June 2 - "Like Riding a Moped"

“Like Riding a Moped”
by Jordan Harper
Sex, Thugs, and Rock & Roll (2009)

* * * * (Great) Crime

The narrator – a large woman – understands that Benny is using her simply to rob the jewelry store in which she works. The attention and hope he provides convince her to help, but she takes steps just in case.

Heist stories have always interested me. While this tale is not strictly focused on the heist, but rather more on the character of the narrator, it retains the feel – the building tension (will the robbery be a success?) – of a caper story. I think Harper does a great job putting us in the mind of a character with such image and esteem problems. We feel as though we can relate to her situation, her life. Those connections are what give the story its powerfully satisfying ending.

February 26 - "The Long Count"

“The Long Count”
by Sam Edwards
Hardcore Hardboiled (2008)

* * (Okay) Crime

Rusty is visited by a cowboy and his thug, has his tooth knocked out, and is told to return what he stole within three days, or else. The problem is, Rusty doesn’t know the cowboy from Adam, and has no clue what – if anything – he might have taken from him.

The premise is sound enough, and Rusty is believable enough as a small-time thief and tough guy, but the ending explodes, literally, out of nowhere and falls flat. There is one great scene at a bar where Rusty unexpectedly runs into the thug and they have a brief but revelatory conversation about their final boxing matches, held on the same night, still remembered all these years later. The scene ends with an impressively painful punch, but their conversation ends up as the highlight of a rather fluff story.

January 30 - "Brant Bites Back"

“Brant Bites Back”
by Ken Bruen
Hardcore Hardboiled (2008)

* * (Okay) Crime

Roberts reluctantly teams up with the irascible Sergeant Brant to track down the mysterious bloke beating - and biting - local women.

This story was trucking along fine until the last quarter of a page. After a perfectly succinct, snarky, and memorable ending, a tacked on postscript changed the character dynamics that worked so well throughout the story, and tossed in an unnecessary – and out of the blue – final revelation. Aside from the ending, I did rather enjoy Bruen’s realistic foreign dialogue and use of expression. I’m aware Bruen has written other popular mysteries, and would not be surprised if Brant appears in those; he’s the type of damaged character you enjoy spending time with.

January 7 - "Ten Dimes"

“Ten Dimes”
by Mike Toomey
Hardcore Hardboiled (2008)

* * (Okay) Crime

Everyone who’s anyone has heard the tale of the Ten Dimes from a friend who heard it from a friend who actually knew the guy who lifted them from The Man on his way into the ground. A cautious fence, with a personal interest in the dimes, agrees to make a rather unfair trade for them.

From an anthology titled Hardcore Hardboiled, and an introduction warning of the toughness of the following tales, I was less than pummeled by this story. The dialogue was realistic enough – tough enough to be credible – but the story felt very PG and only slightly differed from any number of other similar heard it from a friend yarns. I may simply be a soiled soul no longer so susceptible to shock. But, I was pleased to be correct in my guess as to the identity of The Man. My limited knowledge of 50’s and 60’s singers and actors finally paid off.

It’s been said that there are only a handful of stories in the world, and that each new tale is only a recycled jumble of something told better before. And while this seems the case with “Ten Dimes,” I have hope - hope that springs from other stories, such as yesterday’s, “Armageddon,” that take these supposed handful of stories and pound them into something original - slightly different, slightly better.