Stories from Switchblade No. 2, edited by Scotch Rutherford:
Rival mobs vie for territory in S.E. Bailey’s “A Talent for Killing.” Like the previous yarn (“My Brother’s Keeper by Rob T. White), the protagonist is captured and tortured, recalling the events that brought him to his deadly predicament. The horrors to come are both imminent and twisted. Bailey builds the tension in “Talent” nicely, and the opening inner monologue about killing in battle is excellent.
Stories from Switchblade No. 2, edited by Scotch Rutherford:
The protagonist in “My Brother’s Keeper” by Rob T. White, wakes to a living nightmare, bound and gagged by a couple of masked strangers intent on torture. As he drifts in and out of consciousness between sessions, he slowly pieces together a possible reason for this horror. Thankfully, there’s more to this story than its cringingly vivid action.
Doug Knott “Devil-May-Care” (verse)
Contents
Scotch Rutherford: Editor’s Corner
Sharp & Deadly Fiction
Maxwell Mouton “Shame Run”
J.D. Graves “Wally Steakhouse”
Andrew Miller “Champagne and Bacon”
Jack Bates “Quivers”
Nick Manzolillo “Early Release”
Michael Guillebeau “Saint Monster’s”
Chris McGinley “A Queen’s Burial”
A.B. Patterson “Wankers”
E.F. Sweeney “Dead Dog”
Philip Dean Brown “Today, I Got You”
Quick & Dirty Flash
Zella Christensen “Getaway”
Albert Tucher “Territory”
Danny Sophabmisay “Slay Ride”
Stephen D. Rogers “And Other Assorted Duties”
Author Bios/Acknowledgments
Switchblade: An Anthology of Noir No. 8
Caledonia Press
Editor: Scotch Rutherford
Cover photos: Scotch Rutherford
5” x 8”, 189 pages
POD $7.99 Kindle $2.99
Stories from Switchblade issue two, edited by Scotch Rutherford:
The first wrong decision is often when things turn noir. In the case of Paul Greenberg’s “Next Stop Hell,” we join human disaster, Lou Peterson, fully formed. He craves only the next swindle, swill, or slaughter, a momentary thrill that leaves him wanting another. Naturally, things end badly in this violent, compelling character wreck.
Special Issue: Women of Noir
Lisa Douglass “Rule for Buying a Gun” (verse)
Contents
Lisa Douglass: Editor’s Notes
Quick & Dirty Flash
Cindy Rosmus “Dishes, Dishes, Dishes”
Ann Aptaker “Ring. Buzz”
Susan Kuchinskas “Concrete Blonde”
Micro Flash
Susan Comford “A Shot at Being Ordinary”
Sharp & Deadly Fiction
Tawny Pike “Death Dance in Jacksonino County”
Charlotte Platt “Strong-Armed and Dangerous”
Sarah Jilek “Priscilla, the Amazing Dancing Pig”
Sarah M. Chen “Influencers”
Bethany Maines “Mayhem & Mahalo”
Serena Jayne “Crazy Eights”
Carmen Jaramillo “A Sinner at the Hands of an Angry God”
E.F. Sweetman “Mouthbreather”
Lissa Marie Redmond “Hardball”
Author Bios & Acknowledgments
Switchblade: Stiletto Heeled special edition
Caledonia Press
Guest Editor: Lisa Douglass
Series Editor and cover photos: Scotch Rutherford
5” x 8”, 170 pages
POD $8.99 Kindle $2.99 (99¢ MatchBook)
Stories from Switchblade issue two, edited by Scotch Rutherford:
Carmen Jaramillo reaches for justice in “The Long Arm,” a tightly-crafted yarn about long- and short-term thinking—all of it bad. Rolly Walden found the Lord in Joliet. Little Mary found Rolly in a Minnesotan mining town watering hole. The only question between this pair is, “Who’s the stranger?”
And speaking of indie pulp digests, EconoClash Review’s Editor/Publisher posted the first review of The Digest Enthusiast No. 9 on Goodreads. Thanks JD!
Stories from Switchblade issue two, edited by Scotch Rutherford:
“Profski Gets It” by Charles Roland opens with a short, gross prelude, meant to set the mood. Fortunately, this PI procedural takes off directly after, along with Profski, for New Orleans. When a Milwaukee runaway stops texting her younger sister, an infernal alarm finally triggers her parents to hire Profski, after the NOPD comes up clueless. Profski follows each new lead further into more dubious locales. Roland paints a beautifully gray picture of where second-thoughts should never let us go. An issue highlight.
Stories from Switchblade issue two, edited by Scotch Rutherford:
“Salsa Verde” by Renee Asher Pickup gives a first person account of a robbery in-progress for the spoils of an earlier heist by the narrator and her partner. Good idea, good action, and good dialogue—that’s an anaphora, the repetition of a word or phrase that begins every clause. Unfortunately, there’s one in “Salsa” too. “It’s my job to do this,” “It’s his job to do that,” recurring often enough to call attention to itself; which for me, broke the story’s otherwise natural flow.
William R. Soldan “The Bastard Girl of Tampa Ray” (verse)
Contents
Scotch Rutherford: Editor’s Corner
Sharp & Deadly Fiction
Bryce Wilson “Dogfight”
R. Daniel Lester “Nowhere to Go but Dead”
Jon Zelazny “Jackass Junction”
Jack Bates “Kettle’s Wake”
Michael R. Colangelo “Tick Tock”
J.L. Boekestein “Sleep Tight Hannibal”
Mark Slade “The Last Savior”
C.W. Blackwell “Kiss for Karma”
Arthur Evans “Dead Drop”
Bill Davidson “Sister”
Nick Kolakowski “My Worst Morning Ever”
Quick & Dirty Flash
Stephen D. Rogers “Last Day of Summer”
David Rachels “A Serial Killer Buys a Watermelon”
Scott Hallam “Choices”
Matthew X. Gomez “Queen of Vice City”
Author Bios/Acknowledgments
Switchblade: An Anthology of Noir
Caledonia Press
Editor: Scotch Rutherford
Cover photos: Scotch Rutherford
5” x 8”, 189 pages
Kindle $2.99
Stories from Pulp Modern Vol. 2 No. 3
Scotch Rutherford writes about dark corners between the bright lights. An independent screenwriter and short fiction author, his work has appeared in All Due Respect, Pulp Modern, EconoClash Review, Shotgun Honey, Switchblade, and The Flash Fiction Offensive. He lives a blissful life of abject poverty in sunny Los Angeles, California.
