by J. L. Abramo
TREY R. BARKER has published a bit of everything: crime to mystery, science fiction to nonfiction, plays to novels, and a short-story collection. He spent seventeen years, off and on, as a journalist before moving into law enforcement. Currently, he is a sergeant with the Bureau County sheriff’s office, the crisis negotiator for the regional special-response team, a member of the Illinois State Attorney General’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and an adjunct instructor at the University of Illinois (Champaign) Police Training Institute. He currently lives in northern Illinois, though he was born and bred in west Texas. Find him at www.treyrbarker.com and @treyrbarker.
ERIC BEETNER is the author of more than a dozen novels including Rumrunners, The Devil Doesn’t Want Me, Dig Two Graves, White Hot Pistol, and The Year I Died Seven Times. He is co-author (with JB Kohl) of One Too Many Blows To The Head, Borrowed Trouble and Over Their Heads and co-wrote The Backlist with author Frank Zafiro. He lives in Los Angeles where he co-hosts the Noir At The Bar reading series. For more visit ericbeetner.com.
LEVI BLACK is James R. Tuck and has several books out under both names. He is also a professional tattoo artist of twenty years, a former bouncer, and co-hosts the “Fanboy and Geek Girl Power Hour” podcast with his wife. https://leviblackbooks.wordpress.com
MICHAEL BUNKER is a USA Today Bestselling author, off-gridder, husband, and father of four children. He lives with his family in a “plain” community in Central Texas, where he reads and writes books...and occasionally tilts at windmills. In November of 2015, Variety Magazine announced that Michael had sold a film/TV option for his bestselling novel Pennsylvania to Jorgensen Pictures, whom is developing Pennsylvania for production into a feature film or television series. Michael is writing the first draft of the screenplay. Michael’s latest (and best rated) novel is Brother, Frankenstein which was released in late April of 2015. Michael has been called the “father” of the Amish/Sci-fi genre but that isn’t all that he writes. He is the author of several popular and acclaimed works of dystopian sci-fi, including the Amazon top 20 bestselling Amish Sci-fi thriller the Pennsylvania Omnibus, the groundbreaking dystopian vision Hugh Howey called “a brilliant tale of extra-planetary colonization.” He also has written the epic post-apocalyptic WICK series, The Silo Archipelago (set in Hugh Howey’s World of WOOL,) as well as many nonfiction works, including the non-fiction Amazon overall top 30 bestseller Surviving Off Off-Grid. Michael was commissioned by Amazon.com through their Kindle Worlds and Kindle Serials programs to write the first ever commissioned novel set in the World of Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle. That book is entitled Osage Two Diamonds, and it debuted on Dec. 17, 2013.
DELILAH S. DAWSON is the author of the Blud series, the Hit series, Servants of the Storm, Star Wars: The Perfect Weapon, a variety of shorts and comics, and Wake of Vultures, written as Lila Bowen. She teaches writing classes online at LitReactor.com and lives in the north Georgia mountains with her family. Find her online at whimsydark.com.
LES EDGERTON is a full-time writer with eighteen books in print. He teaches creative writing in an ongoing online class, and through private coaching of writers and writes in a variety of forms: novels, short stories, nonfiction books, screenplays and the subjects he chooses to write about are just as varied, including sports, literary fiction, thrillers, black comedy, noir and the craft of writing. He has a checkered past, having spent two-plus years incarcerated at Pendleton Refor-matory back in the sixties for burglary. He is all cleaned up now and you can invite him into your home and don’t have to count the silverware when he leaves. His former life of crime is a plus in his opinion, as it helps inform his novels experientially and gives them a verisimilitude denied to many others. Graduated from Indiana University with a B.A. in General Studies (Honors of Distinction) and earned an MFA in Writing from Vermont College. Work of his has been nominated for or been awarded: the Pushcart Prize, O. Henry Award, Edgar Allan Poe Award (short story category), the Texas Institute of Letters Jesse Jones Award, the Violet Crown Book Award, the Derringer Award, Spinetingler Magazine Best Thriller Award, literary grants, and others, had a short story included in the Best American Mystery Stories, 2001. His screenplays have placed as a semifinalist in the Nicholl’s Foundation Awards and as a finalist in both the Writer’s Guild and Best of Austin competitions. http://lesedgerton.net
CHRISTA FAUST is the author of over a dozen novels, including Choke Hold, Money Shot and Hoodtown. She worked in the Times Square peep booths, as a profess-sional dominatrix, and in the adult film industry both behind and in front of the cameras. She lives and writes in Los Angeles. More info and social media links at www.christafaust.com.
