Reviewed
by: BigAl
Genre:
Anthology/Noir
Approximate
word count: 65-70,000
words
Availability
Click
on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes &
Noble, or Smashwords store
Author:
This
anthology contains four short works (novelette length on average) by
four different authors. All are members of the Pankhearst author's
collective.
Evangeline
Jennings
“Born
and raised in Liverpool, where they invented football and popular
music, she now lives in Austin, Texas. The black sheep of her family,
she comes from a long line of California beauty queens on her
mother's side. As she so often says, Northern Scum, Southern Belle.”
Tee
Tyson
“Tyson
is best described as a nature lover, wordsmith, music nerd and
genius, playgirl philanthropist. Her dream is to move into the
mountains where she will perfect her hermit-like tendencies, grow a
vegetable garden, bake fruit pies and own a claw foot bathtub.”
For
the final two authors all I can find is the one line bios in the book
which say that Madeline
Harvey “enjoys adverbs”
and Zoë Spencer
“thinks umlauts are important.”
For
more, visit the website for the Pankhearst collective.
Description:
“Bad
things happen. Everybody dies. But the girl in the red dress kicks
against the pricks. Four merciless and compelling stories by emerging
writers from Canada, the UK, and USA.
From
behind the wheel of her father's lovingly restored Barracuda, a
waitress will protect her baby sister at all costs.
A
nihilistic junkie whore hell bent on revenge snatches a last-gasp
shot at an unlikely redemption. Her father sold her virginity for the
price of a custom paint job. Now she's back and she's taking the
whole damn car.
An
English aristocrat drives across Europe to end a bloody feud before
it consumes the next generation.
And
two young runaway lovers with a steep price on their heads take a
savage road trip through all kinds of crazy.”
Appraisal:
Beyond
the obvious of a female and a car figuring into the story in some
way, each of the four works in this anthology have much in common.
They're noir, so if stories with a dark side and an ever increasing
body count bother you, this might not be for you. Each is a
well-crafted tale and although the main characters are all flawed and
possibly not your first choice for a neighbor, they're also easy to
root for, as whatever bad things they might do are aimed at someone
much worse.
I find
it difficult to pick a favorite. If forced, I'd probably give the nod
to Evangeline Jennings' story Crown
Victoria because her
subtle musical references (at least those I caught) were amusing.
Your favorite could be different. There isn't a clunker in the bunch.
FYI:
Adult
language and content.
Format/Typo
Issues:
While
what I received was an ARC, it had no significant issues.
Rating:
***** Five Stars
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