PINS at The Five-Two

PINS is based on a true crime that impacted me not just in the senseless, horror of the murder but the community’s inept social media responses. New York State describes a child under the age of 18 who does not attend school, or behaves in a way that is dangerous or out of control, or often disobeys his or her parents, guardians or other authorities, as a Person In Need of Supervision or ‘PINS’. Thanks as always to Gerald So for featuring my work at The Five-Two. Names of the damned have been altered.

A Fistful of Beetner by CT McNeely

Eric Beetner gets a glowing review by CT McNeely from Dark Corners ...

Eric Beetner is a good old-fashioned pulpster. He spins a rip-roaring yarn like nobody's business and this year is one of the best years to introduce yourself to his work if you're not already on Team Beetner. I am going to talk to you about two of the things Mr. Beetner has coming this year: Rumrunners and The Year I Died Seven Times.

If you have your hand on the pulse of pulp, you know what an amazing operation David Cranmer is running over there at Beat to a Pulp. If so, you may be aware of The Year I Died Seven Times already when it was released in serialized installments. Regardless if you've read it serialized or not, this is your chance to see the whole funny, sordid, wild tale in one volume.

The Year I Died Seven Times tells the story of poor, unfortunate Ridley as he, well, it's pretty much in the title. What isn't in the title is all of the times that Beetner will make you cringe, laugh, cry, and all the sleep that you will lose staying up to read this one to its thrilling conclusion.

Also coming this year is Rumrunners. Rumrunners is Dukes of Hazzard meets Fargo, pissed off and mad about it. It's an alcohol fueled rollercoaster ride of backcountry badassery.

Rumrunners, like all the best backcountry crime tales, focuses on a family. In this case, the McGraws. You need only look to the title to see how they get by. That is, until now, when Tucker McGraw decides to go straight. Of course, it's not that simple. These things never are.

Rumrunners is every bit as good as you want these books to be. It succeeds in pulp revelry where so many other great works of Southern crime fiction fall flat. It is one damn fun book and you'll find yourself returning to it like a favorite movie over and over.

The same can be said, of course, for everything Beetner has ever written. This will be a year of good fortune for Beetner, with many new releases, and that means it will be a great time for all you crazy fiends out there in Pulpsville. Get ready with them wallets, folks. The Year of the Beetner has arrived.

Free eBook: The Year I Died Seven Times Book #7

The Year I Died Seven Times by Eric Beetner has reached the final installment of this exciting serial novel and to celebrate the release BEAT to a PULP is offering #7 free for five days along with most of the other titles. A perfect time to leap on this hardboiled adventure. And see what Clare Toohey has to say about this series over at Criminal Element.

Crimespree Magazine reviews...

The Big Ugly by Jake Hinkson. Dan Malmon says in part: "He gives us a protagonist that has every right to be boiling with vengeance, but is cool and even tempered. He gives us supporting characters that should fall neatly into typecast roles, but sidestep cliché at every turn." Read the full review here.

Review: The Lizard’s Ardent Uniform & Other Stories

The seven tales presented are all good ones that push the boundaries in small and big ways. If you like considering the idea that there is far more going on than meets the eye this book is for you. A crime is present in many of the tales, but the tale itself might be fantasy, fiction or something else. The Lizard’s Ardent Uniform & Other Stories: Veridical Dreams Vol. 1. is one of those rare deals where each story is incredible good making the read simply fantastic from start to finish. --Kevin Tipple

Full review: The Lizard’s Ardent Uniform & Other Stories: Veridical Dreams Vol. 1. Edited by David Cranmer

Wanted Man

“If you do the job right, Walt, by the time you put down your sheriff’s badge, you’re a wanted man.” —Lucian Connally.

Longmire: 3.05 review by Edward A. Grainger.

“Of Children and Travelers”

My thoughts on last night's Longmire episode.

Longmire 3.01: Season Premiere “The White Warrior”

“The White Warrior” opens with Walt Longmire (Robert Taylor) thundering across the dusty landscape in his SUV with Deputy Branch Connally’s bleeding body in the back en route to the nearest medical service: a clinic on the reservation. He skids to a stop in front of an attendant sitting outside. When the man hurries around and notices Branch’s injuries, he asks, “What did you do to him?” and in a flashback, we see Longmire sewing up the gunshot wound with fishing line to slow the bleeding.

Read the rest of my review at Criminal Element.

Free ebooks!

For the next several days I'm offering two of my collections for free. Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles, Vol.II and The Education of a Pulp Writer & other stories.

The Year I Died Seven Times Book #3

Dying twice hasn’t deterred Ridley from finding the love of his life. The mystery deepens and the action increases as Ridley enlists the help of old buddy CJ for a return trip to New York. There, he’ll encounter vicious gun dealers, some familiar faces (not in a good way) and an old friend who may be able to help find Miho.

This time he’s walking straight into the Lion’s den in search of answers. Death awaits, but that’s just the kind of year Ridley’s having.

The Year I Died Seven Times Book #3 is now available and will be offered as a free download beginning 4/6/14.

Get caught up with books 1 & 2 and be on the lookout for book #4 in June.

Free: Beetner's The Year I Died Seven Times Book #2

It will take more than dying to keep him from finding the truth. Book #2 is now available.

Watch for book #3 in April.

The Girls of Bunker Pines by Garnett Elliott

The Girls of Bunker Pines is the third novella in The Drifter Detective series and the first one in print. Here's a review from writing legend, James Reasoner.

Free eBook: Hell Up in Houston

The latest Jack Laramie Drifter Detective ebook is free for a few days.

The Mysterious, Ruby-Encrusted Bracelet and Garnet Elliott's Whereabouts

The middle-aged, ruggedly handsome editor over at BEAT to a PULP is offering up "Vin of Venus" as a free download for several days. Bydgoszcz's renowned Paul Brazill and I worked on the first "LoVINg the Alien" installment and then Mr. Garnett Elliott catapulted the proceedings into the pulp spheres with his continuing storyline. A strange but goody mixture of crime/noir and sword and planet that's best described like this:

Vin, bereft of half his limbs and his memory, struggles between two worlds--the mist-shrouded, verdant hell of ancient Venus and the mean streets of modern Europe--battling both alien monstrosities and underworld villains on his quest to recover his identity. Along the way he is aided by an unlikely cast of allies, as well as the mysterious, ruby-encrusted bracelet that serves as the only link between his heroic past and grim present.

The novella ends on a cliffhanger, but I feel it's a very satisfying breaking point while we all wait for Garn to return from the Kingdom of Bhutan, where I have it under the strictest confidence that Henri Ducard himself is training GE in the arts of stealth and fear as a candidate into the shrouded League of Shadows.

Until then, readers and scribes of all ages, enjoy "Vin of Venus" and have a stellar weekend.

Available Now: Hardboiled 2

BEAT to a PULP: Hardboiled 2 follows the blood-soaked trail left behind by the 2011 award-winning collection edited by David Cranmer and Scott D. Parker, pumping out another thirteen knuckle-breaking, crime tales. With writers from the 1930s and 40s golden era of pulp (Paul S. Powers and Charles Boeckman) and modern hardboiled masters (Robert J. Randisi and Wayne D. Dundee), this wild bunch is set to blaze a rat-a-tat sweep across the pulp fiction landscape. Keeping the body count high are top-shelf stories from Jedidiah Ayres, Eric Beetner, Jen Conley, Matthew C. Funk, Edward A. Grainger, BV Lawson, Tom Roberts, Kieran Shea, and Jay Stringer.