SMFS Member Publishing News: Nikki Dolson

Today is publication day for SMFS list member Nikki Dolson’s new book, Love and Other Criminal Behavior. Published by Bronzeville Books, the short story collection is available in Hardback, Paperback, and eBook formats at Amazon and other vendors.

Synopsis

The collection starts with "Georgie Ann" a tale of kept women, betrayal, fake friends, and oh, so much blood. Nikki doesn't pump the breaks before throwing the reader into the ring in "Take the Hit," where Kendra must go back into the boxing ring and throw a fight if she hopes to fulfill her dream of having a family.

In "Sunrise," Nikki takes us to the desert to die. But not before unwinding the lost loves, regrets, and complicated relationships all plaguing one family, as two cousins try to decide whether they'll let their beloved Uncle join his late first wife.

"Our Man Julian," is about a washed-up actor who is cultivating a wild San Diego garden, and a lifetime of loneliness and regret. Hit with the reality that he will die soon with no savings and nothing to offer the daughters he loves but barely sees, he plans an outrageous kamikaze mission. But can a man who's survived it all really turn off that survival instinct?

Love and Other Criminal Behavior will keep your heart pumping fast, right up until it's broken.

A Short Walk Down A Dark Street: Issue 103

As posted by Peter DiChellis to our list…

Instead of flowers or chocolates, this week’s blog brings moms (and everyone else) links about short mystery and crime fiction: reviews, releases, free reads, and more.

Includes all the latest free-to-read flash fiction from Mystery Tribune.

Plus, Tricks of the Trade: A third generation cop offers real-world tips on avoiding glaring procedural mistakes in crime fiction.

And two fresh reviews from SMFS Prez Kevin Tipple, as well as reviews of over four-dozen Edward D. Hoch impossible crime shorts.

A short walk down a dark street (#103). Celebrating short mystery and crime fiction.

https://shortwalkdarkstreet.wordpress.com/2020/05/10/short-walk-103/

Best wishes,

Peter

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SMFS Member Publishing News: Rusty Barnes

SMFS list member Rusty Barnes’s new book, Kraj the Enforcer: Stories is now out. Published by Shotgun Honey, the read is available in print and digital formats from the publisher as well as Amazon and other vendors.

Amazon Synopsis:

Meet Kraj—pronounced krai—a low-level errand boy and hitman masquerading as a bouncer for Tricky Ricky Gutierrez, nefarious owner of the Twist, a club in upstate Elmira NY. A place that has both a LGBTQIA night and a cowboy country night, this cockeyed corner bar in northern Appalachia supports Ricky’s illegal schemes, and serves as a rural balm for Croatian-war refugee Kraj.

Kraj plies his trade over a short span, moving from petty theft to strong-arming tips from people at the door, breaking up redneck fights, protecting the club’s nubile female staff and collecting gambling debts owed Tricky Ricky. Kraj eventually gets sucked further and further into Ricky’s underworld plans, where he wants to be seen as a man on the come-up, but he has problems moving up in Ricky's organization will never solve. His sister Ana, missing since the Croatian War for Independence, never strays far from his mind.

Kraj, together with his sometime girlfriend Cami, newly become manager of a franchisee McDonald’s, and his manager Mikael. negotiates his way through underground fight clubs, prostitution rings, drug deals, petty thievery, and of course, murder. Tricky Ricky gives Kraj a great deal of rope and autonomy to operate.

Will he hang himself with it or swing?