Blood and Whiskey

by Bryan Smith

BLOOD AND WHISKEY is a new novel from the author of Depraved, The Killing Kind, The Freakshow, and 68 Kill.

Out of work and reeling from the fallout of a busted marriage, Johnny Doyle spends most of his days drinking at the Delirium Lounge. Then one day he hears a troubling story about his ex-wife and decides to check up on her, never suspecting that he will soon be caught up in a cyclone of lies, murder, and betrayal. As usual, Johnny turns to the bottle for solace, but this time he spirals out of control as he struggles to survive and cope in a world in which suddenly there is no one he can trust and nothing is as it seems.

Genres: Horror, Ebooks

Kindle Edition

First published September 3, 2013

About the author

Bryan Smith is the Splatterpunk Award-winning author of more than forty horror and crime books, including 68 Kill, the cult classic Depraved and its sequels, as well as The Killing Kind, Slowly We Rot, The Freakshow, and many more. Bestselling horror author Brian Keene called Slowly We Rot, "The best zombie novel I've ever read."

68 Kill was adapted into a motion picture directed by Trent Haaga and starring Matthew Gray Gubler of the long-running CBS series Criminal Minds. 68 Kill won the Midnighters Award at the SXSW film festival in 2017 and was released to wide acclaim, including positive reviews in The New York Times and Bloody Disgusting.

Bryan also co-scripted an original Harley Quinn story for the House of Horrors anthology from DC Comics. He has worked with renowned horror publishers in both the mass market and small press spheres, including Leisure Books, Samhain Publishing, Grindhouse Press, Death’s Head Press, and more. His works are available wherever books are sold, with select titles also available in German and Italian.

Reviews

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Modern day Jim Thompson.

[Bandit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Second in a series of short novels that started with 68 Kill, so every so slightly meatier than a novella, this one makes good on both eponymous promises. The book in fact is virtually soaked in both. Genre wise this is a pulp novel or an homage, well done. The main protagonist Johnny is an unemployed not particularly bright alcoholic inexplicably irresistible to stunning, manipulative (of course, as genre demands) women, so much so that he ends up essentially a ball in their ping pong games of power and seduction. Certainly murder can't be far behind either. Questions are can Johnny navigate his drunken self out of that mess and is it worth the time to find out. The answer to latter is sure, it's as quick of a mindless fun as pulp fiction is meant to be. The former you'll have to find out for yourself. For what it is entertaining read.

[Matt McRoberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Real rating: 3.5 stars, but i bumped it to 4 because i liked the ending.

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bryan Smith channels Big Jim Thompson once again, with his usual deft touch and rapid-fire pacing. All of the core components are there as usual...an unemployed alcoholic protagonist stumblefucks his way through a series of increasingly horrific encounters, exacerbating each unpleasant situation through his weakness for Maker's Mark and duplicitous women.

No new ground is broken here, but Smith's brisk pacing, competent prose, and hairpin plot twists keep things interesting and entertaining. There's a bit less visceral nastiness here than was brought to the table in 68 Kill, but this short novel still treads a lot of rocky grey moral ground and salts the dish heavily with thoroughly unpleasant characters.

Recommended for fans of Smith, anyone who wishes Jim Thompson was still alive and writing, and any readers with strong stomachs and an appreciation for the darker side of latter-day hardboiled noir.

[DJMikeG · Rating 2 out of 5]

A just okay outing from Bryan Smith. I enjoyed the first non horror novel I'd read by him, "Surrounded By Bastards". That one, while not a great book, was very entertaining and a fun, fast moving read. This one, not so much. It was kind of a mess, actually. I didn't really buy many of the characters' motivations. That said, the first third or so of the book was quite good. It kind of falls apart in the middle, suffers from long passages that really don't advance the plot. It actually kind of read like Smith wrote it while he was drunk, which makes sense as the book is about a bunch of alcoholics, but doesn't make for a great read. I hope he had fun while writing it. As a guy who likes a drink or 12 now and again, I appreciated the sheer amount of drunkenness on display here but overall, not a very good book.

[Alex Budris · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I had never read Jim Thompson I would have rated this book four stars (3 1'2 maybe.)

But no matter. A master of the crime / noir story.

Even though this post is mainly about "Blood and Whiskey," it also includes "68 Kill," in a general way - by the same author, published by the same press, at around the same time part of the general there. (I would have, though, just given that one 3.)

Both are impressive.

I'm going to improve this a little later ... far from done. I wish i didn't have to publish it right now to save, but I do. These are notes, general impressions.

[Lucas M · Rating 4 out of 5]

He Always Delivers

Another ripping crime story by Mr. Smith, who should be as well known for this genre as he is for writing horror. A born loser gets caught up with the wrong women and travels down the rabbit hole. Smith is a fantastic crafter of bloody violent stories and this is one of them. Only took a star off for the rather tidy ending and because it didn't quite reach the level of his other work, "68 Kill". Recommended enthusiastically.