A few Kindle deals for the day. As always with Kindle deals act now.
The Cutman by Jack Tunney.
This is the second in a series of novellas, Fight Card. They don’t have to be read in order. Different writers take on the world of Fight card for each installment.
Havana, Cuba. 1954.
Mickey Flynn is an ex-Korean War vet turned merchant marine. He was born in the ghettos of Chicago and raised in an orphanage with his younger brother, Patrick. He was one of several young men who received an education from the nuns at St. Vincent’s.
But he was also taught the “sweet science” by Father Tim, a Golden Gloves boxer and retired police officer who only knew one way to bring a troubled boy to manhood. Father Tim worked with his young charges, taught them how to jab and punch and throw a hook that seemed to come out of nowhere. When the young men left St. Vincent’s (Our Lady of the Glass Jaw), they were changed, fit and ready to take on the troubles the encountered around the world, no matter where they found them.
Now Mick’s in Havana, working on WIDE BERTHA, his ship. After surviving a fierce storm at sea, the last thing Mick and the crew need to do is get crossways with the Italian organized crime flooding Havana, but it doesn’t take much to put him in the cross hairs of a vengeful mob boss working for Lucky Luciano.
Unable to get free of bad luck and unfortunate circumstance, Mick ends up in the ring in an illegal boxing match fighting a human killing machine.
Hilda’s Big Day Out by Allan Guthrie
A short story about a tough little dog, and three bonus stories.
HILDA’S BIG DAY OUT was commissioned by the Sunday Mail as its seasonal short story. It’s a tale of violence, abduction, and pilchards, told from the perspective of a Dandie Dinmont terrier called Hilda, who’s whisked away from a deserted Edinburgh beach by a skinny stranger on New Year’s Day.
(word count: 2640; 10/11 Kindle pages)Also included are three bonus stories
YOUR MOTHER SHOULD KNOW was commissioned as part of Nigel Bird and Chris Rhatigan’s PULP INK anthology. It’s the story of Southern teen from a repressed background who has issues with her mother and a boyfriend she wants to impress. Unfortunately, her attempt to impress him doesn’t work out as planned.
(word count: 1370; 5/6 Kindle pages)BYE BYE BABY was commissioned by Victim Support Scotland for their SHATTERED: EVERY CRIME HAS A VICTIM anthology. The story’s narrated by Mrs Wilson, whose young son, Bruce, has disappeared without trace. She’s grief-stricken and angry and a little drunk, but there’s something deeper and more heartbreaking than initially meets the eye of the detectives who pay her a visit. This is the original story that spawned the author’s Top Ten Kindle novella of the same name.
(word count: 2670; 10/11 Kindle pages)CALL ME, I’M DYING was commissioned by Busted Flush Press for A HELL OF A WOMAN: AN ANTHOLOGY OF FEMALE NOIR, edited by Megan Abbott. A couple having a meal on their wedding anniversary are not what they seem. An unusual phone call helps reveal the truth, but is it too late?
(word count: 3680; 15 Kindle pages)
Merciless Pact by R Thomas Brown
In the quiet of the Texas hill country, something stirs deep beneath the surface. It waits. The longing is passed from one host to another. The things waits, lingers, ready to make the bargain. The pact.
Greg is a simple man. The only tow truck in town, and content with beer, brisquet and baseball. An old friend breaks in and assaults him.
He is marked. Signs he doesn’t understand, urges he can’t resist and strength he longs for are his constant companions. He seeks answers. He finds an offer. The pact.
All bargains have a cost.
Everything I Tell You is a Lie by Fingers Murphy
what drives someone to kill?
The answer, like life itself, is never as simple as it seems. As a prison psychologist and his young patient peel back layers of violence, abuse, mistrust, and missed opportunities, we see a family imploding on itself and the sometimes disastrous effect parental decisions have on children.
Killers aren’t born, they’re made.
This 30,000 word novella will keep you up late to finish it in one sitting, and it will stick with you long after you put it down.
