Book review

A Séance for Wicked King Death by Coy Hall

Review of A Séance for Wicked King Death by Coy Hall

Coy Hall’s largely overlooked series opener, A Séance for Wicked King Death, published by Shotgun Honey Books last November, is an engrossing 1950s crime story that flaunts scrupulously distilled prose and memorable rogues. Set in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Huntington, West Virginia, it introduces Royce Pembrook, a smart, articulate ex-con with a talent for deception. A […]

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What Happens in Nebraska by Cat Dixon

Book Review: What Happens in Nebraska by Cat Dixon

This month marks the release of Cat Dixon’s engrossing What Happens in Nebraska, her fifth poetry collection, and as with Eva and Too Heavy to Carry, Stephen F. Austin University Press is the publisher. Arranged into three parts, with roughly twenty poems in each section, the general focus is on the dissolution of a romantic relationship and the process of mending.

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A Certain Man's Daughter by Timothy J. Lockhart

Litchfield reviews “A Certain Man’s Daughter” by Timothy J. Lockhart for The Virginian-Pilot

In 2017, Stark House published an impressive debut novel by Timothy J. Lockhart titled SMITH. It was a hard-boiled noir that featured an interesting female lead character with plenty of grit and toughness. Lockhart’s subsequent novel, PIRATES, published the following year, was a modern-day high-seas action-adventure yarn set in the Caribbean. This thrilling, blood-and-guts page-turner benefits from a distinctive, memorable lead character – a tough but sensitive loner named Hal Morgan, who is a former Navy SEAL. His latest, A CERTAIN MAN’S DAUGHTER, published recently by Stark House, is another excellent hard-boiled tale that warrants reading. Completely different from his previous work, it is brisk-paced, exhilarating, and just as rewarding as the earlier novels.

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A Forgotten Evil by Sheldon Russell

Litchfield reviews ‘A Forgotten Evil’ for the Colorado Review

Nicholas Litchfield reviews A Forgotten Evil by Sheldon Russell for the Colorado Review: “Rich in detail and exquisite prose, and with an unpredictable, weaving narrative, A Forgotten Evil is an ambitious, impressively told tale full of vivid landscapes and unique characters with an authentic voice and a distinctive presence.”

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Litchfield reviews ‘When I Can’t Sleep’ for the Colorado Review

On When I Can’t Sleep: “In this supremely entertaining collection of bite-size yarns that combine humor, pathos, and razor-sharp reverie, prize-winning micro fiction maestro Robert Garner McBrearty stirs and startles and makes the reader shake with laughter. When it comes to real short, real brutal, poignant and punchy works of comic cleverness, McBrearty is the

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To The Bones by Valerie Nieman

Litchfield reviews ‘To the Bones’ for the Colorado Review

Published today in the Colorado Review is my review of Valerie Nieman’s novel To the Bones. Here is a snippet: “In this unusual tale of death and monsters and environmental devastation, horror, science fiction, romance, and satire bleed together to form a vibrant literary delight that is as powerful and imposing as the fearsome orange-hued river that runs through it.”

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Litchfield reviews ‘Smoke City’ for the Colorado Review

“Although somewhat uneven and, at times, repetitive, Smoke City is a distinctive, emotionally rewarding story that moves and entertains. Rosson, whose debut novel, The Mercy of the Tide, netted strong critical reviews, once again shows his talent for creating authentic, sorrowful characters and rich, beautifully wrought prose.” Weaving between hope and destruction, fear and sorrow,

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The Made Up Man by Joseph Scapellato

Litchfield Reviews The Made-Up Man by Joseph Scapellato

Lancashire Post book review by Nicholas Litchfield: Absurdist humour and existential noir intermingle in Joseph Scapellato’s playful and intelligent debut novel about a soul-searching archaeology school drop-out who finds himself at the centre of a strange and risky performance art project in the Czech Republic. Born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago, Scapellato, who now lives in Pennsylvania, is an assistant professor of English in the Creative Writing Program at Bucknell University. His previous work, the critically acclaimed story collection Big Lonesome, received high praise from Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, and the Lancashire Post, with the New York Times proclaiming: ‘Scapellato’s inventive, hallucinatory prose dazzles.’

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Litchfield Reviews The Count of 9 by Erle Stanley Gardner

“Habitually sparring with police officers, suspects, and adversaries, the petite, lightweight Lam once again finds himself up against rough cops and vindictive crooks eager to turn him into a human punching bag. Though competent at meting out verbal jabs, he leads with his chin while ‘somebody always works him over.’ In this especially bruising tale,

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Litchfield Reviews French Exit by Patrick deWitt

Gentler and more tender than a Patrick deWitt reader might anticipate, French Exit is a skilfully told tale that is brimming with humour and pathos, insightful conversations, and featuring eccentric people that intrigue and entertain. It begins at a party on the Upper East Side with the strikingly attractive, revered, upper-cruster Frances Price indulging in

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