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Lost and Loaded: a Gun's Tale
Taking the revolver was their first mistake. Using it was their second.
Marlin Hattenburg has no idea of the mayhem he’s about to unleash when he discovers an ugly gun while at work. Holding the snub-nose revolver fills him with hope that his marital problems will soon melt away.
He’s dead wrong.
The same pistol soon winds up in the hands of a junkie, followed by a mother, a spy, and even a failed clown. Each of them believes a found revolver to be good fortune or a solution to their problems. They, too, are wrong.
How does one discarded revolver lead to so much trouble? Follow the gun through one Pacific Northwest summer and find out.
Lost and a Gun’s Tale is a collection of fourteen stories from crime fiction’s freshest voices. Get your copy today and experience a summer of broken dreams and murder.
Marlin Hattenburg has no idea of the mayhem he’s about to unleash when he discovers an ugly gun while at work. Holding the snub-nose revolver fills him with hope that his marital problems will soon melt away.
He’s dead wrong.
The same pistol soon winds up in the hands of a junkie, followed by a mother, a spy, and even a failed clown. Each of them believes a found revolver to be good fortune or a solution to their problems. They, too, are wrong.
How does one discarded revolver lead to so much trouble? Follow the gun through one Pacific Northwest summer and find out.
Lost and a Gun’s Tale is a collection of fourteen stories from crime fiction’s freshest voices. Get your copy today and experience a summer of broken dreams and murder.
270 pages, Paperback
Published December 8, 2024
1 person is currently reading
12 people want to read
About the author
Colin Conway
78 books129 followersAre you on BookBub? You can follow Colin there at: www.bookbub.com/profile/colin-conway
Colin Conway is the creator of the 509 Crime Stories, a series of novels set in Eastern Washington with revolving lead characters. They are standalone tales and can be read in any order.
He also created the Cozy Up series which pushes the envelope of the cozy genre. Libby Klein, author of the Poppy McAllister series, says Cozy Up to Death is “Not your grandma’s cozy.”
Colin co-authored the Charlie-316 series. The first novel in the series, Charlie-316, is a political/crime thriller that has been described as “riveting and compulsively readable,” “the real deal,” and “the ultimate ride-along.”
He served in the U.S. Army and later was an officer of the Spokane Police Department. He's owned a laundromat, invested in a bar, and ran a karate school. Besides writing crime fiction, he is a commercial real estate broker.
Colin lives with his beautiful girlfriend, three wonderful children, and a codependent Vizsla that rules their world.
Colin Conway is the creator of the 509 Crime Stories, a series of novels set in Eastern Washington with revolving lead characters. They are standalone tales and can be read in any order.
He also created the Cozy Up series which pushes the envelope of the cozy genre. Libby Klein, author of the Poppy McAllister series, says Cozy Up to Death is “Not your grandma’s cozy.”
Colin co-authored the Charlie-316 series. The first novel in the series, Charlie-316, is a political/crime thriller that has been described as “riveting and compulsively readable,” “the real deal,” and “the ultimate ride-along.”
He served in the U.S. Army and later was an officer of the Spokane Police Department. He's owned a laundromat, invested in a bar, and ran a karate school. Besides writing crime fiction, he is a commercial real estate broker.
Colin lives with his beautiful girlfriend, three wonderful children, and a codependent Vizsla that rules their world.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 28, 2024
One gun, many stories. This is the perfect book to take on holiday. Every chapter a new take on the escapades of one snub nosed .38 revolver! It is thoroughly fascinating to see how each author took the premise of one gun appearing and then disappearing and wove such fascinatingly different short stories. My only regret is that I now want to know what happens to all the stories’ characters after the gun was “disappeared”.
December 29, 2024
Lost & Loaded: A Gun’s Tale
A 509 Anthology edited by Colin Conway
Thirteen authors give their twist on the prompt of a person finding a snub nose 38 revolver and what happens afterward. The introduction by Conway was a treat as he told us why he chose to do another anthology after saying his third was the last. His ability to tie the stories of the anthology together was perfect. There are new-to-me and some favorite authors in the list below and there are some that I will definitely be keeping my eye out for. The stories were varied with some very surprising endings. I thoroughly enjoyed reading ever word of each one and wonder how some of the characters will do in the future. I hope this is not the LAST anthology set in the 509 area code even if Colin says that anthologies are a lot of work. I do hope the final product is as rewarding to the editor as it was for me to read.
