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Michael Bracken

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Guns + Tacos Season Three

Guns + Tacos Season Three Vol. 5

Guns + Tacos Season Three [Vol. 5 January 1, 2022] eds. Michael Bracken & Trey R. Barker (Down & Out Books, Print $15.95, Kindle $3.99, 188pp, digest, cover design by Zach McCain)
1 • Episode 13: Two More Tacos, A Beretta .32, and a Pink Butterfly • Dave Zeltserman • nv
51 • Episode 14: Two Tamales, One Tokarev, and a Lifetime of Broken Promises • Stacy Woodson • nv
105 • Episode 15: Chimichangas and a Couple of Glocks • David H. Hendrickson • nv
167 • About the Editors • Anon • bi
168 • About the Authors • Anon • bi

Guns + Tacos Season Three [Vol. 6 January 1, 2022] eds. Michael Bracken & Trey R. Barker (Down & Out Books, Print $15.95, Kindle $3.99, 168pp, digest, cover design by Zach McCain)
1 • Episode 16: Refried Beans and a Snub-Nosed .44 • Hugh Lessig • nv
51 • Episode 17: Two Steak Taco Combos and a Pair of Sig Sauers • Neil S. Plakcy • nv
91 • Episode 18: A Smith + Wesson with a Side of Chorizo • Andrew Welsh-Huggins * nv
151 • Subscriber Exclusive*: Christmas Enchiladas and a Gold-Plated Derringer • Michael Bracken • ss
149 • About the Editors • Anon • bi
150 • About the Authors • Anon • bi

*Subscriber Edition Exclusive Bonus

Guns + Tacos Season Three Vol. 6

Down & Out Books website

Contents formatted for inclusion in Phil Stephensen-Payne’s Galatic Central reference website.
FictionMags Index Family Item Types & Other Abbreviations key.

Black Cat Mystery Magazine No. 10

Black Cat Mystery Magazine No. 10

Black Cat Mystery Magazine [v3 #2, whole #10, November 2021] ex. ed. John Gregory Betancourt, ed. Michael Bracken (Wildside Press, Paperback $12.00, Kindle $3.99, 123pp, tp)
1 • Contents Page
2 • From the Cat’s Perch • Michael Bracken • ed
3 • The Last Gasp • H.K. Slade • ss
12 • Spook • Emilio DeGranzia • ss
21 • Out of a Fog • Barb Goffman • ss
24 • El Pescador Zurdo • Tom Larsen • ss
34 • A Blue Umbrella Sky • R.S. Morgan • ss
43 • Death Will Give You a Reason • Elizabeth Zelvin • ss
58 • The Mannequin Graveyard • Gregory L. Norris • ss
65 • Saving the Indiana Dae • Vicki Weisfeld • ss
77 • The Control Tower • Janice Law • ss
87 • Slow Down • Steve Liskow • ss
97 • Burnin Butt, Texas • Mark Troy • ss
110 • Affair of Lamson’s Cook • Charles Felton Pidgin & J.M. Taylor • ss; The Chronicles of Quincy Adams Sawyer, Detective, 1912

Wildside Press > BCMM

Contents formatted for inclusion in Phil Stephensen-Payne’s Galatic Central reference website.
FictionMags Index Family Item Types & Other Abbreviations key.

P.I. Tales Double Feature

P.I. Tales Double Feature

Perhaps you could call this a digest paperback. It’s a pair of private eye stories about 60 or 80 pages each. It’s published by P.I. Tales from Denver, CO.

Frank Zafiro’s “Hallmarks of the Job” stars Stanley Melvin in a case with all the signature traits you’d expect from a classic PI adventure.

Michael Bracken’s “Aloha Boys” stars Morris Ronald “Moe Ron” Boyette in a missing persons case that takes him places he’d rather seen left in the past.

The volume is reviewed at Col’s Criminal Library.

And in further news, the latest episode of Gun+Tacos as been released from Down & Out Books. Season Three Episode 15 is “Chimichangas and a Couple of Glocks” by David H. Hendrickson. Now it’s digital only, but when the season ends the print version will be published.

