What do you think?
Rate this book
Switchblade
Switchblade: Stiletto Heeled
It’s been said that hardboiled noir is a boys club. Well, not anymore. Switchblade: Stiletto Heeled is the ultimate women of noir anthology. Thirteen dire and gritty tales from some of the most prominent women writing in the noir genre today. Featuring: Sarah M. Chen, Lissa Marie Redmond, Cindy Rosmus, Susan Cornford, Tawny Pike, E.F. Sweetman, Bethany Maines, Carmen Jaramillo, Serena Jayne, Charlotte Platt, Sarah Jilek, Susan Kuchinskas, and Ann Aptaker. Edited by Lisa Douglass. These aren’t police procedurals or cozy murder mysteries. It’s all hard-as-they-come, no luck tales, featuring all women protagonists, and penned by all women authors. It’s about time.
175 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 15, 2018
5 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 5, 2019
Switchblade presents the ladies of noir in this special issue edited by Lisa Douglass. It's as sharp and cutting as anything that Switchblade have published with stories that I felt in the pit of my stomach and continue to resonate in my brain.
"Death Dance in Jacksonino County" opens the short fiction section with a wild prose style and a wilder protagonist. "Strong-armed and Dangerous" from Scotland's Charlotte Platt introduces us to Granny Death and her sordid history and expertise. "Priscilla, The Amazing Dancing Pig" by Sarah Jilek will haunt my nightmares for some time with stomach churning (but appropriate) scenes.
"Influencers" by Sarah M. Chen shows off the author's amazing character writing chops and I'm almost ashamed at this point to say I've not yet read "Cleaning Up Finn". "Mayhem & Mahalo" by Bethany Maines changes things up slightly and brings us a darkly comic tale of Hawaiian crime in which the heist of a loan shark goes very wrong. "Crazy Eights" by Serena Jayne sees a woman try to escape her loan shark and make off for a new life. The brilliantly titled "A Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God" by Carmen Jaramillo sees a woman blackmailed about her youth as a devoted black metal fan. "Mouthbreather" by E.F. Sweetman has an overpriviledged male choking on his lies and "Hardball" by Lissa Marie Redmond has a professional pickpocket take a questionable job.
This issue lives up to its special billing and shines a spotlight and the female noir authors that are out there and show that they'll play even harder than some of their male counterparts and happily turn the tables on "the girl" crime tropes here.
"Death Dance in Jacksonino County" opens the short fiction section with a wild prose style and a wilder protagonist. "Strong-armed and Dangerous" from Scotland's Charlotte Platt introduces us to Granny Death and her sordid history and expertise. "Priscilla, The Amazing Dancing Pig" by Sarah Jilek will haunt my nightmares for some time with stomach churning (but appropriate) scenes.
"Influencers" by Sarah M. Chen shows off the author's amazing character writing chops and I'm almost ashamed at this point to say I've not yet read "Cleaning Up Finn". "Mayhem & Mahalo" by Bethany Maines changes things up slightly and brings us a darkly comic tale of Hawaiian crime in which the heist of a loan shark goes very wrong. "Crazy Eights" by Serena Jayne sees a woman try to escape her loan shark and make off for a new life. The brilliantly titled "A Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God" by Carmen Jaramillo sees a woman blackmailed about her youth as a devoted black metal fan. "Mouthbreather" by E.F. Sweetman has an overpriviledged male choking on his lies and "Hardball" by Lissa Marie Redmond has a professional pickpocket take a questionable job.
This issue lives up to its special billing and shines a spotlight and the female noir authors that are out there and show that they'll play even harder than some of their male counterparts and happily turn the tables on "the girl" crime tropes here.
March 3, 2019
Billed as The Women of Noir Special Issue, and edited by Lisa Douglas who also contributed a poem, Switchblade: Stiletto Heeled is packed with stories of no nonsense women doing what they need to do to survive. Often, survival involves lethality and doing very bad things unto others before bad things are done to them.
The short fiction begins with “Dishes, Dishes, Dishes” by Cindy Rosmus. The last thing she ever wanted to do was wash dishes. The dishwasher in the place is, of course, broken so her first night on the job starts off bad and then gets way worse.
“Ring. Buzz.” by Ann Aptaker follows with a grocery delivery that changed everything. That delivery and the arrival of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.
Kelsey isn’t about to easily give up the password in “Concrete Blond” by Susan Kuchinskas. Tommy is what he is so she knows he is doing all this because of her baby sister, Lisa. Game on as he can be played.
