Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Review: "Thuglit: Issue 22" Editors Todd Robinson, Allison Glassgow, and Julie Mccarron

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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