Thuglit Issue 1


Todd RobinsonMike Wilkerson - 2012
    McCauleySPILL SITE by Matthew C. FunkA CLEAN WHITE SUN by Mike WilkersonLUCK by Johnny ShawPLUS: an exclusive first look at Tyrus Books upcoming novel from Todd Robinson, THE HARD BOUNCE

The Blue Hallelujah


Andy Straka
    When Rebecca died of cancer in prison—branded as a disturbed vigilante after killing one of his murder suspects—Jerry knew he needed to put the truth in writing to set the record straight.Now, as an old man nearing his own demise, Jerry is unsure whether to share his narrative about Rebecca with the world. But when his eight-year-old granddaughter Marnee disappears, Jerry learns she’s been taken by someone close to the killer depicted in the pages hidden in his dresser drawer.It’s time for Jerry to finish the story—by confronting an evil that threatens Marnee’s life and the lives of everyone around her. And by placing his faith in a higher power to redeem the love for Rebecca in his heart.

The Slanted Gutter


S. Craig Zahler - 2020
    Others might refer to him as a criminal or a pimp or an extortionist or all of these things, if they knew what he was doing at night. His income is derived from a number of brothels and gambling parlors that are secreted behind iron doors in what appear to be typical apartment buildings. The police—whom he refers to as “the machos”—are oblivious of his enterprises, but he was incarcerated years ago and is uncommonly careful. When Tasking cannot convince someone to do something he wants, he alters that person’s life—elaborately and maliciously—until that person yields to his wishes. He is oblique and autonomous, and he is successful. Daily, his plots, parlors, and prostitutes bring him closer to the large dollar amount that is his ultimate career goal. Things start to change when he walks into the Cherry Red strip club for the first time and meets the dancer, Erin Green. . . .

The Big Ugly


Jake Hinkson - 2014
    She’s only been out for a day when she accepts a strange job offer from the head of a Christian political advocacy group. He wants her to track down a missing ex-con named Alexis. Although no one knows where Alexis has gone, it seems like everyone in Arkansas is looking for her—from a rich televangelist running for Congress to the governor’s dirty tricks man. When Bennett finds the troubled young woman, she has to decide whether to hand her over to the highest bidder or help her escape from the most powerful men in the state.

Dirtbags


Eryk Pruitt - 2014
    But Calvin Cantrell doesn’t care for those jobs anyway. Instead, he dreams of becoming a famous serial killer. When sleazy restauranteur Tom London hires Calvin to kill his ex-wife, Calvin’s dreams begin. And so do Lake Castor’s nightmares.

King of the Ants


Charlie Higson - 1993
    When he is offered easy money to tail someone, and even more easy money to dispose of him, it's more tempting than you might think. Until you realize that you've been led up the garden path the whole way. King of the Ants is dark, disturbing, and violently comic.

Culture Shock


M.G. Herron - 2020
    The target he’s chasing may be wanted for murder, but his bills aren’t going to pay themselves.As it turns out, he probably should've been more selective. When he tracks down Cameron Kovak, the wanted man turns out to be no man at all.Gunn finds himself face to face with a tentacled creature out of Ridley Scott’s worst nightmare - a baby Cthulhu, wearing his target's skin like a onesie. And that's just the start of it. Aliens have their eyes on us, and Gunn finds himself swept up in their mysterious plans.Experience the start of The Gunn Files, a sci-fi thrill ride that will have you wondering if aliens truly walk among us. It's perfect for fans of Men in Black and The X-Files.Also available on Audible, narrated by Oliver Wyman (Monster Hunter International).

