“Noir Inside and Out: Two Retrospectives” by Kurt Brokaw

In The Killer Inside Me (2010), Winterbottom choreographs the brutality neat and clean; there isn’t a gasp or a clutch that isn’t in the book. Deep into Michael Winterbottom’s The Killer Inside Me (2010), the indelibly accurate rendering of Jim Thompson’s most important novel, is a defining scene in an Oklahoma jailhouse. Sheriff Lou Ford […]

“Madison Avenue Noir” by Kurt Brokaw

“Madison Avenue is always putting new twists on old pretzels.” Look closely at the shootout in the rain-swept street directly above. It’s the final moments of a 1965 lost neo-noir, The Money Trap. This was the fourth and final pairing of Glenn Ford and Rita Hayworth, who made three better known movies (Gilda, Affair in Trinidad, The Loves […]

“Night Shoot” by Nat Segaloff

Sad news to report. Little Steffi Batchelder is dead….A beam of sunlight struck her and she turned into ash. From the book Hollywood and Venal by Nat Segaloff, illustrated by Thomas Warming. Text © 2020 Nat Segaloff; Illustrations ©2020 Thomas Warming; from BearManor Media. Sometimes you have to lie in order to get to the […]

“In the 19th Arrondissement” by Mitchell Grabois

“I’ve kidnapped the high school girl with the dirty mouth, and she asks if she can share in the profits. Actually, I didn’t kidnap her. She came with me willingly” 1. I couldn’t find my migraine pills, couldn’t find the secret sauce, could not find the formula. My migraines were killing me, like communists kill […]

“The Dump Truck of Self” by Mitchell Grabois

“My body is a situation, a dilemma. I haul it from place to place in this wheelchair. I am a dump truck of self.” 1. Back in the day, I heard that Mama Cass had died choking on a ham-and-cheese sandwich. In reality, eighty pounds lighter than she’d ever been, after two weeks of standing […]

“Bakersfield: Kern River, June 13” by Pierre Ouellette

The following is excerpted from Bakersfield: a Crime Novel by Pierre Ouellette (Jorvik Press, 2018). “You ever meet Hitchcock?” “Yep.” “I hear he hates cops. That right?” “Wouldn’t know. Never asked him.” “What about Bogart? Is he really an asshole?” “Hard to say. He didn’t talk much.” “I bet he drove a Cord or something […]

“Sugar Water” by Charles Willeford

I. It was Sunday dinner at Saint Catherine’s Military Academy and, as usual, I was sitting next to Robbie. It must have been some kind of a Big Deal that Sunday, because in addition to the watery soup, roast beef and mashed potatoes, there were two desserts: bread pudding and two pieces of hard candy. […]

“I Detest All My Sins” [Excerpt] by Lanny Larcinese

Bill Conlon lay on his belly in the yard of Graterford prison. His head rested on a crooked arm; his right hand clutched a rosary fashioned from raisins strung on thread from an unwound sock. Thirty yards away, Mikey Osborne lay on his back—moaning, gripping his throat with both hands, tightly knitted fingers failing to […]

“The Movie Makers” [Excerpt] by Gary Phillips

For what the mark wanted—needed, in fact—Rachel reflected as she went through her yoga exercises, was vindication. Having reached a certain age and income level in this dog-eat-dog business, his psyche still needed boosting. “Don’t get me wrong,” Mikka Bolarus had said to Rachel one evening after a narcotics anonymous meeting as they sipped quite […]

“See No Evil” by Peter DiChellis

I told the cops the truth. I didn’t see anything. But yes, the murder happened right in front of me. And yes, the killer grabbed me and pushed me out of the way to leave. But like I said, I didn’t see a thing. Nothing at all. And then my hard, angry voice screamed the […]