Author: Tom Leins

The Interrogation Room – An Interview with Bobby Mathews

Posted on by Tom Leins

Next up in the Interrogation Room… Tom Leins catches up with Bobby Mathews to discuss his new book, Living the Gimmick.

Congratulations on the imminent publication of your new book! How would you pitch Living the Gimmick to potential readers?

Like a lot of books, Living the Gimmick comes down to a pretty simple premise: What if someone murdered the biggest wrestling star on the planet, and his best friend had to navigate the current ‘sports entertainment’ world to solve the crime?
Then, of course, I had to complicate it by also having the protagonist go through the journey of discovering that his so-called best friend wasn’t exactly who/what he was supposed to be. That was kind of fun, as I had Todd Snider’s song “You Think You Know Somebody” running through my head the whole time.

For years I’ve been fascinated by the intersection of criminality and wrestling. I’ve always found that the deeper you dig, the more lurid the stories get. Were there any specific real-life incidents that influenced your plot?

Oh, absolutely. The most famous one is probably Jerry Graham stealing his mother’s body from a hospital morgue and getting into a showdown with the cops over it. But I think if you pay attention to it, there is a ugly underbelly of sexual crimes that either go unreported or ignored completely.

There are some ugly things in wrestling that make Harvey Weinstein’s crimes pale in comparison. Like, you have the Fabulous Moolah, who would train female wrestlers but also credibly accused of farming the young women out as ‘talent’ to promotions in more ways than one.

Then there are guys like Bruiser Bob Sweetan, a longtime territory wrestler who went to prison for molesting his own daughter. Matt Bourne (later Doink in WWE) got run out of Georgia in the early 1980s when he was a tag team champion because he got caught with an underage girl. Art Barr raped a girl in Oregon. Jerry “the King” Lawler was, I believe, indicted for rape and sodomy of an underage girl. Mind you, these are just off the top of my head. There are guys in the business who have spent time in prison, been indicted for, or credibly accused of robbery, rape, murder. And, of course, I’m not even touching on the Chris Benoit situation. Ugh.

Especially in the 1970s and 1980s, but even into the 90s and 2000s, wrestling could be kind of a haven for outlaws.

What is the first wrestling match that you recall watching? Why did it strike such a chord with you?

The first was probably British journeyman Johnny Eagles vs. some underneath guy that I don’t recall. But Eagles was billed as “the Houdini of wrestling.” That captured my 4-year-old imagination for the program, and then later on in the program you had these outlandish people making incredible claims and these wild-looking brawls. So, Johnny Eagles hooked me, and everything else kept me coming back.

I think part of the reason it struck that chord with me as a kid — as it did with so many kids I knew — is that it felt like the life I was experiencing as a child in school, where there were rules that were either flouted or selectively enforced, and a lot of the time the kids did whatever they could get away with. You know how wrestling referees get distracted or misdirected? You could get away with a lot when the teachers weren’t looking.

Not me, though. I read a lot and brought an apple for the teacher every day. How was I supposed to know there was a worm in it?

Has your interest in wrestling waned over time? Are you conflicted over wrestling’s past and wrestling’s present?

It’s definitely waned, because wrestling went corporate. Part of the magic was the characters who were unpredictable, who would do something outrageous to work up the crowd. You look at the 1970s-80s crowds, the height of the territory days, and you had fans who believed — even if only for the time that they were in the arena — that the action they were seeing was real. The ability to get fans to suspend their disbelief is long gone, and now there’s no heat to it. Mainstream corporate wrestling — I’m talking WWE here — is booked to be as inoffensive and bland as possible, because they don’t want to upset their advertisers or endanger their TV contracts.

There are some companies who are doing interesting things right now, but I really prefer old-school territory wrestling even though I still pay some attention to what’s going on today.

Do you have any favourite eras, or matches that you wanted to pay lip service to in your book?

In many ways, Living the Gimmick is a love letter to territory wrestling. As I was writing it, I always thought of the main character as a sort of stand-in for legendary wrestler Arn Anderson, and I was definitely inspired by some of his true-life details (such as meeting the world champion and becoming friends with him in the Pensacola, Florida, territory).

If Living the Gimmick was a wrestler, which wrestler would it be, and why?

You remember the ‘Three Faces of Foley’ storyline, where Mick Foley was kind of shown to have three distinct personalities? That’s what LTG is like, in some ways because it’s a book that’s firmly — and intentionally — split between the territory days of pro wrestling and modern wrestling. One chapter in the present, one in the past. My hope with the book is that the past illuminates the present. (Which would be pretty to believe about real life, wouldn’t it?)

This book was published by Shotgun Honey; do you read mainstream crime fiction, or are your tastes firmly rooted in the independent scene?