Black Cat Mystery Magazine No. 9

Black Cat Mystery Magazine No. 9

Black Cat Mystery Magazine [v3 #1, whole #9, July 2021] ex. ed. John Gregory Betancourt, ed. Michael Bracken (Wildside Press, $13.00, 129pp, tp)
1 • Contents Page
2 • From the Cat’s Perch • Michael Bracken • ed
3 • Last Rites • Stacy Woodson • ss
11 • The Jericho Train • John M. Floyd • ss
22 • Coral Cove • B.A. Paul • ss
31 • The Alley • Ann Aptaker • ss
35 • Sonny’s Encore • Michael Bracken • ss
48 Switch and Bait • Cynthia Ward • ss
51 • Becoming Zero • James A. Hearn • ss
64 • The Murder of Jonathan Greystone • Barry Fulton • ss
77 • You Gotta Be In It! • Elliott Capon • ss
84 • The You-Don’t-Know-the-Half-of-It-Dearie-Blues • Michael Kurland • ss
110 • A Fighter By His Trade • Graham Powell • ss
123 • Smelling Like a Rose * Gil Brewer • ss Mr. Magazine July 1957

Wildside Press > BCMM

Contents formatted for inclusion in Phil Stephensen-Payne’s Galatic Central reference website.
FictionMags Index Family Item Types & Other Abbreviations key.

Guns + Tacos Season Two

Guns + Tacos Vol. 3

Guns + Tacos Season Two [Vol. 3 (Subscriber Edition) Dec. 31, 2020] eds. Michael Bracken & Trey R. Barker (Down & Out Books, $15.95, 158pp, digest, cover design by Zach McCain)
3 • Episode 7 • Burritos & Bullets • Eric Beetner • nv
43 • Episode 8 • Jalapeño Poppers and a Flare Gun • Michael Bracken & Trey R. Barker • nv
101 • Episode 9 • Four Shrimp Tacos and a Walther P38 • Alec Cizak • nv
Print $15.95 Kindle $5.99

Guns + Tacos Season Two [Vol. 4 (Subscriber Edition) Jan. 1, 2021] eds. Michael Bracken & Trey R. Barker (Down & Out Books, $15.95, 176pp, digest, cover design by Zach McCain)
13 • Episode 10 • A Taco, a T-Bird, a Beretta and One Furious Night • Ann Aptaker • nv
59 • Episode 11 • Sopa and a Streetsweeper • Ryan Sayles • nv
109 • Episode 12 • Dos Tacos Guatemal Tecos Y Una Pistola Casera • Mark Troy • nv
161 • Subscriber Bonus • Of a Gun and Tacos Envenados • Trey R. Barker • ss
Print (w/o bonus) $15.95 Kindle (w/o bonus) $5.99

Guns + Tacos Vol. 4

Black Cat Mystery Magazine No. 8

Black Cat Mystery Magazine No. 8

Black Cat Mystery Magazine [v2 #4, whole #8, January 2021] ex. ed. John Gregory Betancourt, ed. Michael Bracken (Wildside Press, $13.00, 126pp, tp)
1 • Contents Page
2 • From the Cat’s Perch • Michael Bracken • ed
3 • Trip Up on High Street • John Hegenberger • ss
11 • St. Killian’s Choice • M.A. Monnin • ss
18 • You Lose, We Find • Jon Matthew Farber • ss
26 • The Big Picture • John M. Floyd • ss
45 • An Artist in the Harem • Elizabeth Zelvin • ss
62 • Planted in Midair • D.V. Bennett • ss
84 • An Inconvenient Sleuth • Barb Goffman • ss
109 • Just Another Bum • Donald Barr Chidsey • ss Detective Fiction Weekly Jan. 6, 1934

Wildside Press > BCMM

Black Cat Mystery Magazine No. 8 back cover

Black Cat Mystery Magazine No. 7

Black Cat Mystery Magazine No. 7

I thoroughly enjoyed this special Private Eye edition of Black Cat Mystery Magazine, edited by Michael Bracken. Its authors include Robert Lopresti and Josh Pachter who have both contributed to past issues of The Digest Enthusiast. Others, like Andrew Welsh-Huggins, Bev Vincent, and John M. Floyd often appear in the pages of newsstand digests like Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen. It was great to see a story from Gordon Linzner, who edited and published the indie SF zine Space & Time for decades. Another indie digest stalwart is Graham Powell, whose work has appeared in places like Needle and Plots with Guns. The prolific, award winner, O’Neil De Noux is onboard, along with Clarkesworld author E.E. King. The volume wraps with two longer yarns, the first by Robert Jeschonek of PulpHouse Fiction and Fiction River-fame, and concludes with a classic reprint from Manhunt by Fletcher Flora.