Veil


George C. Chesbro - 1986
    Veil Kendry, an ex-CIA agent with a strange gift of vision, volunteers to undergo tests at the Institute for Human Studies, but unknown enemies seem determined to kill him and stop the tests

Molls Like It Hot


Darren Dash - 2019
    Now he drives one of London's iconic black cabs. On a dark, wet night, he gives a lift to a wounded gangster, and everything changes from that point on. When the gangster gets in touch some time later, offering Eyrie a small fortune if he will take care of a mysterious young woman for a few nights, Eyrie is suspicious and hesitant. He can see trouble ahead, but the money will change his life for the better, so he reluctantly agrees to become a temporary guardian. But some deals should never be struck, and his charge turns out to be far more of a handful than he had ever anticipated. As twist follows twist and the bodies start to mount, Eyrie gets backed into a blood-soaked corner and must resort to desperate, inventive measures if he is to stand any chance of seeing his mission through and making it out of the weekend alive.Fast-paced, action-packed, gritty London-based noir, inspired by the likes of Mickey Spillane, Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett, with a large tip of the hat to the Billy Wilder movie Some Like It Hot.

Down on Ponce


Fred Willard - 1997
    This cracker-noir crime novel follows a crew of eccentric career criminals as they take down a powerful group of money launderers in Atlanta.

Whispering Bodies: A Roy Belkin Disaster


Jesse Michaels - 2013
    Belkin must begin each day with the task he calls The Service: visiting Christian chat-rooms to reply to users innocent questions with mocking answers. “Why do they call the taking of the communion ‘Mass?’”? Belkin124 responds: “They call it the Mass because after Jesus was crucified, a mass of people rushed forward to the cross and ate him. Now they eat the wafer to remember it.” At forty-seven, balding, and mildly agoraphobic, Belkin is a man without direction. He rarely leaves his apartment (he refers to the outside world as The Pounding), and when he must leave, he meticulously recounts the day in his Thunder Book; a journal where he lists all that repulsed him that day.But everything changes the day Belkin returns to his apartment to find the building ablaze along with the suspected murder of the apartment building’s maintenance man. As police question him, Belkin meets the mysterious Pernice Balfour, the alluring, religiously obsessed neighbor accused of the crime. Soon, Belkin has no choice but to come out of his shell (and his apartment) to try to clear her name. But the more Belkin investigates, the muddier things become. Wandering through San Francisco’s seedy Tenderloin district, Belkin begins to unravel the truth behind the murder, and encounters a bizarre series of characters and situations: "pansexual" crime-scene photographer, an idiot detective, and an all-knowing government operative.Whispering Bodies is comical offbeat exploration of the wisdom found in madness and the madness found in conventional life, all brought together in a classic tale of who-done-it.

Violent Love, Vol. 2: Hearts on Fire


Frank J. Barbiere - 2018
    BARBIERE and VICTOR SANTOS.Collects issues 6-10.

Last Train to Helsingør


Heidi Amsinck - 2018
    Menacing and at times darkly humorous there are echoes of Roald Dahl and Daphne du Maurier in these stories, many of which have been specially commissioned for Radio 4.From the commuter who bitterly regrets falling asleep on a late-night train in Last Train to Helsingør, to the mushroom hunter prepared to kill to guard her secret in The Chanterelles of Østvig.Here, the land of ‘hygge’ becomes one of twilight and shadows, as canny antique dealers and property sharks get their comeuppance at the handsof old ladies in Conning Mrs Vinterberg, and ghosts go off-script in TheWailing Girl.Scandi noir at its finest.

Medicine and Mayhem; The Dr. Laura Nelson Files


Patricia Gussin - 2016
    Tragically, at the peak of her professional success, a fall on the ice and a devastating hand injury ends her surgical career. But Laura proves resilient and lands the top research job in a large pharmaceutical company. Seven years in Laura’s life separate each of the four novels in the collection. Laura’s personal life evolves just as do the threats—initiated in the dark days of Detroit—that have haunted her along the way.

The God File


Frank Turner Hollon - 2002
    As he questions God's existence in one of the darkest corners of the world, Gabriel creates a file where he stores any evidence of the divine--no matter how unseemly.