I’m completely unreliable in this regard. I’m an omnivore when it comes to reading and rarely take into account whether a book is ‘mainstream’ or small- or micropress, or even self-published. I’ve got books on my shelves that encompass all of the above. Sometimes the only difference is the marketing budget that Big 5 publishers have access to, if they choose to use those dollars.

If you could recommend one crime novel that people are unlikely to have heard of, what would it be?

The novels of Charles Willeford are largely forgotten now, but they remain some of the most entertaining crime fiction I’ve ever read. The Hoke Moseley series is brilliant from start to finish, full of darkness and wry humor. It’s essentially Southern gothic disguised as crime fiction, and every word is brilliant. Start with Miami Blues and go from there.

For your money, which contemporary writers are producing the most interesting, compelling work right now?

This goes without saying, I’m sure, but Jordan Harper is amazing, and I will spend money on anything he does. S.A. Cosby has really captured the moment with his noir novels set in the American South that he knows so well. He’s not only writing at an INCREDIBLY high level, but he’s doing something important, too: His work is a reminder that the South doesn’t just belong to the good ol’ white boys and the conservative power structure that dominates the region. He’s shouldered his way to the front of the line of American letters in the roaring 2020s, and he’s earned every bit of it.

William Soldan remains the best line-for-line writer I’ve ever read who’s not signed to a Big 5 deal. The guy’s got talent for days and I expect him to break out. C.W. Blackwell is fantastic. He beat me out for a Derringer Award last year, and how dare he? I mean, seriously! HOW FUCKING DARE HE???

I’m fine, I’m fine. Just needed to breathe for a moment. Now, what was I saying? Oh, yeah: Nikki Dolson is the Bret Hart of short story writing: The excellence of execution. Everything Nikki writes is fearless and ferocious. Paul Garth is the master of bleak. Read his short story ‘The Hope of Lost Mares’ in The Eviction of Hope anthology. It’s insanely good. Paul writes slowly, but everything he does is so, so good.

Mark Westmoreland is going places. I mean, prison is a place … no, seriously, Mark’s A Violent Gospel was THE independent crime book of the year in 2021, and he’s only scratched the surface of what he can do. J.B. Stevens will punch your guts out with some of his stuff and then turn around and make you laugh with his humor writing, too. He’s got all the tools.

If your career trajectory could follow that of any well-known writer, who would you choose, and why?

I’d love to have Donald Westlake’s career. Westlake started in the 50s and had a publishing career until he died on New Year’s Eve, 2008. He’s at the top of my Mount Rushmore of writers. To quote Lawrence Block: Westlake “never wrote an awkward sentence.” The man wrote more than 100 novels in his lifetime. Can you imagine? But what makes me want to be like Westlake is his professionalism and his dedication to the craft of writing.

Finally, what are your future publishing plans?

Magic City Blues publishes (also through Shotgun Honey) in February of 2023, and I’m co-editing a charity anthology with Raquel Reyes called Dirty South: High Crimes & Low Lives Below the Mason-Dixon Line (Down & Out Books, summer 2023) which will benefit the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama.

I’m currently working on two books: 1) A crime novel with the working title The Boys from Alabama; and 2) A Southern gothic novel set against the backdrop of Hurricane Eloise making landfall along the Gulf Coast in the fall of 1976. I hope to have them finished and on submission somewhere by the end of the year.

Bio: Bobby Mathews is the author of the forthcoming novels Living the Gimmick (May 2022) and Magic City Blues (February 2023). He is the co-editor of the anthology Dirty South: High Crimes & Low Lives Below the Mason-Dixon Line, forthcoming in May 2023 from Down & Out Books. Bobby was a finalist for the 2021 Derringer Award for his story ‘Quitman County Ambush.’ He lives in Hoover, Alabama, and when he’s not writing, he’s covering sports in suburban Birmingham, coaching baseball, or reading something that would scandalize the neighbors.

Website: bamawriter.com

Living the Gimmick will be published by Shotgun Honey on 27th May 2022

Under The Influence #8 – Andrew Davie on Larry McMurtry

Posted on by Tom Leins

In my early twenties, I was working as the office manager for a theater company in Times Square in New York City. The company would get the rights to musicals that had just finished a run on Broadway, repackage the shows, and tour them in smaller markets throughout the US. During my lunch hour, I would frequently go to a deli, hit the hot bar, and bring a book with me. I have to give credit to my cousin, Eric, for suggesting authors for me to read. He introduced me to Charles Bukowski, Harry Crews, Robert B. Parker, Lawrence Block, and more. One of his recommendations was Larry McMurtry; specifically the Lonesome Dove series.