Steeped in pulp magazines, old radio shows, and all things of that era’s pop culture, TOMMY HANCOCK lives in Arkansas with his wonderful wife and three children and obviously not enough to do. He is Partner in and Editor in Chief for Pro Se Productions, is an organizer of the New Pulp Movement, works as an editor for Seven Realms, Dark Oak, and Moonstone. He is also a writer for various companies, including Airship 27, Mechanoid Press, Pulpwork Press, Dark Oak, and Moonstone. Tommy also works as Project Coordinator for Moonstone as well as produces and hosts two podcasts: “Pulped! The Official New Pulp Podcast” and “Pro Se Presents: The Podcast.”
GRANT JERKINS is the critically acclaimed author of A Very Simple Crime, which The New York Times called “An extremely nasty study in abnormal psychology.” The prize-winning debut has since been optioned for film. Jerkins is also author of the novels At the End of the Road, The Ninth Step, Done in One, and Abnormal Man. www.grantjerkins.com
KEN LIZZI lives in Oregon with his wife, daughter, books, home brewing gear, and antique weapons. And a cat. When he’s not lawyering he writes fiction. All right, he writes more fiction. His novels Reunion and Under Strange Suns are available from Twilight Times Books. Follow him at http://www.kenlizzi.net.
RILEY MILLER’s an English-teaching suspense writer. She lives in sunny South Carolina, but her stories stay dark. Check out a couple in The Big Bad II or Voluted Tales and visit Riley at www.rileymiller.net.
JAMES A. MOORE is the award winning author of over twenty novels, thrillers, dark fantasy and horror alike, including the critically acclaimed Fireworks, Under The Overtree, Blood Red, the Serenity Falls trilogy (featuring his recurring anti-hero, Jonathan Crowley) and his most recent novels, The Blasted Lands and City of Wonders. In addition to writing multiple short stories, he has also edited, with Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon, the British Invasion anthology for Cemetery Dance Publications. The author cut his teeth in the industry writing for Marvel Comics and authoring over twenty role-playing supplements for White Wolf Games, including Berlin by Night, Land of 1,000,000 Dreams and The Get of Fenris tribe book for Vampire: The Masquerade and Werewolf: The Apocalypse, among others. He also penned the White Wolf novels Vampire: House of Secrets and Werewolf: Hellstorm. Moore’s first short story collection, Slices, sold out before ever seeing print. His most recent novels include A Hell Within (With Charles R. Rutledge) and the apocalyptic sci-fi thriller Spores, more information about the author can be found at his website: jamesamoorebooks.com.
BOBBY NASH’s mama tried, she really did, but despite her best efforts he became an award-winning author anyway. Bobby writes novels, comic books, short stories, novellas, graphic novels, and the occasional screenplay for a number of publishers and production companies. He is a member in good standing of the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers and International Thriller Writers. Learn more at www.bobbynash.com.
MEL ODOM has written dozens of novels in several fields—action-adventure, computer strategy guides, fantasy, game-related fiction, horror, juvenile, movie novelizations, science fiction, and young adult—as well as comics. One of his best known fantasy novels is The Rover (2001), which in 2002 won the Alex Award, an American Library Association award given to novels written for adults that would also appeal to young readers. He lives in Moore, Oklahoma, with his wife and five ch
ildren.
