Tuesday 21 November 2017

2 BY CHRIS RHATIGAN





















A couple from Chris Rhatigan this week – one a collection of short stories and the other a 120-odd page long novel/novella (what’s the difference?)

Both of these are published by All Due Respect books, as well as two further goodies from Rhatigan – Race to the Bottom and The Kind of Friends Who Murder Each Other

From his website……

I’ve been involved in the crime fiction world as an editor, publisher, and writer for almost a decade.

Chris Rhatigan's website is here

His website is more concerned with his editing services than him blowing his own trumpet about his own work.

I've probably read a couple of his short stories around the internet, but none of his own longer pieces or collections. Time to break my duck I reckon.

Wake Up, Time to Die (2014)

Delusions of grandeur. Furby with an assault rifle. More convenience store robberies than ten seasons of Cops. This is Wake Up, Time to Die. Sometimes funny, sometimes disturbing, and always filled with bad coffee and cheap cigarettes, these stories highlight the weird crime side of Chris Rhatigan's repertoire.

 “Rhatigan is an expert at sketching out incidents that feel real, but are steeped in irony and dark humor.”
~Heath Lowrance  - author of The Bastard Hand and City of Heretics

 “Wake Up, Time To Die is noir cut with Novocain; sharp as a junkie’s needle, yet hazy as the morning after. Reality is a fatal disease and this stepped-on high is your cure. Medicate now.”
~Chris Leek - author of Smoke ’Em if You Got ’Em



Squeeze (2016)


Scumbag newspaper reporter Lionel Kaspar aimlessly wanders from one scam to the next. Trying to claw his way to anywhere, Kaspar fabricates news stories and blackmails a local bureaucrat. What little success Kaspar stumbles upon he wastes betting on sports and drinking. But when Greg Hulas, his competitor, starts investigating him, Kaspar becomes desperate to maintain his position.



6 comments:

  1. With Wikipedia's help I now know quite a bit more about the history of the novel/novella, because once the query was raised I had to find out :)

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    1. I think I once knew, but the knowledge has long departed my empty vessel of a brain. I'll check it out also.

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  2. I always think it's interesting to try different kinds (short story, novella, etc.) of an author's work, Col. It gives a really useful perspective on the author.

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    1. Margot agreed, and not too much time invested if eventually it turns out not to be one's cuppa!

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  3. Sounds too dark and gritty for me, but when you read and review them I will be able to tell more.

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    1. Fair enough, Tracy. I might try something by him in the next month or two.

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