While the three preceding stories were in the “Quick & Dirty Flash” section, the next story is all by itself in the ‘Micro Flash” section. “A Shot at Being Ordinary” by Susan Cornford. A tale of less than fifty words, it defied being described. To do so, in any way, would ruin a power tale.
The works of nine authors make up the following “Sharp & Deadly Fiction” section that opens with a tale by Tawny Pike. Her story, “Death Dance in Jacksonino County” features a couple of sleaze ball cops of the lowest order, drugs, and a mom who is doing her best to keep her and her kids surviving. Good thing she always has her knife on the leather thong around her neck. Just part of her plan.
She should have been left alone at her elderly age. Left to live in pace as she was not real threat to anyone. If somebody was going to mess with her, that person should have picked a better tool. In “Strong- armed and Dangerous” by Charlotte Platt, somebody sent the wrong guy to kill Ida Brown. She knew how to handle the young punk because she had a lifetime of experience. Now somebody in charge has become a problem and it is time to track the problem back to where it started.
Not everything the woman wears to entertain the kids is fake. In “Priscilla, the Amazing Dancing Pig” by Sarah Jilek, the paying gig was supposed to be the typical kids birthday party. Then the father of the birthday girl took things way too far as the man wanted a souvenir. Now she wants one, maybe more, as well.
Mom is not going to make the same mistakes with her youngest daughter. In “Influencers” by Sarah M. Chen, Mom is still mourning the loss of Lil Bei-Bei who was gunned down at the Hollywood Palladium on Sunset. The hip hop game is a tough one, but Mom is working on getting her seven year old daughter, Bhad Mei, ready now. She is going to be an even bigger, brighter star than her deceased older sister.
Paige Kaneko knows exactly what her brother is and has frequently saved him from a crisis. In “Mayhem & Mahalo” by Bethany Maines he needs her help again. And this time it is bad enough she is going to have to put on a bra. She does not like doing that one damn bit. Blood, dead guys, and a living guy tied up in a bathtub is just some of what is going on thanks to Benjiro latest crisis.
She isn’t going to make it through the night if she can’t outwit the loan shark, Slater. She would not be playing cards for her life in the old hotel casino in Vegas if the other card game a few days earlier had gone right for her and her boyfriend, Carl. It didn’t and now she has a bad hand in more ways than one in “Crazy Eights” by Serena Jayne.
“A Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God” by Carmen Jaramillo follows with a tale where the past has come back to haunt her via a blackmail/extortion attempt. The woman a few folks knew as ‘Freya” isn’t the same person she was twenty-five years ago. Because of the man who goes by the name “Gespenst” and her own personal pain, she did things back then that must never see the light of day. Her new life would be destroyed and a lawyer sending a cease and desist letter is not going to solve her problem.
Ashton Talley is working hard, sexually speaking, and getting nowhere in “Mouthbreather” by E. F. Sweetman. He isn’t any better as a businessman or a boss and Kristi knows it. She just had no idea how little he thought of her until she stayed late one night and he and his buddies came back after a night of heavy drinking. She knows the insurance business and the company will go under if she does not take charge and fix the problem.
She goes by various names and she knows she should have gotten rid of the phone after the last job. She only kept it because Fred Mikes said he might have another job for her. Instead of working for him again, he went and told Cynthia Samson about her. Samson is willing to pay very well in order to have something of hers taken back from her soon to be ex-husband. A dangerous man that she is in hiding from and wants her help in “Hardball” by Lissa Marie Redmond. This story also brings the fiction to a close.
Published last November, the thirteen tales included in Switchblade: Stiletto Heeled are occasionally graphic in terms of dialogue and scene descriptions as one would expect from a crime fiction noir read. In every case women are doing what they need to do to survive in either a world they created or one that was thrust upon them. The consequences of failure are often lethal as are the consequences of freedom.
Switchblade: Stiletto Heeled is certainly not for everyone. If you prefer your violence off page, prefer women to drink tea and solve murders while possibly knitting or running small bookshops, this is not the read for you. If you like violence and alcohol and getting even, regardless of your gender, this is the read for you. Just remember that plans, no matter how good they are, often don’t work out. Or maybe they do as none of us really have any control over anything.
Switchblade: Stiletto Heeled
Editor Lisa Douglass
Caledonia Press
http://www.switchblademag.com
November 2018
ISBN# 0998765082
eBook (also available in paperback format)
174 Pages
$2.99
Material was purchased to read and review last November.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2019
The short fiction begins with “Dishes, Dishes, Dishes” by Cindy Rosmus. The last thing she ever wanted to do was wash dishes. The dishwasher in the place is, of course, broken so her first night on the job starts off bad and then gets way worse.
