I am delighted to be doing something I haven’t done in too long a time: post on this blog! I’ve been rather busy, with fiction writing and other pursuits, which is not an excuse, just an explanation.

This short story was just published in Crimson Streets, a magazine dedicated to preserving the pulp fiction genre, that honorable and indigenous American literary style impressed into our culture by masters like Dashiell Hammett, James. McCain, Mickey Spillane, Raymond Chandler, Jim Thompson and James Elroy. It is sometimes referred to as “hard-boiled” or noir fiction,  and the genre covers a wider range of style than one might suspect. Common factors include a cynical and flawed protagonist who follows their own code of honor, a, corrupt and unfair system, and blurred lines between legality and criminality. Authors choose to incorporate levels of psychological study, social commentary, deeper character development, and reduce or increase the level of violence and suspense as they deem appropriate. The heyday of this genre was between the nineteen twenties and fifties, when dozens of magazines published the masters mentioned above as well as unknowns. Today, the form lives on in cinema and novel, but few magazines specialize in this kind of crime fiction. Crimson Streets publishes on-line, and once a year offers a print anthology. 

I wrote the first draft of this story in 2017 and presented it to my writing group, KEYBANGERS BANGKOK. I have loved this style of crime fiction ever since I learned to read, and was possessed by a burning desire to try my hand. I needed some guidance. As always, Keybangers offered wise constructive criticism, particularly to ditch the hard-boiled dialogue I was experimenting with, and have my characters speak like the criminals I represented in decades of practice as a defense lawyer. I took their advice, and it worked. (Good news: I’ll soon be dropping by Bangkok  to work with them for a little while as I endeavor to complete the second novel featuring expatriate American criminal lawyer Glenn Murray Cohen and cohorts, who faced intrigue and danger in my first novel, Bangkok Shadows.  Click here to learn more about Bangkok Shadows.

It was a lot of fun writing this story, and we may be more from Fat Phil, Johnny, and their assorted miscreants. I hope you enjoy the story, as well as the great cover art by Chlo’e Camonayan.