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Two Bullets Solve Everything
In Disco Rumble Fish, author Ryan Sayles rewinds to the 1970's when Richard Dan Buckner rolled with the city's SWAT team. Tasked with finding a criminal associated with a mobster's violent jailbreak, Buckner and company prove there's nowhere to hide when you kill one of their own. In Chris Rhatigan's A Pack of Lies, newspaper reporter Lionel Kaspar is out to find the truth and advocate for social justice. Just kidding. He's a scam artist of the lowest order out to make a quick buck off of whoever crosses his path. But the comfortable niche he's created for himself is about to be crushed.
142 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 27, 2014
This was short, and fun, and entertaining and very short.
I'm used to Ryan Sayles' Richard Dean Buckner stories to be awesome. DISCO RUMBLE FISH's a little different though and is set during a SWAT raid in the 1970s. We're far from his usual violent detective stories, but this one's action packed and atmospheric and it reminded me a little of an eerie, Americanized spin off THE RAID. It's light on the RDB antics, which I usually love, but it compensates with gunplay and throwback machismo.
The pleasant surprise though was Chris Rhatigan's novella A PACK OF LIES. While the form is very classic, reminiscent of David Goodis' tales of conniving losers, the voice had strength and clarity of purpose that could've carried just about any storyline through. The ending was particularly exquisite, which is something I'm always extremely critics about, in any story.
TWO BULLETS SOLVED EVERYTHING is bite-sized fun for hardboiled/noir fans.
I'm used to Ryan Sayles' Richard Dean Buckner stories to be awesome. DISCO RUMBLE FISH's a little different though and is set during a SWAT raid in the 1970s. We're far from his usual violent detective stories, but this one's action packed and atmospheric and it reminded me a little of an eerie, Americanized spin off THE RAID. It's light on the RDB antics, which I usually love, but it compensates with gunplay and throwback machismo.
The pleasant surprise though was Chris Rhatigan's novella A PACK OF LIES. While the form is very classic, reminiscent of David Goodis' tales of conniving losers, the voice had strength and clarity of purpose that could've carried just about any storyline through. The ending was particularly exquisite, which is something I'm always extremely critics about, in any story.
TWO BULLETS SOLVED EVERYTHING is bite-sized fun for hardboiled/noir fans.
November 29, 2014
Another back-to-back pair of novellas from All Due Respect. In TWO BULLETS SOLVE EVERYTHING we get Disco Rumble Fish from Ryan Sayles and A Pack Of Lies from Chris Rhatigan.
Readers might be (note: should be) familiar with Sayles' character Richard Dean Buckner. In this novella, we're taken back to the 70s, and Buckner is with a SWAT team. This sucker moves fast, and although the tone is a bit different than other stories about Buckner, it's comes off without a hitch. A very done piece of crime fiction.
With Rhatigan's novella, the author takes hold of the noir knob and cranks it. As with his prior novella, this one is solid gold. Lionel Kaspar is a classic noir protagonist, yet not a throwback. If you're a fan of the usual long dead suspects (Goodis, Thompson, Brewer, Williams, etc.), Rhatigan is a name you want and need to become familiar with.
Readers might be (note: should be) familiar with Sayles' character Richard Dean Buckner. In this novella, we're taken back to the 70s, and Buckner is with a SWAT team. This sucker moves fast, and although the tone is a bit different than other stories about Buckner, it's comes off without a hitch. A very done piece of crime fiction.
With Rhatigan's novella, the author takes hold of the noir knob and cranks it. As with his prior novella, this one is solid gold. Lionel Kaspar is a classic noir protagonist, yet not a throwback. If you're a fan of the usual long dead suspects (Goodis, Thompson, Brewer, Williams, etc.), Rhatigan is a name you want and need to become familiar with.
November 23, 2014
Two Bullets Solve Everything is a perfect two-for-one crime/noir combo
Back in the good old days, back when reading was all about fun entertainment, back before the word “novel” became synonymous with “bloated”, publishers like Ace and Avon and some others would put out two-complete-novels-in-one combos. They came with two covers. You read one, then flip it over, turn it upside down, and then start the other. Both covers would be exciting, and you couldn’t decide where to start. In the end, it didn’t matter. You had something to look forward to. You could find interesting pairings like Donald Westlake and Richard Stark, and they sold for something like 35 cents. Man, those were good times.
Well ADR is doing the next best thing. First they came out with you don’t exist. As a follow up, we now get Two Bullets Solve Everything which contains a novella by Ryan Sayles and another by Chris Rhatigan. Remember those gritty cop movies from the 1970’s? Ryan Sayles delivers that experience all over again in Disco Rumble Fish. It’s action packed, filled with the gritty cop banter that makes it real, and has a powerful ending you won’t soon forget.
This is followed up by A Pack Of Lies by Chris Rhatigan, a noir experience that runs a deep trawl through the grimy gutter that is one crooked reporter’s life. I started Rhatigan’s last night and had to force myself to put it down to get some sleep. I finished it this morning standing in line for an appointment. I kept volunteering to go to the back of the line. It’s that good.
