Hardcore Hardboiled [Paperback]

Todd Robinson (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 27, 2008

"I drove all the way across town to cut up this son of a bitch, but it's these three flights of stairs that got me worried. . ."

It's meaner than a puppy juggler. It's sharper than the knife that hot babe is aiming at your back. It's got you so hard 'n bothered you don't see bad news coming. It's the best of contemporary neo-noir suspense fiction, raw and uncut from the net's most hardcore, award-winning site. . .

"The unhinged depravity of your standard street freak is a very difficult thing to predict. . ."

So snap the neck off your favorite brew, find a comfortable barstool, and dig. . .the lesbian-in-fishnets on a killing spree. The cop who breaks more laws than he defends. A pit-fight champion who's drugged-up, revved-up and way less-than-human. Mobsters whose mercy is worse than their payback. The restless ghosts of Johnny Cash and Ol' Blue Eyes haunting the streets. And the "pubic-ly-challenged" dream woman who's happy to deliver the ultimate final cut. . .

"In this game, every move is a risk. Everything you do has repercussions. . ."

Step up to a meth-fueled, E-ticket ride through the wild side, where no deed goes unpunished, no heart is true. . .and evil is the only thing that's pure. . .

Hardcore Hardboiled

"You have to look hard to find two consecutive pages that don't deal with sex or violence, but why would you want to? If you're man enough, you'll love this book. If you're not, give it to your girlfriend. If she accepts it and enjoys it, never turn your back on her." --Otto Penzler

Big Daddy Thug/Todd Robinson's writing has appeared in Danger City, Demolition, Out Of The Gutter, Pulp Pusher, Crimespree and Writers Digest's The Years Best Writing 2003. He is the creator and chief editor of Thuglit.com.

The stories he's edited for Thuglit.com have been nominated for several awards, including The Derringer (presented by the Short Mystery Fiction Society) and The Million Writer's Award, and been have been selected for Best American Mystery Stories and Best Noir 2006.

He lives and works in New York with his wife (Lady Detroit), a ferret named Matilda and three freakin' cats.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Drawn from Robinson's online magazine Thuglit, these 25 mostly solid crime stories will largely appeal to those with a taste for explicit violence. (For others, one description of mutilated genitalia is likely to be more than enough.) The best entries rely on subtlety and spare character portraits to make their point, like Mike MacClean's McHenry's Gift, the account of a drug runner's legacy with a vicious twist at the end that O. Henry might have appreciated. Dark humor propels Duane Swierczynski's satirical The Replacement, in which a drunk driver is sentenced to live out the life of his victim. Bill Fitzhugh's The Neighbors, about post-9/11 hysteria in California, does a nice job of playing off readers' expectations. In contrast, Vinnie Penn's Trim, a predictable and gory tale of revenge, makes an impression solely because of its gross-out factor. As Otto Penzler cautions in his introduction, this anthology is not for the fainthearted. (June)
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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Kensington Publisher (May 27, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0758222661
• ISBN-13: 978-0758222664
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #988,495 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Crime at its Best!!! June 2, 2008

By R. S. P. Lee

Format:Paperback

Todd Robinson, award-winning writer, has gathered under one "roof" a stellar cast of hardboiled writers to bring you the print version of his hard-hitting webzine, ThugLit Presents: HardCore Hardboiled www.thuglit.com

The amount of talent (from award-winner Bill Fitzhugh, Edgar-nominated Victor Grischler of GunMonkeys fame, the Don of crime-fiction himself Charlie Stella, Best American Mystery Stories winner Tim Wohlforth, Duane Swierczynski of The Blonde and Moonknight-Marvel Comics-, Award-winner Ken Bruen and other suspects who names shall be changed to protect the innocent) between these pages is explosive!

This book was full-on in your face, no appolozies, fast'n'hard fiction never seen before, and I doubt even after. Landmarks in fiction are few and far between given the soft-boiled tastes of the current industry.

With a foreword by Otto Penzler (if you don't know who he is, then forget reading this, or for that matter, burn your eyes out!)and an opening by the Big Daddy Thug himself, the book marks itself as a contribution to the sometimes underground & under appreciated world of truly hardboiled crime & noir.

Am I being vague? Not enough details about what lies between the pages?

Then buy the book and you'll see what I mean.

Besides, when's the last time you read a story with a Monkey that could take you out!

Literally!

-Dash C. B!AM

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Kick ass June 28, 2010

By Christopher Rhatigan

Format:Paperback

This first installment of the web powerhouse Thuglit is a winner. I think it's even a bit more consistent than the second book, though both are well worth the price of admission.

Mike Toomey has a solid effort in a nasty, tight story about mob revenge in "Ten Dimes." The legendary Ken Bruen weighs in with the hilarious roller coaster "Brant Bites Back," sketching a truly memorable character in the rude, rough and tumble Brant. In one of the most unusual crime stories I've read, Vincent Kovar comes up with a reason for an "All-Night Dentist" to exist--really entertaining stuff.

My favorite in this collection is "A Sleep Not Unlike Death" by Sean Chercover. He's created a layered and engaging character in Gravedigger Peace who is compelled to solve the problem of some teenage punks stomping on sacred ground. It won a well-deserved Anthony for best short story. After reading this I went out and got his novel, "Big City, Bad Blood," which was a great read.

Thuglit is part of a growing network of excellent crime fiction web sites that are giving new life to the mystery short story--and this collection is a good review of their early work.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A collection from Thuglit.com February 25, 2011

By Fred Camfield

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

After five years on the Web, and three collections in paperback, the editors of Thuglit.com have decided to pull the plug, or so says their Web page. Like many other small publications, either hard copy or ezines, it is disappearing in the dust and the editors will go on to other things. It's hard to find a place to submit short stories. I am reminded of a novel about a wizard who only had one spell he could perform - enough to qualify him as a wizard, but not enough to support himself. It is somewhat like writing - if you manage to publish a short story, you are a writer, but what then? Fortunately, in my case I am retired with some amount of income - so I can sometimes dabble with writing.

The present collection from Thuglit.com contains 24 short stories - all worth reading. My attention was drawn to the collection when I was checking for anything written by Sean Chercover. "A Sleep not Unlike Death" features Gravedigger Peace, a former mercenary named Mark Tindall in an earlier life, who appeared in the author's debut novel, "Big City, Bad Blood." The collection contains stories by some authors you will recognize, and some not previously known to you (and maybe worth checking out). Short story collections are always a good way to check out authors.

The lead story, "Ten Dimes" by Mike Toomey is about a fence who is being offerred something by a man he doesn't know, but he has some thoughts of his own about the merchandise. The Last story, "The Milfinators" by Charlie Stella, is about a hired gun being brought out of retirement for a job - it was getting a bit boring sitting around in Florida - and now he is freezing his behind off in North Dakota on a job that may not be quite all it seems to be.

In between you have stories by Ken Bruen, Sam Edwards, Jordan Harper, Tim Wohlforth, Ryan Oakley, the story mentioned by Sean Chercover, Hana K. Lee, Mike MacLean, Donovan Arch Montierth, J.D. Smith, Frank Zafiro, Victor Gischler, B. H. Shepherd, Vinnie Penn, Bill Fitzhugh, Vincent Kovar, Duane Swierczynski, Patty Templeton, Stephen Allan, Jeffrey Bangkok, Bryon Quertermous, and David Bareford. It's a good way to spend some rainy evenings. Enjoy.