Sex, Thugs, and Rock & Roll (Paperback)

~ Todd Robinson (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Robinson's second anthology derived from the online magazine Thuglit is an improvement over 2008's Hardcore Hardboiled. Jason Starr gets things off on the right foot with Double Down, a short but punchy contemporary PI tale, with an unapologetically amoral main character largely indifferent to the consequences of his greed. Joe R. Lansdale offers perhaps the strongest entry with Bullets and Fire, in which the narrator gets accepted into a hardcore urban gang by punching out a little girl, for reasons that only become apparent in the denouement. An ex-con's despair over his estranged grown daughter drives Marcus Sakey's The Days When You Were Anything Else, which ends with a twist that's no less powerful for being predictable. While not every selection is top-notch, this volume also showcases a number of lesser-known authors who will undoubtedly be heard from more in the future. Sarah Weinman's introduction extols the virtues of online publication. (June)
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Product Description

-My fingers can-t find the bullet holes. They-re there, because they brought me down.-

Like a guitar riff sharp enough to slit a throat or the devil-s amplifiers shrieking through the lonely night, this bonanza of blood and brawn rings with the vibe of the best new noir suspense. Culled from the net-s most hardcore, award-winning site, these fresh, raw, and uncut stories pack a stiff punch-

-As long as she keeps calling me, there-s hope. Hope is a dangerous thing.-

No matter where you turn-a pair of bisexual, ass-kicking Vikings on a slaughter trip; a sexy forty-something thief with angles as lethal as her curves; a porn-comic artist up against one deadly last laugh; a city-s most savage gang under the gun and way out of time; or a south-of-the-borderland sleaze pit where everyone-s a winner-no one gets out alive-

-Escape is a bitch. A man alone and on foot would have to be crazy to try. Apparently he was.-

Rev up for a speed-fueled hell-trip through the dark side, where a backbeat can kill, no scene falls short of badass, and the hooligans bay at the moon-

-This book is dripping so much blood and guts and marrow, it-s impossible to read it in more than a single sitting. Be prepared to be shattered, shell-shocked and bruised, as Thuglit-s emissaries continue to write wrongs that are very, very right.- -Sarah Weinman

Big Daddy Thug/Todd Robinson-s writing has appeared in Plots With Guns, Danger City, Demolition, Out Of The Gutter, Pulp Pusher, Crimespree and Writers Digest's The Year-s Best Writing 2003. He was nominated for a 2006 Derringer Award from the Short Mystery Fiction Society, and 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 and The Million Writer-s Award, and been have been selected for The Best American Mystery Stories and Best Noir 2006. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Kensington; 1 edition (June 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 075822267X
• ISBN-13: 978-0758222671
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #647,627 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE!!!, May 27, 2009

By	Kent Gowran (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Todd Robinson aka Big Daddy Thug has delivered another anthology of hardboiled and twisted ThugLit goodness. Just like the previous ThugLit anthology HARDCORE HARDBOILED, this sucker here is an all hit no miss collection of stories from heavy hitters and new names alike.

Jordan Harper, Justin Porter, Albert Tucher, Joe R. Lansdale, Marcus Sakey, Anthony Neil Smith, Patti Abbott, Jedidiah Ayers, Lyman Feero, and Greg Bardsley turned in my favorite stories of the pack, but, seriously, every story in here is darn good.

My number one pick of the bunch has to be Allan Guthrie's "Haermund Hardaxe Was Here" which is simply flat out brilliant. And it's about Vikings. Yep, Vikings, and not the ones from Minnesota, sports fans. I'd go into detail about Guthrie's story here, but I don't want to ruin it for you. Let's just say not only do you want to read this story, you need to read it. Good enough? Now snap yourself up a copy.

4.0 out of 5 stars Writing about wrongs..., November 3, 2009

By	BJ "Brett Starr" (East Peoria, IL United States) - See all my reviews

"Sex, Thugs, and Rock & Roll" is a wild ride. Twenty four short stories with widely ranging topics from crime, revenge, people being done wrong, those who do wrong and several double / triple crosses!

Todd Robinson is the editor of this collection and also the man behind the website, [...]. You can find new short stories every month on Robinson's online site and the best get chosen for these books. Robinson's first collection Hardcore Hardboiled was such a success, he chose to put out this book to follow.

Alot of big names in this book, stories from Marcus Sakey The Blade Itself: A Novel & The Amateurs and Anthony Neil Smith Yellow Medicine & Hogdoggin' to short story master Scott Wolven Controlled Burn: Stories of Prison, Crime, and Men. One of the great things about Thuglit's anthologies are that any unknown author with the right story can get published.

The Good (really good) -

Cramp by Anthony Neil Smith
Like Riding a Moped by Jordan Harper
Bullets and Fire by Joe R. Lansdale
High Limit by Scott Wolven
The Days When You Were Anything Else by Marcus Sakey
We All Come from Splattertown by Hugh Lessig
Haermund Hardaxe Was Here by Allan Guthrie

The (Not So) Bad -

Politoburg by Jedidiah Ayres
Black Sun by Gary Carson
The Switch by Lyman Feero

Overall a really great read and quite an interesting collection. I'm looking forward to reading more by Jordan Harper and Thuglit's first collection soon.

Enjoy~