ERYK PRUITT is a screenwriter, author and filmmaker living in Durham, NC with his wife Lana and cat Busey. His short films Liyana, On Command and Foodie have won several awards at film festivals across the U.S. His fiction appears in The Avalon Literary Review, Pulp Modern, Thuglit, and Zymbol, to name a few. In 2015, he was a finalist for the Derringer Award. His novel Dirtbags was published in April 2014, and Hashtag was published in May, 2015. He is the host of the radio show “The Crime Scene with Eryk Pruitt.” A full list of credits can be found at erykpruitt.com.
JAY REQUARD resides in North Carolina. When not writing and editing he enjoys fencing, boxing, cooking Indian food, and reading. He had a fluffy cat named Mona. You can find out more about Jay and his work at http://sitwritebleed.blogspot.com/.
CHARLES R. RUTLEDGE is the co-author, along with James A. Moore, of three novels in the Griffin and Price crime/horror series, Blind Shadows, Congregations of the Dead, and the forthcoming A Hell Within. His short stories have appeared in various anthologies including Widowmakers, Strange Worlds, and Carnacki: The New Adventures. He once wrote Chinese comic books for a living without being able to speak Chinese. Charles lives in the Atlanta area with far too many books and a cat named Bruce.
RYAN SAYLES is the Derringer Award-nominated author of The Subtle Art of Brutality, Warpath and Goldfinches. His short fiction has appeared in numerous Internet and print journals as well as anthologies and two collections. VitriolAndBarbies.WordPress.com
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Other Titles from Down & Out Books
See www.DownAndOutBooks.com for complete list
By Anonymous-9
Hard Bite (TP only)
Bite Harder (TP only)
By J.L. Abramo
Catching Water in a Net
Clutching at Straws
Counting to Infinity
Gravesend
Chasing Charlie Chan
Circling the Runway
Brooklyn Justice
Coney Island Avenue (*)
By Trey R. Barker
2,000 Miles to Open Road
Road Gig: A Novella
Exit Blood
Death is Not Forever
No Harder Prison
By Richard Barre
The Innocents
Bearing Secrets
Christmas Stories
The Ghosts of Morning
Blackheart Highway
Burning Moon
Echo Bay
Lost
By Eric Beetner (editor)
Unloaded
By Eric Beetner and JB Kohl
Over Their Heads
By Eric Beetner and Frank Scalise
The Backlist
The Shortlist
By G. J. Brown
Falling
By Rob Brunet
Stinking Rich
By Milton T. Burton
Texas Noir
By Dana Cameron (editor)
Murder at the Beach: Bouchercon Anthology 2014
By Eric Campbell (editor)
Down, Out and Dead
By Stacey Cochran
Eddie & Sunny (TP only)
By Mark Coggins
No Hard Feelings
By Angel Luis Colon
No Happy Endings (*)
By Jen Conley
Cannibals and Other Stories
By Tom Crowley
Viper’s Tail
Murder in the Slaughterhouse
By Frank De Blase
Pine Box for a Pin-Up
Busted Valentines and Other Dark Delights
A Cougar’s Kiss
By Les Edgerton
The Genuine, Imitation, Plastic Kidnapping
By A.C. Frieden
Tranquility Denied
The Serpent’s Game
The Pyongyang Option (*)
By Jack Getze
Big Numbers
Big Money
Big Mojo
Big Shoes
By Keith Gilman
Bad Habits
By Richard Godwin
Wrong Crowd
Buffalo and Sour Mash (*)
Crystal On Electric Acetate (*)
By William Hastings (editor)
Stray Dogs: Writing from the Other America
By Jeffery Hess
Beachhead
By Matt Hilton
No Going Back
Rules of Honor
The Lawless Kind
The Devil’s Anvil
By Naomi Hirahara, Kate Thornton & Jeri Westerson (editors)
Ladies’ Night
By Terry Holland
An Ice Cold Paradise
Chicago Shiver
By Darrel James, Linda O. Johsonton & Tammy Kaehler (editors)
Last Exit to Murder
By David Housewright & Renée Valois
The Devil and the Diva
By David Housewright
Finders Keepers
Full House
By Jon Jordan
Interrogations
By Jon & Ruth Jordan (editors)
Murder and Mayhem in Muskego
Cooking with Crimespree
By Jerry Kennealy
Screen Test
Polo’s Last Shot (*)
By Dana King
Worst Enemies
Grind Joint
Resurrection Mall (*)
By Ross Klavan, Tim O’Mara & Charles Salzberg
Triple Shot
By S. W. Lauden
Crosswise
By Andrew McAleer & Paul D. Marks (editors)
Coast to Coast
Coast to Coast 2
By Terrence McCauley
The Devil Dogs of Belleau Wood
The Bank Heist (Editor) (*)
By Bill Moody
Czechmate: The Spy Who Played Jazz
The Man in Red Square
Solo Hand
The Death of a Tenor Man
The Sound of the Trumpet
Bird Lives!
