Thuglit: Issue 22 (March/April 2016) contains another eight stories that live
in the desolate wasteland on the noir side of town. These short stories are not
happy tales full of sugar and spice and everything nice. These are tales of the
taste of bitter dreams and harsh realities covered in the odor of burned expectations
and soured futures.
Tom Barlow gets things started with
“The Jackpot.” Isabella Greene is trying to make her boyfriend’s scam work at
the hotel where the owners of the various national hockey league franchises are
staying for the all-star game. She needs a whale and a man calling himself Hank
could be her whale. Blair Croft is his real name and he only knows her as
Cleopatra. That just may be enough in a multi-faceted tale that begins in St. Louis.
Cynthia Marks always wanted to see
New York City. This was not the way she wanted to do it in “Last Request” by Rob
Hart. As a prison guard she really should have known better in a tale all too
familiar to those who paid attention to the news the last year. The author puts
a couple of twists in that keep readers guessing a bit till the end.
If you have a gun in your waist band
it won’t do any good if you have packages in your hands. Moses knew better and
made a serious mistake in “Stress Positions” by Mathew J. Hockey. Being careful
for years on various jobs over the years isn’t going to help him now.
Pavel Wypick also made a mistake by
getting on the wrong list with Rufus Blackwell. It was so bad that four guys
were assigned to garb him up in “Fkakted” by Robert Hart. All they have to do
is wait for Pavel to show up, grab him, and bring him to Mr. Blackwell.
“Game Dog” by Joshua D. Mayes is
next. Dan Harlin has a plan to get money from Edgar. So ill he can barely
move and desperate, he has no time for stall tactics. Scores need to be
settled.
It is Camp Abdali in Kuwait as “The
Easter Island Johnny” by Jon Zelazny begins. Major Mahn is a new arrival at camp
looking for missing equipment located in one certain trailer. She finds a
lot more than that.
It is small town Texas, but that
does not mean some folks don’t drive a Porsche. Alastair Sperling was driving
the Porsche SUV that just slid to a stop half on the courthouse lawn. Almost
caused a collision too in “Cranfills Gap” by William Dylan Powell. Seems like
he had a good reason on this chilly October day and it wasn’t because of the
woman in the passenger seat.
The final story in Thuglit:
Issue 22 is “That Dreaded Undertow” by Nolan Knight. Sam and Denny have
known each other for a lot of years. These days they crew on a sport fishing
boat around the waters of Catalina. He is also sick of his life and looking for
a target even if he doesn’t know it yet,
Chief Editor Todd Robinson continues
to deliver in each and every issue. Thuglit: Issue 22 brings the smack
down to readers again and delivers body shot after body shot. Reality is harsh
and often painful and such is the case here. While some stories are slightly
lighter in mood than others, survival is difficult and never very pleasant.
Thuglit: Issue 22
Editors Todd Robinson, Allison
Glassgow, and Julie Mccarron
Thuglit Publishing
February 2016
ASIN: B01CDZATO6
eBook (Paperback also available)
148 Pages
$1.99
I picked this up to read and review
in early March by way of funds in my Amazon Associate account.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2016
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