 
There are four books in the Lonesome Dove series. The first, Lonesome Dove, is about some aging former Texas Rangers turned ranchers who preside over a cattle drive. Aside from being a wonderful and entertaining book, it would win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Initially, the story, a western, was going to be a film. After the success of The Last Picture Show, Larry McMurtry and Peter Bogdanovic wanted to make a Western. Lonesome Dove was to be that film, but the studio didn’t want to provide funding for the prospective cast: Jimmy Stewart, Henry Fonda, and John Wayne. The script languished for over a decade before McMurtry bought it and turned it into a novel. Eventually, the book would be adapted into a miniseries with Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, and others.

 
The first two books in the series, Lonesome Dove and Streets of Laredo, address the activities of Augustus “Gus” McCrae and Woodrow Call during the latter parts of their lives. The next two books, Dead Man’s Walk and Commanche Moon, are prequels about the two Texas Rangers as young men. All of the books are worth reading even if you’re not particularly interested in the genre. 

While I had enjoyed reading all of the books, it wasn’t until I read a scene in Dead Man’s Walk that I had a visceral reaction. I don’t recall ever responding to a book that way, but when I read the scene, I felt like I wanted to brace people on the street and force them to read it then and there. The euphoria I experienced was incredible.

During the scene, Gus and Woodrow are accompanying a woman afflicted by leprosy, her son, and attendants, when they are surrounded by Commanches. Fearing the worst, the travellers prepare themselves for battle. One of the attendants draws a sword. The lady with leprosy begins singing opera as they slowly plod forth. The Commanches are frightened by the scene and believe they are witnessing the arrival of a threatening prophetic figure. How the scene is described, the word choice, etc. Whenever I think about how I want a reader to respond to something I’ve written, that moment is the benchmark.

This book was also adapted into a miniseries with David Arquette and Jonny Lee Miller, though I don’t think I’ll ever see it. There’s no possible way it can compare with the image I’ve created in my head. 

Bio:

Andrew Davie is originally from New York City. In 2018, he survived a ruptured brain aneurysm and subarachnoid hemorrhage. His short stories deal with existentialist themes in the speculative fiction genre. He also writes hardboiled novellas in the crime genre. His crime novellas Pavement and Ouroboros are available from All Due Respect Books, No One Runs Faster Than a Bullet and Dig Two Graves from Close to the Bone. The Posting Method is available from Next Chapter. His novella Leviathan Rising and collection The Leprechaun Violence Conjecture are available from Alien Buddha Press.

https://andrew-davie.com/

Are you a crime writer? Would you like to write a short piece about one of your formative influences? If so, drop me a line via the contact form on the About page!

Criminal Records #11 – Tom Leins on Sharp Knives & Loud Guns

Posted on by Tom Leins

In the latest instalment of the Criminal Records series, Tom Leins puts together a playlist to accompany his latest book, Sharp Knives & Loud Guns (All Due Respect, 2021).

GET SOME by Lykke Li

Perhaps unsurprisingly, shotguns play a major part in Sharp Knives & Loud Guns – chiefly in ‘Slug Bait’, the first of the three brutal novelettes that make up my new collection.

Guns aren’t particularly commonplace in my stories (hammer, knives and cricket bats feature far more frequently) but this book features a paranoid, cocaine-fuelled amusement arcade owner and a trigger-happy vice cop, and both men favour loud guns as their weapon of choice.

Simultaneously brooding and propulsive, ‘Get Some’ by ‘Lykke Li would make a great accompaniment to the grisly early scenes at Paignton Cliffs Caravan Park, in which Joe Rey is forced out of hiding and into the company of deranged amusement arcade proprietor Ray Coody. “Like a shotgun/needs an outcome/I’m your prostitute/you gonna get some.”

Cool track, cool video. Get some!

PURE FILTH by Lack of Afro

Every now and then, when I write myself into a narrative cul-de-sac, I dig into my big folder of abandoned stories, pluck out a stray character or sub-plot and insert it into the faltering story. (Never delete anything, kids!) It warps the story out of shape in an intriguing new way, and takes the story in a brand-new direction. Did I do that in the first draft of ‘Slug Bait’? Yes, I did!

In ‘Slug Bait’, the sub-plot and the main plot rub shoulders multiple times before they eventually collide. One of the most eye-popping segues sees Joe Rey watching gay porn in the lounge of a disgraced politician, before participating in a vicious heist. I think ‘Pure Filth’ would work better to accompany the heist scene than the porno scene, but the title means that this funky little track can slot onto the soundtrack to cover both of these disparate scenes. Filthy stuff!

(Lack of Afro is from Devon too, which seals the deal for me!)    

DIAMONDS & GUNS by Transplants

I first heard this song nearly 20 years ago (Autumn 2002), when backpacking around California. We spent a week or so in a hostel in LA, and whenever my Walkman ran out of batteries, and I couldn’t listen to my tapes, I’d tune into KROQ, where this song was playlisted. I listened to a lot of KROQ in the evenings, to drown out the sound of the obese Hollywood bottom-feeder in the corner bunk, wanking/grunting under his rancid blanket.