Mood Swings (TP only)
By Gerald O’Connor
The Origins of Benjamin Hackett (*)
By Gary Phillips
The Perpetrators
Scoundrels: Tales of Greed, Murder and Financial Crimes (editor)
Treacherous: Griffters, Ruffians and Killers
3 the Hard Way
By Gary Phillips, Tony Chavira, Manoel Magalhaes
Beat L.A. (Graphic Novel)
By Tom Pitts
Hustle
By Thomas Pluck
Bad Boy Boogie (*)
By Robert J. Randisi
Upon My Soul
Souls of the Dead
Envy the Dead (*)
By Rob Riley
Thin Blue Line
By Linda Sands
3 Women Walk Into a Bar (TP only)
By Charles Salzberg
Devil in the Hole (*)
Swann’s Lake of Despair (*)
Swann’s Way Out (*)
By Scott Sanders
Shooting Creek (*)
By Ryan Sayles
The Subtle Art of Brutality
Warpath
Swansongs Always Begin as Love Songs (*)
By John Shepphird
The Shill
Kill the Shill
Beware the Shill
By Anthony Neil Smith
Worm (TP only)
All the Young Warriors TP only)
Once a Warrior (TP only)
Holy Death (TP only)
By Liam Sweeny
Welcome Back, Jack
By Art Taylor (editor)
Murder Under the Oaks: Bouchercon Anthology 2015
By Ian Thurman
Grand Trunk and Shearer
By James Ray Tuck (editor)
Mama Tried 1 (*)
Mama Tried 2 (*)
By Lono Waiwaiole
Wiley’s Lament
Wiley’s Shuffle
Wiley’s Refrain
Dark Paradi
se
Leon’s Legacy (*)
By George Williams
Inferno and Other Stories
Zoe (*)
By Frank Zafiro and Lawrence Kelter
The Last Collar (*)
(*) Coming soon
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Here’s a sample from Frank De Blase’s A Cougar’s Kiss.
INTRO
It wasn’t the way she was posed, that had my guts in a knot and my heart in a trot. It was how she looked up at me. Her gaze was enigmatic, magnetic, unapologetic. Her body was magnificent as she lounged languid and lovely in the hay with her arms stretched out over her head. I wanted to touch her. I wanted to kiss her. Hell, I just wanted...bad. I had to take a closer look. I reached in...
“Hey,” Lucky Louis said, as he snatched the magazine back. “Be careful, you idiot. We rip any of these pages and the old man will kill me.” Lucky Louis and his twin brother, Lucky Lenny Sullivan were two of my best friends. It was the summer of 1950 and in our idle, fourteen-year-old curiosity and boredom we had stumbled upon a trunk full of girlie magazines stashed near Mr. Sullivan’s workbench. It was a veritable goldmine of tits and ass and answers to questions that hadn’t even occurred to us to ask.