“Hold the Presses: The Bloody Spur/While the City Sleeps (1953)” by William Blick

BOOK REVIEW: “The Bloody Spur is hardboiled noir, and pulpish, yet it is not quite pulp. It is a smart, artfully crafted book that contains salacious and sordid aspects of pulp which make it something of a curio….”

“Guts, Grit, and Glorious Pulp: Edward S. Aarons’ Death in a Lighthouse and Murder Money” by William Blick

BOOK REVIEW: “Aarons’ work is full of many skillful riffs as seen in this pair of rollicking page-burners….”

Preview: “from Build My Gallows High to Out of the Past” by Jeremy Carr

ARTICLE PREVIEW: “If there is a lesson to be learned from noir stories, be they in print or filmed, it is that the past never stays in the past for long, and the inevitably ill-fated future closes in faster than expected…..”

“The Length of Days—One: A Simple Routine” by Lynn Kostoff

NOVEL EXCERPT: “Samuel drives his Taurus through northwest Magnolia Beach. On Saturdays, he plays the car radio. Wednesdays, he likes the silence….”

“Nobody’s Favorite: from Detroit Massacre” by Barry N. Malzberg (1939-2024, Writing as Mike Barry)

NOVEL EXCERPT: “I don’t want to be anyone’s favorite law enforcement officer. When you’re dealing with shit, the only enforcement is death….”

“A New Sensation: Elizabeth Fenwick’s Disturbance on Berry Hill/A Night Run” by William Blick

BOOK REVIEW: “Fenwick’s work is unlikely to shock audiences like sensation fiction had done to the Victorians, but the domestic realism and colorful characters are likely to engage the avid mystery aficionado.”

Excerpt: “So Curse the Day” by Jada M. Davis

NOVEL EXCERPT: “Long ago and dim distant there’d been a place like this, a quiet sun-warmed place like this… That was before they took my mother away and before my father locked me in the house and went away forever….”

Stark House Press Celebrates its 25th Year with an Anthology

BLOGS: “Its first anthology features unpublished stories by featured authors, including Peter Rabe and a novella by Jada M. Davis, along with reprints by Lionel White, Fredric Brown, Barry N. Malzberg, Day Keene, and others….”

“Dead Men Are My Business: Day Keene’s Mrs. Homicide, Naked Fury, and Murder on the Side” by William Blick

BOOK REVIEW: “While not of the caliber of Chandler or Hammett, Keene’s working-class novels show his talent for telling intriguing mysteries at a breakneck pace.”

Somebody’s Done For by David Goodis (Excerpt)

NOVEL EXCERPT: “What it all amounts to, he told himself, is you’re not in shape for a deal like this. You get involved in this sort of thing, you should be properly prepared. I mean mentally, too. It’s a cinch you’re not prepared mentally, because now I’d say you’re just about ready to give up….”