“Ring. Buzz.” by Ann Aptaker follows with a grocery delivery that changed everything. That delivery and the arrival of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.
Kelsey isn’t about to easily give up the password in “Concrete Blond” by Susan Kuchinskas. Tommy is what he is so she knows he is doing all this because of her baby sister, Lisa. Game on as he can be played.
While the three preceding stories were in the “Quick & Dirty Flash” section, the next story is all by itself in the ‘Micro Flash” section. “A Shot at Being Ordinary” by Susan Cornford. A tale of less than fifty words, it defied being described. To do so, in any way, would ruin a power tale.
The works of nine authors make up the following “Sharp & Deadly Fiction” section that opens with a tale by Tawny Pike. Her story, “Death Dance in Jacksonino County” features a couple of sleaze ball cops of the lowest order, drugs, and a mom who is doing her best to keep her and her kids surviving. Good thing she always has her knife on the leather thong around her neck. Just part of her plan.
She should have been left alone at her elderly age. Left to live in pace as she was not real threat to anyone. If somebody was going to mess with her, that person should have picked a better tool. In “Strong- armed and Dangerous” by Charlotte Platt, somebody sent the wrong guy to kill Ida Brown. She knew how to handle the young punk because she had a lifetime of experience. Now somebody in charge has become a problem and it is time to track the problem back to where it started.
Not everything the woman wears to entertain the kids is fake. In “Priscilla, the Amazing Dancing Pig” by Sarah Jilek, the paying gig was supposed to be the typical kids birthday party. Then the father of the birthday girl took things way too far as the man wanted a souvenir. Now she wants one, maybe more, as well.
Mom is not going to make the same mistakes with her youngest daughter. In “Influencers” by Sarah M. Chen, Mom is still mourning the loss of Lil Bei-Bei who was gunned down at the Hollywood Palladium on Sunset. The hip hop game is a tough one, but Mom is working on getting her seven year old daughter, Bhad Mei, ready now. She is going to be an even bigger, brighter star than her deceased older sister.
Paige Kaneko knows exactly what her brother is and has frequently saved him from a crisis. In “Mayhem & Mahalo” by Bethany Maines he needs her help again. And this time it is bad enough she is going to have to put on a bra. She does not like doing that one damn bit. Blood, dead guys, and a living guy tied up in a bathtub is just some of what is going on thanks to Benjiro latest crisis.
She isn’t going to make it through the night if she can’t outwit the loan shark, Slater. She would not be playing cards for her life in the old hotel casino in Vegas if the other card game a few days earlier had gone right for her and her boyfriend, Carl. It didn’t and now she has a bad hand in more ways than one in “Crazy Eights” by Serena Jayne.
“A Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God” by Carmen Jaramillo follows with a tale where the past has come back to haunt her via a blackmail/extortion attempt. The woman a few folks knew as ‘Freya” isn’t the same person she was twenty-five years ago. Because of the man who goes by the name “Gespenst” and her own personal pain, she did things back then that must never see the light of day. Her new life would be destroyed and a lawyer sending a cease and desist letter is not going to solve her problem.
Ashton Talley is working hard, sexually speaking, and getting nowhere in “Mouthbreather” by E. F. Sweetman. He isn’t any better as a businessman or a boss and Kristi knows it. She just had no idea how little he thought of her until she stayed late one night and he and his buddies came back after a night of heavy drinking. She knows the insurance business and the company will go under if she does not take charge and fix the problem.
She goes by various names and she knows she should have gotten rid of the phone after the last job. She only kept it because Fred Mikes said he might have another job for her. Instead of working for him again, he went and told Cynthia Samson about her. Samson is willing to pay very well in order to have something of hers taken back from her soon to be ex-husband. A dangerous man that she is in hiding from and wants her help in “Hardball” by Lissa Marie Redmond. This story also brings the fiction to a close.
Published last November, the thirteen tales included in Switchblade: Stiletto Heeled are occasionally graphic in terms of dialogue and scene descriptions as one would expect from a crime fiction noir read. In every case women are doing what they need to do to survive in either a world they created or one that was thrust upon them. The consequences of failure are often lethal as are the consequences of freedom.
