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114 ratings | 33 reviews | avg rating:4.64

Chris’s Year In Books

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Chris Orlet’s Followers (34)

Chris’s Bookshelves

to-read (340)
currently-reading (2)
read (113)
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Chris’s Friends (27)

Jim Thomsen

1,896 books | 135 friends

Marietta

3,507 books | 46 friends

Joe Schwart

1 book | 132 friends

Cathy

239 books | 42 friends

Kent Gowran

698 books | 166 friends

Katrina Orlet

2 books | 1 friend

Angela Kelly

239 books | 90 friends

Clare

134 books | 52 friends

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Chris Orlet

Goodreads Author

Born

Belleville, Illinois

Genre

Crime, Thriller, Humor and Comedy

Influences

Larry Brown; Flannery O'Connor; Charles Portis; Richard Brautigan; ...more

Member Since

June 2012

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/psota

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Chris Orlet is the author of the novels Jacks Fork (Down & Out Books); So Many Things to Bury (Down & Out); A Taste of Shotgun (Down & Out); In The Pines (New Pulp Press), and the true crime book Sun Gone Down: The Story of the Richmond Spree Murders (Coming March 2027.) He is a contributor to Dirty Boulevard: Stories Inspired by the Songs of Lou Reed (Down & Out). He was born and raised in Belleville, Illinois.

WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING

"A noir author I deeply respect. Chris’s books are among my favorite noir reads. I can't wait to sink into his next one.” –Jim Thomsen, The Killing Rain: Left Coast Crime Anthology

“Finally a worthy successor to James Crumley and Newton Thornburg and Kem Nunn, the 1970’s godfathers of true noir’s long-needed ...more

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Chris Orlet's Blog

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Combine Editions
Chris Orlet’s books

Average rating: 3.97 · 75 ratings · 22 reviews · 6 distinct works • Similar authors

	A Taste of Shotgun 3.76 avg rating — 29 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Dirty Boulevard: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Lou Reed by David James Keaton (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Reed Farrel Coleman (Goodreads Author), Alison Gaylin (Goodreads Author) 3.72 avg rating — 18 ratings — published 2018 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	So Many Things To Bury 4.67 avg rating — 9 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	In the Pines 4.22 avg rating — 9 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Jacks Fork 4.80 avg rating — 5 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sun Gone Down: The Story of the Richmond Spree Murders 3.60 avg rating — 5 ratings — published 2023 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Chris Orlet…

Chris is Currently Reading

Chris Orlet is currently reading

Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word

by Walter J. Ong

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Oct 08, 2026 07:27AM

Chris Orlet is currently reading

The New Dark Ages: The Death of Reading and the Dawn of the Post-Literate Society

by James Marriott

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Oct 08, 2026 07:26AM

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Chris’s Recent Updates

Chris Orlet wants to read Operation Massacre by Rodolfo Walsh	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 15, 2026 07:27PM · like
Chris Orlet wants to read A State of Fear: Memories of Argentina's Nightmare by Andrew Graham-Yooll	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 15, 2026 07:24PM · like
Chris Orlet wants to read Dodge City: A Novel by Patrick deWitt	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 13, 2026 05:46AM · like
Chris Orlet and 2 other people liked Jim’s status update Jim Thomsen is currently reading Dodge City: A Novel
Oct 12, 2026 02:56PM
Chris Orlet liked a quote “The moral flabbiness born of the exclusive worship of the bitch-goddess SUCCESS. That - with the squalid cash interpretation put on the word 'success' - is our national disease. ” ...more William James
Oct 09, 2026 11:11AM · like · more quotes by William James
Chris Orlet shared a quote “Printing, which comes necessarily out of Writing, I say often, is equivalent to Democracy: invent Writing, Democracy is inevitable.” Thomas Carlyle
Oct 08, 2026 11:50AM · like · more quotes by Thomas Carlyle · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of On Heroes, Hero Worship and the Heroic in History by Thomas Carlyle. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — On Heroes, Hero Worship and the Heroic in History by Thomas Carlyle <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Chris Orlet started reading Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word by Walter J. Ong	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 08, 2026 07:27AM · like
Chris Orlet rated a book it was amazing Left Is Not Woke by Susan Neiman	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Important read. Reminds me of the annoying woke libs who attack Lincoln, say he was a racist, because he didn't do enough to end slavery ---instead of celebrating the fact that MLK and Gandhi were standing on Lincoln's shoulders. Lincoln needed broad ...more
Oct 08, 2026 07:27AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Left Is Not Woke by Susan Neiman. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Left Is Not Woke by Susan Neiman <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
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Oct 08, 2026 07:26AM · like · see status · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Left Is Not Woke by Susan Neiman. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Left Is Not Woke by Susan Neiman <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Chris Orlet started reading The New Dark Ages: The Death of Reading and the Dawn of the Post-Literate Society by James Marriott	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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More of Chris's books…

Quotes by Chris Orlet (?)

“Man this getting out of prison sucks.”
― Chris Orlet, A Taste of Shotgun

tags: crime, noir-style, prisoner

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“Pinning one's hopes on politicians is like pinning one's hopes on last year's lottery.”
― Chris Orlet

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Chris’s Quotes

“A noir story is where the protagonist starts out screwed--and ends up screwder.”
― Rick Ollerman, Down & Out: The Magazine Volume 1 Issue 1

tags: noir-fiction

0 likes

“You know they ain't bad people. They're just uneducated, unsophisticated, untraveled, immoral, and uncivilized. Plus stupid." -The Missing”
― tim gautreaux

12 likes

“Nothing I like to do pays well.”
― Charles Portis, True Grit

120 likes

“Never ever depend on governments or institutions to solve any major problems. All social change comes from the passion of individuals.”
― Margaret Mead

52 likes

“The writer is doomed to live in an atmosphere of perpetual failure.”
― Graham Greene

1 likes

More of Chris’s quotes…