I was already a big Rancid fan (particularly … And Out Come the Wolves – less of a fan of rancid youth hostel blankets…), and this track blew my mind. I’m 42 now, and I still love it – so much so that I named a chapter after it in ‘Smut Loop’, the second novelette in the collection. I love the energy and the casual criminality of the lyrics. Imagine this song being played over Benny Hill-esque scenes of Paignton Noir carnage – cool, right?

Just swap chubby sex pest Benny Hill for a never-more-desperate Joe Rey, and swap the scantily-clad women for thieving rent boys, and you are in my headspace. (And, mark my words, my headspace is a lovely place to spend your free time!)

RAGING IN THE PLAGUE AGE by Les Savy Fav

I rediscovered this genius track during the first lockdown, when I was finishing off Sharp Knives & Loud Guns, and I love its raucous energy. Everything about this song is sublime, and I never get bored of listening to it! (The fact that the song is about a party taking place during a Medieval plague, is weirdly appropriate!)

Anyway, there’s a scene in ‘Sweating Blood’ – the third and final novella in the book – in which Joe Rey visits the scene of a notorious local atrocity that has been turned into a shrine by “the kind of ghoulish pricks that congregate at crime scenes” in search of his latest tormentor. He doesn’t find the individual that he is looking for, but he brutalises everyone and anyone who gets in his way.

Mark my words, the scenes of Joe Rey rolling into sheltered accommodation in full shitkicker mode while this song plays would be tremendous!

DRAG THE HILLS by Ben Weaver

I think the finale of ‘Sweating Blood’ is one of the most intense endings I’ve written to date, and it was pretty draining to write, as I knew I had to get it right. I guess the readers will ultimately judge whether or not I succeeded…

After finishing the book, this song shuffled into rotation on my MP3 player, on one of my looping lockdown walks around suburbia, and it blew me away. After listening to it on repeat, I cursed myself for not having heard it earlier, as the line “I’d rather have scars from the life I’ve lived” sums up Rey’s state of mind at the end of this book.

Sharp Knives & Loud Guns ends with a brief epilogue, and this is definitely the song that I’d like to play over the end credits. What would the authorities find if they were to drag the hills in Paignton? Buy the book and find out!

Buy The Book!

Bio:

Tom Leins is a crime writer from Paignton, UK. His books include Meat Bubbles & Other Stories, Boneyard Dogs and Ten Pints of Blood (all published by Close to the Bone) and Repetition Kills You and The Good Book: Fairy Tales for Hard Men (both via All Due Respect). His new book, Sharp Knives & Loud Guns, was released by All Due Respect in December 2021. For more details, please visit: https://thingstodoindevonwhenyouredead.wordpress.com/

Are you a crime writer? Would you like to write about the musical influences on your new book? If so, drop me a line via the contact form on the About page!

Criminal Records #10 – Jason Beech on Keep the Motor Running

Posted on by Tom Leins

In the latest instalment of the Criminal Records series, Jason Beech puts together a playlist to accompany his new book, Keep the Motor Running.

C’ERA UNA VOLTA IL WEST by Ennio Morricone

Kietan Telles is an enforcer with a sense of his own mythology, and when he discovers the book’s chief antagonist, Czech Downes, has no taste in music, he plays this Ennio Morricone track through the car’s speakers. Czech, a bit of a cultural wasteland, is mesmerized by the tune, something he’s never heard. But he suspects Telles’ motivation for playing it. Does he play it because he’s evangelical about the tune, or is it a means to lull Czech and his partner into a trance so he can finish them off?

SATELLITE by The Dave Matthews Band

Tempest Stanley reckons her getaway driver, Karl Lankester, stinks the place out with his Dave Matthews love. Songs like ‘Satellite’ mark him boring as hell, but as she has serious trust issues, that boredom increases her comfort with him. Still, there’s no way she’s sliding that CD into the player. She’d rather listen to radio jingles and the angry beeps of New Jersey traffic.

ALL OF MY HEART by ABC

Tempest is a Sheffield lass, in America for its glamour and pace, but the Steel City pulls at her heartstrings in funny ways. She’s fallen out of love with life, with no trust for anybody, so what better than a bit of hometown longing in ABC’s ‘All of My Heart’. This being noir, love is fleeting – if it ever exists at all.

SABOTAGE by The Beastie Boys

The kind of heat that makes asphalt sticky. Cars squealing down the highways, squeaking down murky alleys, the heroes stealing motors from sleazy motels. This classic tune fits the book perfectly. Except … there’s only a brief appearance from a copper and the story roars through New Jersey. Meaning Pennsylvanians get some abuse.

BREATHE by The Prodigy

They live in two houses stuffed onto a New Jersey jughandle. Three sides of traffic and the fumes to stunt your children, and one side each other. There’s no room to breathe, no room to spread your legs. A bag of cash and product could set them free, but as Karl and Tempest’s minds race at the possibilities, this is a tune to suffocate their nerves and cook the kind of paranoia that pushes them into all the traps.

Buy Keep The Motor Running!

Bio:

Sheffield native, New Jersey resident Jason Beech writes crime fiction. His coming-of-age crime drama City of Forts was described as “tense, atmospheric, and haunting” by UK crime writer Paul D. Brazill. You can buy Jason’s work from Amazon and read his work at Spelk Fiction, Shotgun Honey, Close to the Bone, The Flash Fiction Offensive, and Pulp Metal Magazine. His new novel, Keep the Motor Running, is out now.

Are you a crime writer? Would you like to write about the musical influences on your new book? If so, drop me a line via the contact form on the About page!

Criminal Records #9 – Andrew Davie on Ouroboros

Posted on by Tom Leins

In the latest instalment of the Criminal Records series, Andrew Davie puts together a playlist to accompany his book Ouroboros (All Due Respect, 2020).

APOCRYPHON by The Sword

As a fan of metal, I’m always on the lookout for contemporary bands. Apocryphon, from the album of the same name, is a song that has all the great elements of a stoner-doom song; killer riffs, great vocals, and dynamite playing. I especially love the lyric “You want to live for eternity/see behind the veil. Everything comes around again/the serpent eats its tail.” The serpent eating its tail. The symbol of the ouroboros is what gave the book its title. As I was writing it, I kept that image in the back of my mind and it was always a symbol I tried to incorporate.

BLUE IN GREEN by Miles Davis

Gropper is a jazz fan. In Pavement, he refers to and listens to Bill Evans. At the time, I had been familiar with Miles Davis, but I hadn’t truly listened to Kind of Blue. Aside from being a killer album, and featuring performances by some of the best musicians of all time, it’s easily one of the greatest albums ever produced. This is a track I imagined Gropper would listen to while on a stakeout, and it just fit the mood.

REVELATIONS by Iron Maiden

Flemmings was a bar I would frequent when I lived in Astoria, in Queens, just across the river from Manhattan. Most of the Jukebox songs were the typical fare and each song was featured in the rotation. They didn’t feature any metal except it had Iron Maiden’s Revelations, which I would play. It would be great to watch the other patrons’ heads slowly pick up from their drinks with a flummoxed look on their faces as if to suggest “Who’s playing this crap?” Needless to say, I would always save a few quarters for Iron Maiden when I frequented the bar.

DON’T LET ME BE MISUNDERSTOOD – The Animals

Since part of Ouroboros takes place in prison, I was reminded of one of my favorite prison scenes which had this song playing on the soundtrack. While Nina Simone’s version is incredible, I was taken by this version by The Animals.

TO PARTER by the Butthole Surfers

I used to listen to this song at the track in Hong Kong when I knew it was time to get psyched up for the next race, and now I have that same response when I hear it. As soon as the first few notes of To Parter begins, I know it’s time to get work done.

Buy Ouroboros!

Bio:

Andrew Davie is originally from New York City. In 2018, he survived a ruptured brain aneurysm and subarachnoid hemorrhage. His short stories deal with existentialist themes in the speculative fiction genre. He also writes hardboiled novellas in the crime genre. His crime novellas Pavement and Ouroboros are available from All Due Respect Books, No One Runs Faster Than a Bullet and Dig Two Graves from Close to the Bone. The Posting Method is available from Next Chapter. His novella Leviathan Rising and collection The Leprechaun Violence Conjecture are available from Alien Buddha Press.

Are you a crime writer? Would you like to write about the musical influences on your new book? If so, drop me a line via the contact form on the About page!

The Interrogation Room – An Interview With Laird Barron

Posted on by Tom Leins

Next up in the Interrogation Room… Tom Leins catches up with Laird Barron to discuss to discuss his Isaiah Coleridge series, which comprises Blood Standard, Black Mountain and Worse Angels.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Blood Standard recently. Isaiah Coleridge is an unusual protagonist – familiar, yet enigmatic. How easy was it for you to shape his character in a way that felt satisfying?

Tom, thank you. I’ve written and published well over a million words. A large chunk of that features various permutations of the archetypal action (anti) hero protagonist—be it two-fisted detectives, gladiators, old school loggers, Pinkertons, arm breakers, and so forth.

Coleridge is a synthesis of my many attempts to depict that type of character. Defaulting to a hardboiled protagonist made writing my first crime novel more comfortable. Satisfaction derived from developing Coleridge and the supporting cast over three novels. Recurring characters present narrative opportunities; especially at novel scale. There are more chances to deviate from the tradition, to contribute one’s own unique take on the subject matter.

In this opening book Isaiah is wrestling with his dark past, and he goes on to have further misadventures in the sequels, Black Mountain and Worse Angels. Was his entire narrative arc mapped out in advance, or did it evolve as you worked?

It began with a sketchy notion of where I wanted to go and the whole thing took off like a boulder rolling downhill. Robert B. Parker and John D. MacDonald are foremost among numerous inspirations for Coleridge. Spenser and Magee stories tend to be episodic. Spenser didn’t change much over many years and multiple novels.

I wanted to operate in a kind of twilight realm between doggedly episodic narrative and a heroic saga with an overarching theme and defined endgame. Coleridge hasn’t necessarily grown across three novels so much as I’ve discovered more and more of his true nature.

As a reader, which personality traits do you enjoy most when investing time in a series character? And which traits aggravate you?

Humor and agency are important. Big fan of gallows humor, sardonic wit. The Spenser series had those elements. The television series Justified did as well. I prefer characters who make decisions and reckon with the fallout. Less a fan of purely episodic, consequence-free adventures.

I understand that you grew up in Alaska. How did that environment shape you as a person – and a writer?

Environment/culture shapes everybody. What food is put into your mouth; what facts are put into your head; familial warmth or the lack. Geography imprints upon the mind as well. Extreme geography and extreme environments might well scarify an impressionable mind. I feel Alaska, and particularly some of my negative experiences there, dug channels in my mind that tend to direct my creative impulses into certain patterns. Sometimes that has worked to my advantage. Other times not so much.

You are best known for your work within the horror genre. Have the Coleridge books helped you to tap into a new audience? And have the horror enthusiasts come along for the ride? 

My readership has expanded overall, although my horror audience was initially divided about the shift. Some readers are omnivorous, others stick with a certain genre. As has been the case since The Imago Sequence in 2007, my titles are long of tail and keep selling over time. More people find Coleridge each year and he features in a significant portion of upcoming material.

You have built up an impressive back catalogue over the years. Which book would you suggest a would-be reader pick up first?

If you prefer short fiction, I’d recommend Occultation and Other Stories. That collection covers a spectrum of styles, approaches, and narrators. There’s a good mix of cosmic horror, occult horror, and weirdness. If you like novels, try Blood Standard. It’s straight up crime/noir that cracks the door to ever greater darkness.

Genre aside, what are the common threads that link your books?

Bad things happening to bad people. Bad things happening to good people. Bad things happening to regular, everyday people. The destination is the same for everyone. How people face their struggles is what interests me most.

We were tarpaper shack poor for a while. Reading and writing were my escape. I was drawn to gothic horror, noir, crime, and westerns. Happy endings are placeholders—even westerns tended to be “happily ever after…for now.”

That grimness pervades my own work. I don’t fight it; I roll with it.

Can you name the book – or books – that made you want to become a writer?

There isn’t a source I can point to as the inciting event.

I wanted to be a writer before I learned to read. I drew pictures and scribbled nonsense symbols to simulate an attendant story. Many authors guided my progress into my teens—Louis L’Amour, Poe, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert Service, Andre Norton, Madeleine L’Engele, and Robert E. Howard were major influences. Service’s The Spell of the Yukon; L’ Amour’s Sacketts saga; and Howard’s Conan stories were all formative.

These days, I look to writers such as Beau Johnson, Hilary Davidson, J Todd Scott, and Thomas Pluck (to rattle off a handful) to energize my own work.

What was the last truly great book that you read?

Collection: Convulsive, by Joe Koch (coming in spring 2022). Surreal, beautifully written, and timely.

Novel: The Fisherman, by John Langan. Cosmic horror informed by the classic and contemporary masters of the art.

Graphic Novel: The Double Walker, by Noah Bailey, Michael Conrad, and Taylor Esposito. Ancient legends impinge upon a hapless modern-day couple. Full of dread and exquisitely illustrated.

Finally, what are your future publishing plans? And are there any more Isaiah Coleridge books in the pipeline?

A couple of horror/dark fantasy collections are in the works. I’m writing a dark novel featuring dark ages versions of Coleridge and Robard. In coming years, they’ll show up (and their various alter egos) in a few short stories and novellas as well.

Bio:

Laird Barron spent his early years in Alaska. He is the author of several books, including The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All, Swift to Chase, and Blood Standard. His work has also appeared in many magazines and anthologies. Barron currently resides in the Rondout Valley writing stories about the evil that men do.

Website: lairdbarronbooks.com

Book Review: The Puppet Show by M.W. Craven

Posted on by Tom Leins

THE PUPPET SHOW (WASHINGTON POE BOOK 1)

Author: M.W. Craven

Publisher: Constable

Release Date: June 2018

At the outset of The Puppet Show, a serial killer – subsequently dubbed the Immolation Man – is burning people alive in the Lake District’s prehistoric stone circles. His methodology may be grisly, but his approach is meticulous and he leaves no clues for the police to pick over. However, when the name of disgraced detective Washington Poe is found carved into the charred remains of the third victim, the curmudgeonly Cumbrian cop is brought back from suspension and thrust into the heart of an investigation he wants no part of. Partnered with Tilly Bradshaw, a talented but socially awkward civilian analyst, Poe sets out to uncover the culprit – and work out his own twisted link to the killer.

As regular visitors to this blog will know, I’m not a frequent reader of police procedurals, as they tend to leave me cold. I’m happy to report that The Puppet Show completely upended my expectations! The improbably named Washington Poe is an enjoyably damaged protagonist and someone who you immediately find yourself rooting for. (As has been pointed out elsewhere, Poe is arguably the closest a British crime writer has come to conjuring up a homegrown Harry Bosch to date.) Further, the protective arm he quickly extends around Tilly – who has an autism spectrum disorder (no labels are ever applied) – marks the start of an unlikely, but formidable, partnership.

Crammed full of astute observations and piercing background details, The Puppet Show is a strong piece of writing that boasts solid characterisation throughout. As Poe’s investigation unfolds, Craven takes us to some unapologetically dark places. The gloomy rural setting combined with an increasingly queasy mystery give the book a genuinely sinister charge. Without wanting to give too much away, there’s a vicious twist that unlocks the horrible central mystery, and I never saw it coming!

The Puppet Show is a cracking thriller, and I’m keen to see whether the subsequent books (Black Summer/The Curator/Dead Ground/The Botanist) are able to maintain the gripping, disturbing heights achieved in this book. Impressive stuff.

Review by Tom Leins

Book Review: Blood Standard by Laird Barron

Posted on by Tom Leins

BLOOD STANDARD (ISAIAH COLERIDGE BOOK 1)

Author: Laird Barron

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons

Release Date: May 2018

After a brutally entertaining opening section detailing his life as a mob enforcer in Alaska, Blood Standard uproots the hulking Isaiah Coleridge to the bucolic surroundings of upstate New York for a fresh start. However, Coleridge’s plans for a more sedate existence go up in smoke when a teenage girl disappears, and he realises that his unique skill-set is much in demand. The only problem is, by making a big noise in a quiet town, Isaiah finds himself attracting the attention of precisely the kind of people he moved there to avoid…

Blood Standard is a snappy, bloody-knuckled page-turner that mashes up well-worn private eye tropes with tricks from the lone-wolf hardman locker to endearing effect. Our protagonist is an unusually thoughtful tough guy – prone to folksy ruminations as much as cynical wisecracks, and while he is reluctant to return to a world of pain and violence, he is undeniably good at dishing it out!

Coleridge is engaging company throughout and while he makes friends as readily as he makes enemies, it is his memorably violent misadventures that impress the most – notably Barron’s lyrical descriptions of mayhem. With a satisfyingly fleshed-out back story, a juicy employment history and a combustible father-son relationship, there is plenty to sink your teeth into here, and Blood Standard is definitely worth checking out if you are in search of a postmodern PI yarn.

This book is followed by Black Mountain (2019) and Worse Angels (2020) and I look forward to checking out another slab of Barron’s bone-crunching pulp further down the line.

Review by Tom Leins

Book Review: Six Stories by Matt Wesolowski

Posted on by Tom Leins

SIX STORIES (SIX STORIES BOOK 1)

Author: Matt Wesolowski

Publisher: Orenda Books

Release Date: December 2016

Six Stories is the opening instalment of the stomach-churning podcast series produced by secretive online journalist Scott King. 20 years on from the notorious death-by-misadventure of teenager Tom Jeffries – at an outward bound centre located on Northumberland’s Scarclaw Fell – the enigmatic King tracks down the key figures who knew Tom, and attempts to unravel the truth about the boy’s demise. As the interviews unfold, the host finds himself exploring the sinister legends that hang like a shroud over the ill-fated location, and realises that nothing is quite what it seems. Will King uncover the truth, or will his questions just churn up rotten grievances?

After enjoying Changeling (the third book in the ‘Six Stories’ series) last year, I wanted to go back to the source, and see where it all began. The eponymous series opener represents a blistering opening salvo, and did not disappoint. Wesolowski serves up an effortless blend of the supernatural and the mundane, and in Six Stories toxic friendships and grisly folklore are intertwined like drunken teenagers in a bunk bed.

While the podcast set-up offers a quirky narrative hook, Six Stories is a gritty, disturbing thriller that excels with its well-observed, convincing characterisation. The author takes a deep dive into the histories and motivations of a disparate collection of protagonists, and the characterisation is well-observed and convincing throughout. (Note: while I’m loathe to mention lockdown in a book review, the combination of socially distanced interviews and an exploration of ominous rural landscapes also felt weirdly appropriate in a post-COVID world!)

Six Stories is riveting and horrifying in equal measure, and I look forward to checking out the other books in the series.

Review by Tom Leins

The Interrogation Room – An Interview With Morgan Boyd

Posted on by Tom Leins

Next up in the Interrogation Room… Tom Leins catches up with Morgan Boyd to discuss his new short story collection, More Devils Than Hell Can Hold.

Firstly, congratulations on the publication of More Devils Than Hell Can Hold! How would you pitch the collection to potential readers?

A junkie punk rocker’s revenge unfolds during a pot dispensary robbery. A surf rivalry in Santa Cruz escalates to arson and murder. An escaped convict hides out on a rural farm that turns out to be worse than prison. An incarcerated mixed martial artist enters a ‘fight to the death’ tournament for a chance at freedom. A hitman on the run finds love in a small New England town, just as his past catches up with him. A rockabilly couple hides from the mob in the wrong town. These dark and humorous stories, brimming with moral turpitude, and many more of the same ilk lie in wait within the pages of More Devils Than Hell Can Hold.

How hard was it to select the stories – and indeed the running order?

I chose these tales because they were accepted by various crime fiction websites in the past. I figured if they could pass muster with those outlets, they could hold their own in this collection. When it came to selecting the running order, I fumbled about in the dark, praying for a sign that never came.

What is the oldest story in the book? How do you think your style has evolved since then?

‘A Hell of a Hideout’ is the oldest story in the collection. It was inspired by an event that occurred near me during my childhood. In 1988, in downtown Sacramento, the police caught a serial killer. Her name was Dorothy Puente. She murdered her boarders to cash their social security checks, and buried their bodies in her backyard. When I wrote ‘A Hell of a Hideout’ I was trying to imitate Jim Thompson. These days, I don’t try to imitate other writers. Through lots of practice and life experience, I’ve been working on developing my own writing voice.

Do you have a favourite story in the collection? If so, why is it your favourite?

I don’t have a favorite, but there is a line I really like. In the story ‘Charlie Knuckles’ the protagonist says, “He’s just a scared little cow, and I’m the big bad hamburger factory.” I don’t tend to laugh at my own writing, but this line made me chuckle.

What do you hope that readers take away from the book?

I hope that readers take away a bit of entertainment from these stories, and that it makes readers want to further explore the genre, and discover some of the amazing contemporary crime fiction out there in the scene.

Do you read mainstream crime fiction, or are your tastes firmly rooted in the independent scene? Which authors are on your must-read list?

I mostly just read indie when it comes to crime. I definitely consider Tom Leins a must read! Your writing is very descriptive, action driven, and laconic. How do you fit these big stories into such brief tales? There are many must-read independent authors out there. Presently, the I’m about to delve into books by Chris McGinley, Tom Pitts, Rob Pierce, Alec Cizak, Patrick Whitehurst, and Preston Lang.

Which contemporary writers do you consider to be your peers?

I still feel very nascent in the independent crime scene, so it is hard to think of others as my peers. I’m amazed at how many writers that I look up to have taken the time to talk to me, to give me encouragement, to point out my mistakes, and to read my work. I consider most of these writers more as mentors than peers. Guys and gals like Tom Pitts, Patrick Whitehurst, Paul D. Brazill, Travis Richardson, Bill Baber, Rob Pierce, Jesse “Heels” Rawlins, Jim Shaffer, Kimmy Dee, Robert Ragan, Mick Rose, Jason Beech, and Beau Johnson are just a few.

If your career trajectory could follow that of any well-known writer, who would you choose, and why?

Fuck, that’s tough. If I had a say in the matter, I’d reach for the stars, and go with William Shakespeare. His writing is miles ahead of anything else I have ever read. Not only does every educational institution around the world worship Shakes, but you can buy his image on socks four hundred years after his death. You know you’ve made it when they steal your skull from your grave.

Finally, what are your future publishing plans?

I’m excited to have a short story coming out soon in the Octopi From The Sky anthology from Dumpster Fire Press. Beyond that, I’m hoping to pull off a comedic crime fiction novella, but, well, it’s a fine line between funny and shitty.

Bio: Morgan Boyd is an educator, living on the Monterey Peninsula with his wife and daughter. He has an MA in Television, Film, Radio, and Theatre from San Jose State University. Morgan has had his stories published in Out of the Gutter, Switchblade Magazine, Near to the Knuckle, Yellow Mama, Tough, Punk Noir Magazine, Shotgun Honey, and various other crime fiction websites.

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