Friday, October 12, 2012

Working the Hard Side of the Street / Kirk Alex


Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Short Story Collection/Noir

Approximate word count: 15-20,000 words

Availability    
Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: NO Smashwords: NO  Paper: YES
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

A native of Chicago, Kirk Alex now lives in Los Angeles. He has a novel and another short story collection, which appear to only be available in paper editions.

Description:

“An anthology of powerful, caustic, original tales … about the ups, downs, and hard knocks of Hollywood's seamy underbelly.”

Appraisal:

A collection of eight short stories, all told from the viewpoint of an LA cab driver who sees past the neon to expose us to the “seamy underbelly” of tinsel town. I would describe this as noir, because of its exploration of the dark side, but the protagonist doesn’t always have the typical amoral, unfeeling attitude of a noir hero, showing more compassion than usual for the genre, while also recognizing that he can’t change the world he inhabits. If you like noir, this is a worthy, engaging story collection.

FYI:

Adult language and situations.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: **** Four stars

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