All told, a terrific read with special appeal for lovers of private detective stories.

Published by Wildside Press
Print $13 Kindle $3.99

News Digest Feb. 28, 2020

Astounding 5-44, Fantastic 3-65

Paul Fraser reviews Astounding Science Fiction Vol. 33 No. 3 May 1944 on SF Magazines.

Victoria Silverwolf reviews Fantastic Vol. 14 No. 3 March 1965 on Galactic Journey.

Guns + Tacos Vol. 1 & 2

The print version of season one of Guns + Tacos season one arrived last Saturday. Each of its two volumes, created and edited by Michael Bracken and Trey H. Barker include three stories around 40 pages each. Volume One: Gary Phillips, Bracken, and Frank Zafiro. Volume Two: Barker, William Dylan Powell, James A. Hearn, and a bonus story by Bracken, making this the thicker of the two volumes. Season Two has been ordered and will begin later this year from Down & Out Books.

Boy Detective, Find the Money

Art Taylor writes about the story order in his new anthology The Boy Detective & The Summer of ’74 at Auntie M Writes. (Hat tip Kevin Tipple).

Artist and author Tony Gleeson’s new book, Find the Money, is now available on amazon. The mysterious Vanessa has vanished, and it’s worth a million dollars to a vicious drug lord to get her back. But the ransom disappears, turning up in the hands of a bewildered innocent bystander, while ruthless gangsters and hapless kidnappers alike desperately search for the money. Meanwhile, Detective Marlon Morrison, who only wants to comfortably ride out the final year and a half before his retirement without incident, finds himself involved with a growing succession of murder victims, and a bizarre case growing in complexity by the hour…

Josh Pachter talks to Publisher’s Weekly about his anthologies The Misadventures of Ellery Queen and The Misadventures of Nero Wolfe. (Hat tip Michael Bracken)

Doug Draa announced on Facebook that Weirdbook No. 42 has gone to print!

A.T. Sayre describes his joy and appreciation at having his first story, “Rover,” published in the venerable Analog.

AHMM & EQMM Mar/Apr 2020

Found all four March/April 2020 Dell digests on shelves this week at my local Barnes & Noble’s. Alfred Hitchcock’s features William Burton McCormick’s cover story “Night Train to Berlin.” Ellery Queen’s cover highlights its “Mystery Strangers” theme. Although not listed on the cover, indie favorite Preston Lang also has a story inside—congrats!

Asimov's & Analog Mar/Apr 2020

Asimov’s cover features Nancy Kress’ “Semper Augustus” and Analog continues their retro-look celebration of their 90th year. Note F&SF Editor C.C. Finley’s name on the cover, and inside there’s a new story by Edd Vick* and Manny Frishberg. *Vick as interviewed by D. Blake Werts in The Digest Enthusiast No. 6.

Fantasy & Science Fiction Jan/Feb 2020

Corey Flintoff talks about his “Interlude in Arcadia” (F&SF J/F 2020) on the Fantasy & Science Fiction blog.

Readin’ and Writin’
Finished the audio book version of The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler and loved it. I listened while driving and more than once got so lost in the gorgeous prose I had to try to remember what was happening in the plot. Narrator Ray Porter’s cadence and inflections are a perfect match to Tom Hanks’.

Also on audio, I listened to Break Shot: My First 21 Years by James Taylor. A intimate memoir with Taylor’s recollections of family dysfunction, fighting addiction, and working with Danny (Kootch) Kortchmar, Peter Gordon, The Beatles, Joni Mitchell, and Carol King. This guided tour of his early life is interspersed with his gorgeous melodies. Riveting, sad, and unforgettable.

Mike Shayne June 1957

In print, I read Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine June 1957. This issue wraps up the trilogy of the serialized Weep for a Blond Corpse, with more action and excitement than the previous two installments. It also boasts two outstanding novelets by Helen Nielsen and Tedd Thomey, as well as some fine short stories by Fletcher Flora, James Schucker, D.E. Forbes, Murray Wolf, and F. Keston Clarke. A great issue of a great digest magazine! Watch for my reviews in a coming issue of bare•bones.

Jeff Vorzimmer, editor of Stark House Press’ Best of Manhunt, read through the current issue of The Digest Enthusiast and awarded it a 5-Star rating this week on GoodReads. Thanks much, Jeff!

TDE12 Update: Met with my writing group on Thursday and shared my review of Paperback Fanatic No. 43, which will appear in TDE12. Also completed the initial layout of my interview with Tony Gleeson for the issue. Thanks to Tony, it’s loaded with beautiful artwork—mostly from vintage digests.

True Crime Detective Summer 1953

From the Vault
Ad copy on page 2: “. . . if you enjoy this issue let us enter a subscription for you so that True Crime Detective may be delivered to you on or before publication date without extra cost. You will find each issue a little better than the one before—an anthology of the best detective true crime stories new and old.” Cost? $1.40 for 4 issues. In 2020 dollars that’s $13.53. I have a feeling it would be more, but I’d get it if it were still being published today. Next week: the final issue.

True Crime Detective Vol. 3 No. 3 Summer 1953
Contents Page
W.T. Brannon “Rendezvous at Rondout”
Joseph Shillips “They Wrote Their Own Convictions”
Homer Croy “Cherokee Bill”
William Roughead “The Merrett Mystery”
Manly Wade Wellman “The General Dies at Dusk”
Miriam Allen deford “The Reluctant Lover”
Frank Mullady “Judgement for a Messiah”

Publisher: Lawrence E. Spivak
Editors: Anthony Boucher, J. Francis McComas
General Manager: Joseph W. Ferman
Managing Editor: Robert P. Mills
Advisory Editor: Charles Angoff
Art Director: George Salter
Cover: Dirone Photography from “Rendezvous at Rondout”
5.5” x 7.75” 128 pages 35¢

News Digest Feb. 14, 2020

Shadow of Doubt by Mary Wickizer Burgess

The British edition of Mary Wickizer Burgess’ latest Gail Brevard mystery, Shadow of Doubt, is out from Lynford Mystery. Meanwhile, the US version is available from Wildside Press, along with other books in the series.

The Winter 2020 newsletter from Paul D. Marks includes news about his coming novel: The Blues Don’t Care, notice of three new interviews/articles, including his discussion of the Bunker Hill series from Ellery Queen in The Digest Enthusiast No. 11, a little history lesson on La La Land, Noirville with Nat King Cole, What’s Next, and Dog Tails. Subscribe at PaulDMarks.com

Robert Lopresti highlights an intriguing story, “Murderer Bill” by John Grant, in the Jan. 2020 Mystery Weekly Magazine over at Little Big Crimes.

Pulp Adventures No.34

Just out is the new issue of Pulp Adventures, No. 34, with classic pulp fiction by William Decatur and a Hollywood Detective yarn by Robert Leslie Bellem. There’s new pulp fiction by William M. Hope, Logan Robichaud, Charles Burgess, Adam Beau McFarlane, Patti Boeckman & Sharla Wilkins, and Ron Riekki. Plus a Dan Turner comics adventure by Bellem and Adolphe Barreaux. PA is published by Rich Harvey and edited by Audrey Parente from Bold Venture. Print $9.95

Analog interviews Douglas F. Dluzen about his story “Welcome to the New You: Terms and Conditions for the iCRISPR Gene-Editing Kit” in the current issue. The Astounding Analog Companion

F&SF Masthead

Auston Habershaw on “Three Gowns for Clara” F&SF blog.

Occult Detective Magazine No. 6

Matthew X. Gomez reviews Occult Detective Magazine No. 6 at EconoClashReview.com

Michael Bracken exposes his life of crime over at SleuthSayers.com.

