Switchblade No. 2, edited by Scotch Rutherford:
A solid second issue of a welcome new crime digest. The upgrade in design looks great on paper, or in pixels—but the stories are the main event. Collectively, a five-star rating, with Charles Roland’s “Profski Gets It” the standout, S.E. Bailey’s “A Talent for Killing” worth extra points, and Scotch Rutherford and Stephen D. Rogers in a dead sweat for best flash.
Stories from Switchblade No. 2, edited by Scotch Rutherford:
Graphic sex and violence abound in J.L. Boekestein’s “Years of Paper and Steel” appropriately kicking off this issue’s Quick & Dirty Flash section. When it boils down to a very bad existence or none at all, which would you choose?
Great to see some flash from editor Scotch Rutherford in his own magazine. A couple of “Bookie Boyz” want part of the action on the ASU campus, but does the fraternity want them? Terse and tough like a switchblade’s snick.
Stephen D. Rogers’ “Meeting the Demand’s” single page goes by in a scarlet flash of carefully minced words.
To paraphrase Woody Allen, “The rewards of a robbery are nice at the time, but a double-crossis something you alway have.” A twisted quote that seems to fit Peter Dichellis’ “Hostile Plans” in which two former partners in crime reunite with malice aforethought.
“Ashley Erwin will school you on the art of Mayhem and Motherfuckery in the deep, deep south,” is Editor Scotch Rutherford’s apt description of Switchblade No. 2’s final entry in the Sharp & Deadly Fiction section. A worthy entry, but its full immersion in dialect, had me double-backing every few lines to figure out what was what. The extra effort made it hard for me to dig the story’s flow.
Stories from Switchblade No. 2, edited by Scotch Rutherford:
Stanley Dunlop, deadbeat writer, is ushered back to his fleabag apartment at knifepoint by a mugger fresh out of the can in William Dylan Powell’s “A Death in Deep Ellum.” The unspoken contest of (dim) wits is entertaining and funny and ends with a neatly tied ribbon.
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.
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.
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.