Switchblade: Stiletto Heeled is certainly not for everyone. If you prefer your violence off page, prefer women to drink tea and solve murders while possibly knitting or running small bookshops, this is not the read for you. If you like violence and alcohol and getting even, regardless of your gender, this is the read for you. Just remember that plans, no matter how good they are, often don’t work out. Or maybe they do as none of us really have any control over anything.
Switchblade: Stiletto Heeled
Editor Lisa Douglass
Caledonia Press
http://www.switchblademag.com
November 2018
ISBN# 0998765082
eBook (also available in paperback format)
174 Pages
$2.99
Material was purchased to read and review last November.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2019
November 18, 2018
None of these hardcore protagonists go softly into that goodnight. Their rage and passion makes it impossible for the reader to draw their attention away from the page. I had visceral reactions to these stories. They glued themselves to my brain and made me addicted to the sheer moxy of the lead characters. Choosing my favorites from this stellar collection was challenging. I loved every minute spent in the minds and hearts of these women. Tawny Pike’s “Death Dance at Jacksonino County” reads like a Quentin Tarantino movie. A drug queen delivers bloody justice to the local cops who constantly hassle her. Sarah Jilek brings to life a woman who decides to take a piece of someone who steals a bit of her identity. This story gutted me. Just gutted me. Charlotte Platt’s “Strong-Armed and Dangerous” proves that age is simply a meaningless number. In “Mayhem and Mahalo,” Bethany Maines gives a whole new meaning to “fresh-out-of-the-box condition,” when a women takes on the role of cleaner to tidy up her brother’s mess.
This volume proves that women can write the hell out of crime fiction. Kudos ladies, you killed it!
This volume proves that women can write the hell out of crime fiction. Kudos ladies, you killed it!
January 29, 2019
A really amazing collection of hard nosed writing from some of the best writers in noir and crime fiction today. The entire collection is worth the price of entry, but a few stand outs were:
"Strong-armed and Dangerous" by Charlotte Platt - which goes to show that if a woman live to ripe old age and has the nickname Granny Death, you're probably better off letting her enjoy her quiet retirement.
"Influencers" by Sarah M. Chen- a bitter stream-of-consciousness ride where a mother bemoans the fact that her daughter is dead... but not for the reasons you would usually think.
"Mayhem and MAhalo" by Bethany Maines which goes to show that just because a woman has decided not to embrace the life of crime of the rest of her family doesn't mean she can't rise to the occasion when the situation demands it.
"A Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God" by Carmen Jaramillo was more low key story of blackmail... and proof that while some people grow older and wiser, it doesn't mean that they lose their edge completely.
"Mouthbreather" by E.F. Sweetman gets down and dirty with a receptionist/office assistant who gets her heart broken hard by the man she thought loved her... and well, an action like that might just precipitate a violent reaction.
All in all, an excellent collection, and all of the writers included are definitely ones to keep an eye out for.
"Strong-armed and Dangerous" by Charlotte Platt - which goes to show that if a woman live to ripe old age and has the nickname Granny Death, you're probably better off letting her enjoy her quiet retirement.
"Influencers" by Sarah M. Chen- a bitter stream-of-consciousness ride where a mother bemoans the fact that her daughter is dead... but not for the reasons you would usually think.
"Mayhem and MAhalo" by Bethany Maines which goes to show that just because a woman has decided not to embrace the life of crime of the rest of her family doesn't mean she can't rise to the occasion when the situation demands it.
"A Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God" by Carmen Jaramillo was more low key story of blackmail... and proof that while some people grow older and wiser, it doesn't mean that they lose their edge completely.
"Mouthbreather" by E.F. Sweetman gets down and dirty with a receptionist/office assistant who gets her heart broken hard by the man she thought loved her... and well, an action like that might just precipitate a violent reaction.
All in all, an excellent collection, and all of the writers included are definitely ones to keep an eye out for.
November 25, 2018
The women of Switchblade: Stiletto-Heeled serve up a panorama of mayhem and blood here, highly recommended. A few highlights: Susan Kuchinskas took me by the collar and busted me upside the head with her story of not-so-subtle payback. Tawny Pike's revenge story hit me like another sweet fist and made me squirm. Sarah Jilek made me sit up and take notice with a real gut-clencher of a story unlike anything you've read, not to give anything away. And Tough alum E.F. Sweetman rocked my world with her story Mouthbreather. All in all, a set of stories to knock you back a little, and a remarkably dark and pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
May 19, 2019
Two eyes for a tail makes the whole world right again. A real femme horror show.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews