Unlucky Seven

On sale!

Well, not just Unlucky Seven is on sale. I’ve put the kindle versions of 3 very different short story collections on sale for the next week for $0.99. Here’s the introduction I wrote for the collection:

Oxford Languages defines noir as “a genre of crime film or fiction characterized by cynicism, fatalism, and moral ambiguity.”

I love reading noir. I love the dread-induced tension. It’s exhilarating following the noir protagonist as he or she desperately struggles against tumbling into the abyss. Horrifying also, which makes sense since there’s sometimes a very thin line between noir and horror, although with noir the stakes can be so much higher.

I also love writing noir, but the sad fact is it’s a hard sell. While I’m hardly the only noir reader, most crime fiction readers want heroes to root for, and there are no heroes in noir. I was able to publish my first noir novel (and first novel) Fast Lane to an Italian publisher before finding a small US press to publish it, and was then able to sell my next four noir novels (Small Crimes, Pariah, Killer, Outsourced) to Serpent’s Tail while legendary publisher, Pete Ayrton, and equally legendary editor, John Williams, were involved, but things change. Serpent’s Tail was bought and stopped publishing American noir, and the remaining market for noir got even tougher. Overlook Press published my sixth noir novel, A Killer’s Essence, and another novel is set for German-only publication, and that was it for me. I smartened up, determined not to be like past noir authors who died broke. I switched to writing mysteries, horror, thrillers, and even some fantasy. But there’s still a market for noir short stories, and so I keep writing them. This collection is made up of seven of my personal favorites.