Tuesday, April 21, 2015

MAYBE I SHOULD JUST SHOOT YOU IN THE FACE: STORIES by Various Authors


GRADE: B-

This is a solid little mixtape of short crime fiction by the people at Zelmer Pulp. The first two stories are by far the best of the collection, and can be seen as great primers for anyone interested in getting more familiar with good modern noir. "Last Exit" by Chris Leek is a dark and grimy tale about a Jersey cop prowling the gutters of Brooklyn in search of the man who killed his hooker girlfriend. It's a story David Goodis would have been proud of. And "Omega Man" by Benoit Lelièvre, focuses on the extreme lengths that a man goes to get back the woman who left him for another man. Most of the other stories are either good but not really crime tales and feel like they don't really belong in the collection, or some are just plain terrible. Another stand out is the closing story, "The Roach Motel Reputation," about a hardass that is terrorizing a gay bar in search for a man named Thomas that he feels is in need of a beatdown.
Some people get to leave their mark on the world; he would only leave a stain.
Maybe I Should Just Shoot You In The Face isn't the greatest compilation of stories, but there are some gems, it's only about 90 Kindle pages, and it'll run you about 99¢ on Amazon. Good deal!

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