“Femme Fatale Assassins and the Time Clock” by Ken Hall

NONFICTION: “A more recent twist on the general narrative arc [of the hitwoman] places the female assassin as a child, perhaps orphaned, but certainly appropriated by a handler, who is trained from an early age, in a morally perverse adoption scenario, to become the ideal robotic killer…..”

“Urbanología” by Giovanni Mangiante

POETRY: “the closest they got to heaven….”

“Tenderloin” by Steve Carr

FICTION: “I still wear my dog tags. They remind me of who I am, or was…. No one can see the damage but me.”

NoirCon Returns in 2022 with a Virtual Conference

Share your ideas and help shape the NoirCon Virtual Edition in 2022 by taking our survey…. NoirCon is planning a virtual conference in October 2022, and we need your input to make it the best conference possible! We kindly ask that you fill out the following survey, which will help us plan for the event. All […]

Nuts and Bolts to the Eight Steps: Paul Tomlinson on Writing the Crime Thriller

INTERVIEW: “Thrillers are more complicated because there’s a lot more variation – many more sub-genres…. All the plots have much in common, but they all have distinct features that readers or film viewers demand – the genre conventions or tropes. Many writers don’t realise how important these are….”

“Making Amends” by Julian Grant

FICTION: “And then nothing…. I explained to them the importance of making amends, the value of a rigorous moral inventory and doing the right thing….”

“Writing from an Illusion: Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961)” by Matthew Sorrento

NONFICTION: “The Hammett detective seeks any clues he can but is unable to recreate narratives through induction/deduction, hence his need to shake things up and unlock loose parts in the disorder he has confronted….”

“Kitty at the Window” by Barry Gifford

NOVEL EXCERPT: “You like her, huh?”….“Just looking,” he said. “Do you know her?”

“Daniel Woodrell: Pulp Outlaw and Pioneer of Rural Noir” by William Blick

NONFICTION: “Woodrell’s visceral and raw prose, combined with precise perception of stark, menacing environments and characters’ flaws and virtues….deserves to be recognized as part of the American literary landscape in the tradition of Faulkner, O’Connor, and McCarthy….”