Mark SaFranko shares his thoughts “From the Short Story to the Big Screen” over at Something is Going to Happen.

John Boston reviews Amazing Stories March 1965 at GalacticJourney.org

Michael Neno reviews The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells on Goodreads.

Rick McCollum

Rick McCollum shared his WIP with Ken Meyer, Jr. over at Ink Stains this week. If you only click on one link from this week’s digest, make it this one!

Thanks to Chuck Carter for posting a link to this Forbes article on SF and Fantasy magazines’ readership in 2020.

Pulp Literature February 2020 e-news includes an offer for ARCs of Allaigna’s Song: Aria by J.M. Landels, The Muse Retreats for writers, author news, Contest deadlines, and much more. Read it here.

J.T. Yost announced Birdcage Bottom Books 2020 lineup Kickstarter campaign.

James Reasoner called The Digest Enthusiast No. 11 “a spectacular issue” on Rough Edges this week, and Walker Martin commented he wished “it was bi-monthly.” If you’re not already a regular reader of Reasoner’s blog it’s one of life’s daily pleasures, and Martin often adds to the fun.

Brain Freeze
Rocket Roach

Jim Main is launching a new mini comic called Brain Freeze (logo art by Marc Haines). The first issue will include a two-page comic by Bob Vojtko rebooting an adventure of Rocket Roach and Radar. Watch this space for availability.

Readin’ ’n Writin’
Alec Cizak and I have been busy working on the next Pulp Modern. Still no firm publication date, but we’re about one-third through production. Rick McCollum is lined up for the cover and Ran Scott will illustrate the stories. Next submission window will be one day, February 23, 2020. Keep an eye on Pulp Modern’s Facebook page for the official announcement.

Rooftop Stew by Max Clotfelter

One of Birdcage Bottom Books 2019 releases was Rooftop Stew by Max Clotfelter, which I read earlier this week. J.R. Williams’ blurb sez it all: “HA, ha! I just love Clotfelter’s weird, gnarly drawings and sick, twisted stories… enjoy this book now, before the final apocalypse brings a sudden, merciful end to this troubled world…”

Michael Shayne Feb. 1957

Also read the Feb. 1957 issue of Michael Shayne Mystery Magazine. A diverse collection of crime stories: smart, screwball comedy by Veronica P. Johns; three solid deductive procedurals by Lee E. Wells, Jay Carroll, and Robert O’Neil Bristow; the suspense of abduction by Samuel W. Taylor, alternative realities by Henry Slesar, Robert Bloch, and Frank Kane; and the opening salvo of Brett Halliday’s Mike Shayne novel, Weep for a Blond Corpse. I’m reviewing this issue and the two that follow for either Peter Enfantino’s reboot of bare*bones magazine or The Digest Enthusiast No. 13.

From the Vault
True Crime Detective Winter 1953

True Crime Detective Winter 1953

True Crime Detective Vol. 2 No. 5 Winter 1953
Contents Page
Frank Mullady “The Wanton Murder of Arnold Schuster”
Edmund Pearson “The Day of Floradora”
J. Francis McComas “Until Your are Dead”
F. Tennyson Jesse “Murder in the King’s Household”
H.B. Irving “The Strange Case of Euphrasie Mercier”
Verdict of Two: a book review department by the Editors
Stuart Palmer “Once Aboard the Lugger”
Miriam Allen deFord “The Murderer was a Lady”
Index to Volume One and Two
Ad for The Book of Wit & Humor (Mercury Publications)

Publisher: Lawrence E. Spivak
Editors: Anthony Boucher, J. Francis McComas
General Manager: Joseph W. Ferman
Managing Editor: Robert P. Mills
Advisory Editor: Charles Angoff
Consulting Editor: Edward D. Radin
Art Director: George Salter
Cover: Dirone Photography from “Murder in the King’s Household”
5.5” x 7.75” 128 pages 35¢

Opening Lines

Alfred Hitchcock June 2016

“Chase Montgomery wasn’t just out of the closet—he was out of the house and leading one-man Gay Pride parades around our little two-stoplight Texas town until he disappeared on the first without saying goodbye.”
“Chase Your Dreams” by Michael Bracken Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine June 2016