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.
Book Review: What Happens in Nebraska by Cat Dixon Read More »
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.
Calvin J. Clements’ (1915-1997) debut novel, first published in 1952, is so authoritative and instructive about best practices for commanding a vessel that you can’t help but admire the leadership skills of the shrewd, hard-bitten narrator, Martin Lewandowski. A tough, out-of-work seaman in San Francisco, Martin is put in charge of a freighter, the Eastern Trader, by the promiscuous co-owner, Joyce Sloan.
Litchfield Reviews Satan Takes the Helm by Calvin Clements Read More »
Stark House is responsible for publishing many of Gil Brewer’s (1922-1983) works—and not merely reprints. Numerous previously unpublished novels and short stories have found their way into print, and I’m hoping more will emerge in the future. Their most recent two-in-one crime noir reprint is something of a collector’s volume. Flaunting a nice adaption by Jeff Vorzimmer of Roger Kastel’s original cover illustration for The Tease, it comprises two nicely paired tales published in 1967 by the short-lived Banner Books, a paperback imprint acquired by the Hearst Corporation that mainly focused on crime and mystery novels.
Litchfield Reviews The Tease and Sin For Me by Gil Brewer Read More »
I’ve been squirreling away antique paperback copies of Bill S. Ballinger’s work for a long time, having first gotten hold of his Barr Breed mysteries and then moved on to his Joaquin Hawks espionage series, before devouring his many suspense novels. It was mystifying why his work had drifted into obscurity. So, in 2018, it was rewarding to have a hand in bringing a couple of his novels (Portrait in Smoke and The Longest Second) back into print and contribute the introduction to the collection.
Review of The Tooth and the Nail and The Wife of the Red-Haired Man in Bookgasm Read More »
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.”
Litchfield reviews ‘A Forgotten Evil’ for the Colorado Review Read More »
Tom Wicker was a distinguished journalist, editor, and columnist for the New York Times who wrote a number of bestselling books, among them A Time to Die (the winner of the Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1976), and the 1973 political novel Facing the Lions. In the early 1950s, while working on the copy desk
Litchfield Reviews Tears Are For Angels by Paul Connolly Read More »
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
Litchfield reviews ‘When I Can’t Sleep’ for the Colorado Review Read More »
Newbie fiction writer Wilson Toney delivers a lean, humorous, fast-moving crime story with a nod and a wink to pulp fiction maestro Carter Brown. Alibi for a Dead Man, published this December, is the first in what promises to be an entertaining series featuring Bug and Roche, two sharp though weary private dicks. The plot
Litchfield Reviews Alibi For a Dead Man by Wilson Toney Read More »
Published today in the Colorado Review is my review of Michael C. Keith’s story collection Stories in the Key of Me. Here is a snippet:
“Carefully crafted tales of the supernatural, thought-provoking introspection, and relentless black humor can be found in this eclectic new collection from American author and professor emeritus at Boston College, Michael C. Keith.”
Litchfield reviews ‘Stories in the Key of Me’ for the Colorado Review Read More »