If you love crime noir fiction and everything ADR is doing, I highly recommend Two Bullets Solve Everything. You won’t be disappointed.
Back in the good old days, back when reading was all about fun entertainment, back before the word “novel” became synonymous with “bloated”, publishers like Ace and Avon and some others would put out two-complete-novels-in-one combos. They came with two covers. You read one, then flip it over, turn it upside down, and then start the other. Both covers would be exciting, and you couldn’t decide where to start. In the end, it didn’t matter. You had something to look forward to. You could find interesting pairings like Donald Westlake and Richard Stark, and they sold for something like 35 cents. Man, those were good times.
Well ADR is doing the next best thing. First they came out with you don’t exist. As a follow up, we now get Two Bullets Solve Everything which contains a novella by Ryan Sayles and another by Chris Rhatigan. Remember those gritty cop movies from the 1970’s? Ryan Sayles delivers that experience all over again in Disco Rumble Fish. It’s action packed, filled with the gritty cop banter that makes it real, and has a powerful ending you won’t soon forget.
This is followed up by A Pack Of Lies by Chris Rhatigan, a noir experience that runs a deep trawl through the grimy gutter that is one crooked reporter’s life. I started Rhatigan’s last night and had to force myself to put it down to get some sleep. I finished it this morning standing in line for an appointment. I kept volunteering to go to the back of the line. It’s that good.
If you love crime noir fiction and everything ADR is doing, I highly recommend Two Bullets Solve Everything. You won’t be disappointed.
May 28, 2016
Of this double bill, I favor Chris Rhatigan's entry. I still liked but was less taken with the first story, from Ryan Sayles.
Rhatigan's creation, bottom-feeding journalist Lionel Kaspar, provides a lot of fun with his sleazy doings. I like how Rhatigan ended this story with a cliffhanger, as he did with "Squeeze," his other Kaspar "scam." I look forward to seeing how the picture is filled in.
The Sayles story is a hyper-macho energy blast about SWAT cops.
Rhatigan's creation, bottom-feeding journalist Lionel Kaspar, provides a lot of fun with his sleazy doings. I like how Rhatigan ended this story with a cliffhanger, as he did with "Squeeze," his other Kaspar "scam." I look forward to seeing how the picture is filled in.
The Sayles story is a hyper-macho energy blast about SWAT cops.
January 30, 2018
These stories are solid enough, but just didn't get me that excited. Sayles tells the tale of a SWAT team in the 70s tracking down a couple of suspects in the killing of a fellow officer. There's a good rapport between Buckner and his colleagues, but with no real backstory to any of the characters I never felt wholly invested.
I'd read the some of the reviews prior to reading this and they mostly came to the conclusion that Rhatigan's story is better and I'd probably agree to a point. Lionel Kaspar is a down at heel journalist for a local daily who'll write whatever you like or not as long as there is some cash in it for him. He's a classic noir character, who's easy to be fascinated by if not go as far as root for. I just felt let down by the ending of this one as nothing really happened in the end.
I'd read the some of the reviews prior to reading this and they mostly came to the conclusion that Rhatigan's story is better and I'd probably agree to a point. Lionel Kaspar is a down at heel journalist for a local daily who'll write whatever you like or not as long as there is some cash in it for him. He's a classic noir character, who's easy to be fascinated by if not go as far as root for. I just felt let down by the ending of this one as nothing really happened in the end.
December 4, 2014
Reading a good novella is like knocking down a cold refreshing beer, reaching into to fridge to grab another, and finding you drank the last one, or in this case downing two beers and coming up empty when looking for beer number three. Which is really the only knock on these stories, is I was enjoying them so much I wanted them to be longer.
Like a good beer these two stories are heavy, tasty and certainly cold. The first is tale about a young Richard Dean Buckner, the star of Ryan Salyles' excellent novel The Subtle Art of Brutality. Fans of the 'The Subtle Art' (which I am one) will dig this one. Hopefully another full length RDB is on the way. I wouldn't mind seeing the villain from Disco Rumble Fish make another appearance either, perhaps facing off with RDB again.
Chris Rhatigan's contribution, Pack of Lies, covers some standard noir territory, but does so skillfully. If one is a fan of Jim Thompson or Jason Starr, this tale of a morally questionable reporter getting in too deep hits the sweet spot.
Like a good beer these two stories are heavy, tasty and certainly cold. The first is tale about a young Richard Dean Buckner, the star of Ryan Salyles' excellent novel The Subtle Art of Brutality. Fans of the 'The Subtle Art' (which I am one) will dig this one. Hopefully another full length RDB is on the way. I wouldn't mind seeing the villain from Disco Rumble Fish make another appearance either, perhaps facing off with RDB again.
Chris Rhatigan's contribution, Pack of Lies, covers some standard noir territory, but does so skillfully. If one is a fan of Jim Thompson or Jason Starr, this tale of a morally questionable reporter getting in too deep hits the sweet spot.
May 22, 2015
Another great noir book from All Due Respect. This time you get two for the price of one. Check out my full review here:
http://everythingnoir.com/2015/05/22/...
http://everythingnoir.com/2015/05/22/...
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews