Bullets [Paperback]

Steve Brewer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2004

“Brewer has created a passel of unique and hilarious characters and thrown them into a page-turning plot that had me laughing out loud despite a hail of bullets.”—Chicago Sun-Times

“Think of Hunter S. Thompson meeting James M. Cain meeting . . . James Ellroy to get some sense of what this book is like.”—Mystery News

“With characters you love to hate and hate to love, readers will be cheering for the killer-for-hire and the down-on-his-luck former cop who is chasing her.”—Albuquerque Journal

When a contract killer bumps off a high roller in a Las Vegas casino, a tangle of romance, gambling, and gunplay follows. The killer, Lily Marsden, is a mysterious and cold woman who is a true professional. But soon, the casino owner, his henchmen, and the victim’s two -brothers are on Lily’s trail.

Former Chicago cop Joe Riley is pursuing Lily, too. She cost him his job as a homicide investigator when suspicion of a bookie’s murder fell on him. Joe is certain Lily killed the bookie, and he’s tracked her across the country to Vegas.

Throw in some local cops, a playboy, a new widow, a rug merchant, a harridan, and a couple of idiot gamblers named Delbert and Mookie, and the mixture soon boils with intrigue and murder. Add a dash of romance as a strange magnetism develops between Lily and Joe, dust the whole concoction with Steve Brewer’s trademark humor, and you end up with Bullets—a crime novel you won’t soon forget.

Steve Brewer spent 22 years in the newspaper business before turning to fiction full-time in 1997. A weekly humor column he writes for the Albuquerque Tribune is distributed nationally by Scripps Howard News Service. He lives in Redding, California with his wife, two sons and a dog named Elvis.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Every region claims its own resident jester-in-crime. Steve Brewer owns the Southwest. Bullets is a fast, fun, and funny read. Read it.” —Pete Hautman, author of Sweetblood and Doohickey -- Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Steve Brewer is the author of nine other crime novels. His weekly newspaper column, The Home Front, is distributed nationally by Scripps Howard News Service. He lives in Redding, CA, with his wife and two sons.

Product Details

• Paperback: 252 pages
• Publisher: Speck Press (December 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 097257767X
• ISBN-13: 978-0972577670
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,687,675 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

STEVE BREWER is the author of more than 20 books about crooks, including the recent crime novels LOST VEGAS, THE BIG WINK and CALABAMA.

His first novel, LONELY STREET, was made into a Hollywood comedy starring Robert Patrick, Jay Mohr and Joe Mantegna. BOOST currently is under film/TV option.

Brewer's short fiction appeared in the anthologies DAMN NEAR DEAD, THE LAST NOEL, CRIMES BY MOONLIGHT and WEST COAST CRIME WAVE, and he's published articles in Mystery Scene, Crimespree and Mystery Readers' Journal.

A former journalist and syndicated humor columnist, Brewer now works as a writing coach, book doctor and University of New Mexico lecturer. A frequent speaker at mystery conventions, he was toastmaster at Left Coast Crime in 2011.

Married and the father of two adult sons, Brewer lives in Albuquerque, NM.

More at www.stevebrewer.blogspot.com. Write him at [e-mail].

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lighthearted and funny story about a female assassin, June 26, 2004

By 

David Montgomery "Book Critic" (davidjmontgomery.com) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bullets (Hardcover)

You wouldn't expect a book about a female assassin who leaves more bodies in her wake than Typhoid Mary to be lighthearted and funny, but that's the perfect way to describe Steve Brewer's Bullets.

Lily Marsden is one cold woman, but she's not without charm, especially in the eyes of Joe Riley, a former Chicago cop determined to track her down and bring her to justice.

Brewer has created a passel of unique and hilarious characters and thrown them into a page-turning plot that had me laughing out loud despite a hail of bullets.

Reviewed by David Montgomery, Chicago Sun-Times

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Undiscovered gem, June 23, 2010

By 

Noirguy (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bullets (Paperback)

Steve Brewer really should be among the giants of crime fiction alongside Elmore Leonard and Donald Westlake. I love this book for it's dueling narratives, turbo storytelling and sly humor. Brewer's series work is better known but his standalones are my favorites. Also check out Bank Job and Boost.
This is a great read!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining Caper, July 27, 2011

By 

D. Moore (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bullets (Kindle Edition)

Lily Marsden, a professional andextremely successful stone cold killer, is hired to kill rich businessman Max Vernon. She picks him up while he's spending some of his cash gambling in Las Vegas' Tropical Bay casino resort. It's a clean, well-planned hit which she carries out with style and panache, as usual, and she heads off home for a well-earned rest. She's covered her trail well but, unfortunately for her, as well as the cops, this time there are a few extra people on her trail - the owner of the Tropical Bay is not very happy about his upscale resort being used as the venue for a hit, Max Vernon's two brothers (who share the family trait of just the one large eyebrow) want to avenge their brother's death, and ex-cop Joe Riley is after Lily because of an earlier hit which cost him his job.

Muddy the waters a little with two inept gamblers who are determined that Joe's going to give them back the money he took off them in a poker game, a dodgy lawyer with a taste for Hostess Twinkies, and a wonderful supporting cast of weirdos, misfits and no-hopers. Set it all in larger than life Las Vegas, stir well and wait for the bullets to fly. Sit back and prepare to be entertained as Steve Brewer outdoes himself with this fast paced, funny book, packed with sparkling dialogue and witty one-liners. You're never quite sure exactly who you should be rooting for in this wonderfully entertaining caper. If this doesn't get made into a movie I'll eat my Las Vegas showgirl outfit (and, let me tell you, that's a helluva lot of sequins to swallow).