List of Stories and their authors:
* A HUSBAND’S DUTY by Colin Conway
* LEAVE THE GUN by Libby Fischer Hellman
* DO YOU SEE THE LIGHT by James D.F. Hannah
* THE BOOK DEAL by Robert Lopresti
* MINI ME by Misti Berry
* A GUN IN THE FLOWER BED by Jason Powell
* THE BIG MESS by Cindy Goyette:
* THE DESERVED by Frank Zafiro
* SHOTS by Claire Booth
* A SPY’s NIGHT OUT by Puja Guha
* 8 HOUR DETOUR by Curtis Ipplito
* A GOOD SAMARITAN by Rob Phillips
* LAS VEGAS ALWAYS NEEDS SHOW GIRLS by Robert Matthews
* NINJA’S DON’T RIDE BIKES
Did I like this book: Yes
Would I read more by these authors or a collection like this? Yes
Thank you to the Editor for the ARC – This is my honest review.
5 Stars
A 509 Anthology edited by Colin Conway
Thirteen authors give their twist on the prompt of a person finding a snub nose 38 revolver and what happens afterward. The introduction by Conway was a treat as he told us why he chose to do another anthology after saying his third was the last. His ability to tie the stories of the anthology together was perfect. There are new-to-me and some favorite authors in the list below and there are some that I will definitely be keeping my eye out for. The stories were varied with some very surprising endings. I thoroughly enjoyed reading ever word of each one and wonder how some of the characters will do in the future. I hope this is not the LAST anthology set in the 509 area code even if Colin says that anthologies are a lot of work. I do hope the final product is as rewarding to the editor as it was for me to read.
List of Stories and their authors:
* A HUSBAND’S DUTY by Colin Conway
* LEAVE THE GUN by Libby Fischer Hellman
* DO YOU SEE THE LIGHT by James D.F. Hannah
* THE BOOK DEAL by Robert Lopresti
* MINI ME by Misti Berry
* A GUN IN THE FLOWER BED by Jason Powell
* THE BIG MESS by Cindy Goyette:
* THE DESERVED by Frank Zafiro
* SHOTS by Claire Booth
* A SPY’s NIGHT OUT by Puja Guha
* 8 HOUR DETOUR by Curtis Ipplito
* A GOOD SAMARITAN by Rob Phillips
* LAS VEGAS ALWAYS NEEDS SHOW GIRLS by Robert Matthews
* NINJA’S DON’T RIDE BIKES
Did I like this book: Yes
Would I read more by these authors or a collection like this? Yes
Thank you to the Editor for the ARC – This is my honest review.
5 Stars
December 12, 2024
As author Colin Conway explains in the foreword for this compilation, wrangling several different writers and contributing your own work can be quite a task. Fortunately, despite planning on hanging up the anthology approach with his previous 509 Crime collection, Conway again gives us a fun and varied work here that takes a common prompt and has it baked in many different ways by some from his author network.
I have anticipated this book since I heard about the early plans being discussed earlier this year. Being the brother of one participating author (Rob Phillips), I had an early indication that this was in the works. As soon as the title hit the Amazon Kindle store, I grabbed a copy.
Of course, I found my brother's tale (A Good Samaritan) to be a favorite among the set. However, The Book Deal, See the Light?, and 8 Hour Detour were also standouts for me. As is the case with anthologies, there will always be some stories that grab specific readers in ways different for other readers. It's a cacophony of crime fiction!
Will this be the last 509 Crime Anthology? Only time will tell. I guess when Conway gets an inkling to pull another one together, we'll be the richer for his efforts.
I have anticipated this book since I heard about the early plans being discussed earlier this year. Being the brother of one participating author (Rob Phillips), I had an early indication that this was in the works. As soon as the title hit the Amazon Kindle store, I grabbed a copy.
Of course, I found my brother's tale (A Good Samaritan) to be a favorite among the set. However, The Book Deal, See the Light?, and 8 Hour Detour were also standouts for me. As is the case with anthologies, there will always be some stories that grab specific readers in ways different for other readers. It's a cacophony of crime fiction!
Will this be the last 509 Crime Anthology? Only time will tell. I guess when Conway gets an inkling to pull another one together, we'll be the richer for his efforts.
January 28, 2025
Bravo! I love how all finders" of a gun are each found and used it. The stories of each lead into the next owner. I truly fun read! All of the authors are amazing.
I read this novel as an ARC. This is my review.
I read this novel as an ARC. This is my review.
December 31, 2024
That was a cool set of linked stories.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews