitely see how others might enjoy this style and sense of bleakness.
This could just be a personal preference, but I struggled to get through the collection. I found the writing to be dry, and there was barely a likeable character to be found in the whole lot. It’s a sparse style, which might fit better with fans of noir, but for the most part, the stories read as a list of events that happened, rather than an actual story.
This is especially true of the title story, which felt like the same thing happening, again and again, in slightly different locations. Not to mention the women in this collection are so flat, with so little agency it really did feel like I’d gone back to the height of noir.
There was one story that really stood out – one that slipped more into sci-fi, set in a world where oxygen is a precious commodity, and rain must be avoided. It’s the one story where we actually root for the main character, and with the focus on him and his son, it was hard not to get attached.
For the most part, however, the stark style and flat characters really didn’t gel with me. I like characters I can root for, in some way, characters I can actually connect with, even if they’re not the best of people.
This book didn’t hit that note for me, but I can definitely see how others might enjoy this style and sense of bleakness.
November 22, 2016
Tony Knighton’s novella Happy Hour has so much narrative energy I couldn't put it down. Amidst all this momentum, it also paints a vivid, gritty portrait of Philadelphia that jumps off the page. The undertone of unemployment and drug use are well-managed and I felt empathy for the main character even as he commits one crime after another. The opening scene is one of the best things I’ve read in a while. I also very much enjoyed the stories included here, especially "Scavengers," "Sunrise," "Mr. Wonderful" and "As Long as You Can." Knighton has done proud the noir traditions of David Goodis, Donald Westlake, and Jim Thompson. Readers of the late, great Mississippi author Larry Brown, who, like Knighton, served in the Marine Corps and worked as a fireman, will admire this book too.
January 3, 2016
I won this book an in a Goodreads Giveaway. Happy Hour by Tony Knighton includes a novella and eleven short stories. The novella: Happy Hour is a psychological thriller that left me guessing until the very end. I don't usually read short stories but most of these were entertaining. They were all suspenseful and/ or crime related.
September 22, 2016
Too much explicit sex and drugs
I wanted to read this as I had spent years living in Philadelphia, but the main character started using drugs. The explicit sex parts then brought my interest to a close.
I wanted to read this as I had spent years living in Philadelphia, but the main character started using drugs. The explicit sex parts then brought my interest to a close.
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December 11, 2016There are no good people in these stories. Loved it.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews