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The Deepening Shade
With his debut novel, Hell on Church Street, Jake Hinkson became known for combining religious fundamentalism with dark crime fiction. In his first story collection, The Deepening Shade, desperate characters grasp for moments of grace: A lesbian couple running a homeless shelter try to save a young woman controlled by a self-proclaimed prophet. A stripper commits a terrible crime to protect her sister from going to jail. A Pentecostal snake-handler avenges his daughter's murder only to find himself tormented by his own unbelief. An alcoholic cop, drunk on duty, attempts to stop Dick Cheney from robbing a gas station. In these stories and more, which range from the heartbreakingly tragic to the bizarrely funny, characters struggle violently with each other, and with themselves.
"When a collection opens with quotes from Ingmar Bergman's Winter Light and Theodore Roethke's 'In a Dark Time,' you know you're in for a stroll on the dark side. That's just what Jake Hinkson provides in The Deepening Shade. Hinkson's work is raw and violent and powerful."
Mystery Scene Magazine
"Jake Hinkson is the kind of storyteller who picks the reader up by the ankles and shakes their heart out through their throat. The Deepening Shade is the best short story collection I've read in years."
Benjamin Whitmer, author of Pike and Cry Father
"Collectively, these stories are a feat of black magic conjured by a master wordsmith and storyteller intimate with both the dark side and the resiliency of humanity." Eric Rickstad, author of Reap and The Silent Girls
"When a collection opens with quotes from Ingmar Bergman's Winter Light and Theodore Roethke's 'In a Dark Time,' you know you're in for a stroll on the dark side. That's just what Jake Hinkson provides in The Deepening Shade. Hinkson's work is raw and violent and powerful."
Mystery Scene Magazine
"Jake Hinkson is the kind of storyteller who picks the reader up by the ankles and shakes their heart out through their throat. The Deepening Shade is the best short story collection I've read in years."
Benjamin Whitmer, author of Pike and Cry Father
"Collectively, these stories are a feat of black magic conjured by a master wordsmith and storyteller intimate with both the dark side and the resiliency of humanity." Eric Rickstad, author of Reap and The Silent Girls
- GenresShort StoriesNoirCrime
238 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 4, 2015
6 people are currently reading
51 people want to read
About the author
Jake Hinkson
20 books120 followersJake Hinkson, a native of the Arkansas Ozarks, is the author of HELL ON CHURCH STREET, THE POSTHUMOUS MAN, SAINT HOMICIDE, and THE BIG UGLY. His first two books are being translated into French by èditions Gallmeister and will be released in Europe in new hardcover editions in 2015. He lives in Chicago and blogs at http://thenighteditor.blogspot.com/
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 3, 2016
I've really enjoyed almost every book that Jake Hinkson has written and this collection of short and flash fiction is no exception. It exhibits all of the elements that Hinkson's fans have come to expect: classic noir material, assured and succinct writing, examinations of the dark side of religion, and flawed characters who aren't heroes but yet demand our attention and our empathy. The best stories in the collection, like "The Theologians," is classic Hinkson, combining all of these elements into a great tale. It also features another Hinkson trait, a knack for engaging dialogue. Other great stories in the collection are "The Serpent Box," an atmospheric revenge story about a family of Pentecostal snake handlers, "Casual Encounters," about an on-a-whim Craigslist ad that leads to destruction, and "Night Terrors," about a man who, after waking up to his one-night-stand shrieking in her sleep, begins to regret his night of passion, but when the morning comes, he will surely regret it even more.
This was published by All Due Respect, a publisher who's books I've been recently discovering and who specializes in material that I definitely gravitate towards: "low-life literature," in their words! I'll be exploring more of their books soon.
This was published by All Due Respect, a publisher who's books I've been recently discovering and who specializes in material that I definitely gravitate towards: "low-life literature," in their words! I'll be exploring more of their books soon.
August 20, 2020
There are just too many writers pumping out these dark stories. Sexual/criminal fantasies insidiously packaged as if the writer is a moral melting pot when he is some quarter psycho sitting in front of a computer for most of his life. Oooh. The dark underbelly of some beautiful safe place where there aren't too many people left because everything has been outsourced to some place with an actual dark underbelly like India/China/Mexico. The darkness that resides beneath the thin veneer of normalcy ..... blah blah blah ..... zzzzz ..... kiss my ass.
I was drunk when I wrote the above.
The Deepening Shade is an entertaining though at times faux dark and light on detail collection of short crime stories. One of the stories was quite similar to the Ingmar Bergman film The Virgin Spring. Boring and trite discussions about Christianity between believers and non-believers are a part of some of the tales set in Arkansas.
I was drunk when I wrote the above.
The Deepening Shade is an entertaining though at times faux dark and light on detail collection of short crime stories. One of the stories was quite similar to the Ingmar Bergman film The Virgin Spring. Boring and trite discussions about Christianity between believers and non-believers are a part of some of the tales set in Arkansas.
March 26, 2015
An excellent collection of short stuff from one of the newest masters of noir. Jake is definitely one of my favorite newer voices and this is a great introduction if you have not read him before. Quality stuff ranging all over the board. Great read if you are in the mood for some dark short and at times difficult stories.
March 21, 2017
An ok collection
I'd heard good stuff about Jake Hinkson for awhile. After finally sitting down to read this collection I painfully have to say it was a little disappointing. The writing is great and Hinkson is terrific at giving his characters a distinct voice. Unfortunately these stories suffer from lackluster endings and are sometimes just flat out boring. It won't stop me from picking up more of his work but I expected these to have a little more, I don't know, wow factor, I guess.
I'd heard good stuff about Jake Hinkson for awhile. After finally sitting down to read this collection I painfully have to say it was a little disappointing. The writing is great and Hinkson is terrific at giving his characters a distinct voice. Unfortunately these stories suffer from lackluster endings and are sometimes just flat out boring. It won't stop me from picking up more of his work but I expected these to have a little more, I don't know, wow factor, I guess.
February 17, 2015
Borrowed from Kindle Library
When I picked this up, I was on a short story binge. I wish I developed this passion for short stories when I had English classes, because you know, you have to read those over sized anthologies, with the terribly small font, and they're usually classics. Not that I have anything wrong with classics, but I find them hard to get into, especially when you need to read them in a certain span of time. I notice this collection, mostly on my Facebook timeline, was getting some pretty good amounts of buzz. Since I read the novella duo, you don't exist, why not read this one?
I'm not familiar with Jake Hinkson and I'm definitely not an expert of the noir genre. So I didn't expect this collection to be so deep. Each story had it's own little theme. Unfortunately, when it comes to short stories, I don't really remember a lot. There's only a handful of memories, which is usually the amount of the stories I actually liked. So far, from what I've read in noir, The Deepening Shade and Winterswim both have a coating of religion on the immoral activities that go on in these stories. In this collection God seems to be the one critiquing from behind, the characters in most of the stories, argue about what he would think, what he would do, every one of his emotions is supposed to apparently forgive them and send them off to a wonderful land, where the sins committed are gone. Sweep all of your sins under a rug. And it's funny, because I don't know how many times I have felt the same way, but yet we keep believing. We believe in hopes of survival. This belief is our temporary placebo, that very short lived hope that tends to wear off or we get used to it real fast, while caressing our hypocrisies.
Honestly, there are reviews of this collection that are way better than what I'm writing here. What I really is, my words aren't much different. But one thing I have to say is that this collection is some of the more literary, human condition noir. The "why do we exist anyway, there's all this terrible crap within and around us. What does the one in the sky say about me?" Okay, that was the most emo thing I have ever written on this blog and by pure coincidence I am listening to a metal band called Dir en grey, making this feel even more depressing as hell. I think you guys get what I'm trying to convey, it is true, The Deepening Shade is depressing as hell, as for most noir books I've read, but this one kind of has a little bit of mercy, just a tad. Only if you believe in an uncaring god.
The writing is pretty solid and readable, I've set this aside multiple times, but it's hard not to get absorbed into all of this. Short stories are hard to get into and I find it harder when they're longer for some reason. I enjoyed the shorter ones better than the longer ones. Some were pretty funny and there was one that was beautifully atmospheric, almost fairy tale-ish, Hinkson wrote a sort of hybrid noir in this collection. And that's all I have to say here I guess. So here are my favorites in this collection:
The Big Sister
The Girl From Yesterday
Randy's Personal Lord and Savior
Aftermath
The Empty Sky
Cold City
The Serpent Box
Night Terrors
Dinner With Friends
The Theologians
Our Violence
Rating: 4/5
Originally published here: http://wordsnotesandfiction.blogspot....
When I picked this up, I was on a short story binge. I wish I developed this passion for short stories when I had English classes, because you know, you have to read those over sized anthologies, with the terribly small font, and they're usually classics. Not that I have anything wrong with classics, but I find them hard to get into, especially when you need to read them in a certain span of time. I notice this collection, mostly on my Facebook timeline, was getting some pretty good amounts of buzz. Since I read the novella duo, you don't exist, why not read this one?
I'm not familiar with Jake Hinkson and I'm definitely not an expert of the noir genre. So I didn't expect this collection to be so deep. Each story had it's own little theme. Unfortunately, when it comes to short stories, I don't really remember a lot. There's only a handful of memories, which is usually the amount of the stories I actually liked. So far, from what I've read in noir, The Deepening Shade and Winterswim both have a coating of religion on the immoral activities that go on in these stories. In this collection God seems to be the one critiquing from behind, the characters in most of the stories, argue about what he would think, what he would do, every one of his emotions is supposed to apparently forgive them and send them off to a wonderful land, where the sins committed are gone. Sweep all of your sins under a rug. And it's funny, because I don't know how many times I have felt the same way, but yet we keep believing. We believe in hopes of survival. This belief is our temporary placebo, that very short lived hope that tends to wear off or we get used to it real fast, while caressing our hypocrisies.
Honestly, there are reviews of this collection that are way better than what I'm writing here. What I really is, my words aren't much different. But one thing I have to say is that this collection is some of the more literary, human condition noir. The "why do we exist anyway, there's all this terrible crap within and around us. What does the one in the sky say about me?" Okay, that was the most emo thing I have ever written on this blog and by pure coincidence I am listening to a metal band called Dir en grey, making this feel even more depressing as hell. I think you guys get what I'm trying to convey, it is true, The Deepening Shade is depressing as hell, as for most noir books I've read, but this one kind of has a little bit of mercy, just a tad. Only if you believe in an uncaring god.
The writing is pretty solid and readable, I've set this aside multiple times, but it's hard not to get absorbed into all of this. Short stories are hard to get into and I find it harder when they're longer for some reason. I enjoyed the shorter ones better than the longer ones. Some were pretty funny and there was one that was beautifully atmospheric, almost fairy tale-ish, Hinkson wrote a sort of hybrid noir in this collection. And that's all I have to say here I guess. So here are my favorites in this collection:
The Big Sister
The Girl From Yesterday
Randy's Personal Lord and Savior
Aftermath
The Empty Sky
Cold City
The Serpent Box
Night Terrors
Dinner With Friends
The Theologians
Our Violence
Rating: 4/5
Originally published here: http://wordsnotesandfiction.blogspot....
February 22, 2015
Reading short story collections can be a mixed bag of nuts. You can get a few good stories and a bunch of duds. Or you can get a majority of good stories with only a few lesser quality stories. The beauty of The Deepening Shade by Jake Hinkson is that it contains only great stories. The fact is that Hinkson seems to only write great literature. I have yet to read anything by him that is less than stellar.
Most of the stories in this collection have been previously published in various magazines and collections, but there are 5 new ones within this collection. It is a treat to have them all collected in one work and be able to sit down and enjoy them in one sitting. Some of my favorites from this 15-story collection (stories numbered by their appearance in the collection):
#1: Maker’s and Coke
A tight little tale of a police officer that lets his inhibitions run wild after a breakup and ends up in a situation he could not have foreseen. I enjoyed this story, as it kicked off this collection with an introduction to the fact Hinkson puts typical people into typical situations with less than typical results.
#6: The Empty Sky
I loved that this story shows us that even preachers in training are tempted by the flesh and can find themselves in situations beyond their capability to accept or rectify. Told in a flashback, this story gives you a peek at the ending right off the bat, but the ride that gets you there is nothing you would expect.
#7: Cold City
A story about a cop that is in deep to a bookie to the tune of 30G? A story with a cop looking beyond the law to get himself back to even? A cop that is smarter than he seems and a willingness to use others to even the score? Sign me up pronto! This was a sure-fire winner!
# 9: Good Cover
Perspective is in the eye of the beholder. This tale allows you the beauty of seeing a killer, but depending on the light you see him in, your perspective of him as a man can, and will, change. Another story that I loved from a collection that was full of great stories.
#13: Casual Encounters
What happens when life doesn’t pan out the way you thought it would and you look outside your comfort zone for a way to bring some excitement to your life? Well if you are part of a Hinkerson short story, the answer is nothing but misery and heartache. This was probably my favorite story in this collection!
Don’t be misled that I only listed 5 stories in this recap. Every story in the collection is great on its own merit. The stories are all tight, well-written stories that leave you marveling at Hinkerson’s ability to paint pictures of beauty using only words. This was a pleasure to read and showcases Hinkerson’s ability to write works of wonder, regardless of the word-count. Another winner from All Due Respect Books, but at this point, I expect no less from them.
Most of the stories in this collection have been previously published in various magazines and collections, but there are 5 new ones within this collection. It is a treat to have them all collected in one work and be able to sit down and enjoy them in one sitting. Some of my favorites from this 15-story collection (stories numbered by their appearance in the collection):
#1: Maker’s and Coke
A tight little tale of a police officer that lets his inhibitions run wild after a breakup and ends up in a situation he could not have foreseen. I enjoyed this story, as it kicked off this collection with an introduction to the fact Hinkson puts typical people into typical situations with less than typical results.
#6: The Empty Sky
I loved that this story shows us that even preachers in training are tempted by the flesh and can find themselves in situations beyond their capability to accept or rectify. Told in a flashback, this story gives you a peek at the ending right off the bat, but the ride that gets you there is nothing you would expect.
#7: Cold City
A story about a cop that is in deep to a bookie to the tune of 30G? A story with a cop looking beyond the law to get himself back to even? A cop that is smarter than he seems and a willingness to use others to even the score? Sign me up pronto! This was a sure-fire winner!
# 9: Good Cover
Perspective is in the eye of the beholder. This tale allows you the beauty of seeing a killer, but depending on the light you see him in, your perspective of him as a man can, and will, change. Another story that I loved from a collection that was full of great stories.
#13: Casual Encounters
What happens when life doesn’t pan out the way you thought it would and you look outside your comfort zone for a way to bring some excitement to your life? Well if you are part of a Hinkerson short story, the answer is nothing but misery and heartache. This was probably my favorite story in this collection!
Don’t be misled that I only listed 5 stories in this recap. Every story in the collection is great on its own merit. The stories are all tight, well-written stories that leave you marveling at Hinkerson’s ability to paint pictures of beauty using only words. This was a pleasure to read and showcases Hinkerson’s ability to write works of wonder, regardless of the word-count. Another winner from All Due Respect Books, but at this point, I expect no less from them.
September 10, 2016
An alcoholic cop, a Jesus freak, a pregnant homeless teenager, a stripper, a cop in debt to a gangster, and the manager of a fast food joint who is in the wrong place at the wrong time are all part of the rich and varied cast of characters in The Deepening Shade, Jake Hinkson’s superlative short story collection.
The writing is vivid, lyric and brutal. The stories are powerful and involving. The characters are human, all too human.
Every story in this collection is a gem but standouts for me were Makers And Coke, Night Terrors, The Serpent Box and Our Violence.
Very highly recommended
The writing is vivid, lyric and brutal. The stories are powerful and involving. The characters are human, all too human.
Every story in this collection is a gem but standouts for me were Makers And Coke, Night Terrors, The Serpent Box and Our Violence.
Very highly recommended
May 30, 2016
Love his novels, but these stories didn't excite me much. Well written, just not the powerful voice found in the novels. I liked six of the 14 stories, so 2.5 stars. Not sure the chronology of when these were written or first published but I liked the last four stories best, could feel the growing power of his writing in those. He has a knack for endings.
August 16, 2015
Published by All Due Respect Books one knows that The Deepening Shade: New and Collected Stories by Jake Hinkson is not going to be one of those light and happy books. All Due Respect is known for their anthologies and other projects where the happy people and cozy cats would be killed and their bodies buried upside down in that old rock quarry outside of town. There are no happy people in The Deepening Shade: New and Collected Stories where the tone of the tales is dark and where religion and/or alcohol often play a role. Sometimes their role is minor and other times their role is major. Often times neither is the answer as events grind along with a certain inevitability due to fate and the choices these characters make. Finding the line between fate and personal choice is rarely easy and such is the case here.
The read opens with “Maker’s and Coke.” Stopping by Knight’s Liquor Store on the way to work was a possible mistake. Certainly drinking on duty was a definite mistake.
Dancing as Dixie Delight at The Fur Trap doesn’t change the fact that she is “The Big Sister.” Janie has a huge problem and needs her help.
The girl is not only pregnant, but has been roughed up a bit in “The Girl from Yesterday.” The guy who walked into the homeless shelter with her did not look like the kind of guy who would do that, but the bad guys who do that sort of thing are not always obvious. Marie Porter, one of the people who runs the place, wants to know a lot more.
Not only is Randy considered Mister Employee of the Month” at Alltel he is also more than willing once prompted to talk about “Randy’s Personal Lord and Savior.” The backstory of why he does not drink and is so religious is the point of the tale.
Just after noon on one August afternoon three robbers come into the restaurant looking for money and more. Marianne’s attention on her potential client is destroyed. In the “Aftermath” of the robbery her perspective and maybe even her world is changed.
She never had children and now, in a strange twist of fate, she lives in a nursing home across the street from a daycare. What might have been is the ache of memory as well as physical pain in “The Empty Sky.”
Graham has a major problem and needs Larry’s help in “Cold City.” Since both are cops the problem is worse than for a normal citizen. Then too, because they are cops, they have certain options.
There are problems that the McDonalds Corporation doesn’t pay enough for one to deal with minutes before going off duty. A customer is publicly making a big deal about one such problem in “Microeconomics” so now it has to be dealt with before things get worse.
A Police Sniper is hard at work in the very short “Good Cover.”
Handling snakes as a test of religious faith is just part of the deal at work in “The Serpent Box.” It is not news to crime readers that serpents come in many forms.
He’d known that night after she screamed in her sleep that being with her had been a mistake. In “Night Terrors” the waking hours afterwards are worse and the stuff of nightmares.
When your wife is cousins with somebody you have to do things with folks would prefer not to do. Such is the case here in “Dinner with Friends.” If only they all knew what you were capable of and had done you might not have to sit around and listen to these idiots.
It was just supposed to be funny. The ad was supposed to be a way to blow off some steam. Then things got really serious in “Casual Encounter.”
Attending the meetings of recovering alcoholics was a means to an end in “The Theologians.” He might not be the only one using the group meetings for a far different purpose.
Summer heat in Arkansas is just part of the background in “Our Violence.” So too is the legacy of family as well as unresolved childhood issues that could be based on genetic as much as nurturing.
A read containing stories of characters dealing with the blows of life, The Deepening Shade: New and Collected Stories” is a work that resonates on many levels. A hard scrabble way of life is the background to many of these tales as folks deal with events of various types. Dark humor is at work here as is religion, desperation, and crime. Whether choice is really at work in each of these tales, as some would argue, is a question that often is not easily answered. These stories feature people dealing with events where fate and choice are the opposite sides of the same coin and it is up to the reader to determine which way the coin landed.
The Deepening Shade: New and Collected Stories by Jake Hinkson showcases a complexity and a variety not seen in many short story collections or even anthologies for that matter. Much is at work in each of these tales in a book that is not for everyone. A mighty good read and one well worth your time both as a reader and as a writer.
The Deepening Shade: New and Collected Stories
Jake Hinkson
http://www.jakehinkson.com
http://www.TheNightEditor.blogspot.com
All Due Respect Books
http://www.allduerepectbooks.com
January 2015
ASIN: B00RUBIHLQ
E-Book (Paperback available)
238 Pages
$2.99
Material supplied by the publisher last fall for my use in an objective review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2015
The read opens with “Maker’s and Coke.” Stopping by Knight’s Liquor Store on the way to work was a possible mistake. Certainly drinking on duty was a definite mistake.
Dancing as Dixie Delight at The Fur Trap doesn’t change the fact that she is “The Big Sister.” Janie has a huge problem and needs her help.
The girl is not only pregnant, but has been roughed up a bit in “The Girl from Yesterday.” The guy who walked into the homeless shelter with her did not look like the kind of guy who would do that, but the bad guys who do that sort of thing are not always obvious. Marie Porter, one of the people who runs the place, wants to know a lot more.
Not only is Randy considered Mister Employee of the Month” at Alltel he is also more than willing once prompted to talk about “Randy’s Personal Lord and Savior.” The backstory of why he does not drink and is so religious is the point of the tale.
Just after noon on one August afternoon three robbers come into the restaurant looking for money and more. Marianne’s attention on her potential client is destroyed. In the “Aftermath” of the robbery her perspective and maybe even her world is changed.
She never had children and now, in a strange twist of fate, she lives in a nursing home across the street from a daycare. What might have been is the ache of memory as well as physical pain in “The Empty Sky.”
Graham has a major problem and needs Larry’s help in “Cold City.” Since both are cops the problem is worse than for a normal citizen. Then too, because they are cops, they have certain options.
There are problems that the McDonalds Corporation doesn’t pay enough for one to deal with minutes before going off duty. A customer is publicly making a big deal about one such problem in “Microeconomics” so now it has to be dealt with before things get worse.
A Police Sniper is hard at work in the very short “Good Cover.”
Handling snakes as a test of religious faith is just part of the deal at work in “The Serpent Box.” It is not news to crime readers that serpents come in many forms.
He’d known that night after she screamed in her sleep that being with her had been a mistake. In “Night Terrors” the waking hours afterwards are worse and the stuff of nightmares.
When your wife is cousins with somebody you have to do things with folks would prefer not to do. Such is the case here in “Dinner with Friends.” If only they all knew what you were capable of and had done you might not have to sit around and listen to these idiots.
It was just supposed to be funny. The ad was supposed to be a way to blow off some steam. Then things got really serious in “Casual Encounter.”
Attending the meetings of recovering alcoholics was a means to an end in “The Theologians.” He might not be the only one using the group meetings for a far different purpose.
Summer heat in Arkansas is just part of the background in “Our Violence.” So too is the legacy of family as well as unresolved childhood issues that could be based on genetic as much as nurturing.
A read containing stories of characters dealing with the blows of life, The Deepening Shade: New and Collected Stories” is a work that resonates on many levels. A hard scrabble way of life is the background to many of these tales as folks deal with events of various types. Dark humor is at work here as is religion, desperation, and crime. Whether choice is really at work in each of these tales, as some would argue, is a question that often is not easily answered. These stories feature people dealing with events where fate and choice are the opposite sides of the same coin and it is up to the reader to determine which way the coin landed.
The Deepening Shade: New and Collected Stories by Jake Hinkson showcases a complexity and a variety not seen in many short story collections or even anthologies for that matter. Much is at work in each of these tales in a book that is not for everyone. A mighty good read and one well worth your time both as a reader and as a writer.
The Deepening Shade: New and Collected Stories
Jake Hinkson
http://www.jakehinkson.com
http://www.TheNightEditor.blogspot.com
All Due Respect Books
http://www.allduerepectbooks.com
January 2015
ASIN: B00RUBIHLQ
E-Book (Paperback available)
238 Pages
$2.99
Material supplied by the publisher last fall for my use in an objective review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2015
December 28, 2022
This is a terrific collection of short stories, really glad i read them.
January 8, 2015
The Deepening Shade is an outstanding collection of new and previously-published short stories by Jake Hinkson. And wow, this is an amazing collection. It comes right on the heels of my favorite novel from 2014, Hinkson’s own The Big Ugly. In The Deepening Shade, Hinkson proves once again that he is no lightweight when it comes to writing compelling crime fiction.
Thematically these stories are heavy. Each one delivers what feels like a kick to the soul. Each will leave you thinking about them long after you have finished. But despite the heavy themes, the pages flip by quickly. These stories are just so engaging and entertaining.
What’s inside? You get 15 short stories, and there are no throw-aways. This is the greatest hits collection of greatest hits collections. Every story is solid. Once started, I guarantee you will not be able to put them down. You get a stripper with a sister problem, a cop with a moral crisis, two criminals debating theology as they flee with their loot, and so much more.
I predict this one will rank as one of the most important works in the Crime/Noir genre to hit the shelves ever. It also has the potential to transcend the genre. Hinkson has a way of challenging our simple moral systems—whether it be religion, criminal law, or accepted family order—and show where they are lacking. Our simple systems do not measure up to the complexity that the human condition presents. And it is this that makes the book not only entertaining, but one that you will ponder long after finishing. This is one that will affect you in such a way that you will turn to it often. It’s just that good.
If you've read anything by Jake Hinkson, then you already know you just have to have this one. If you have not read Hinkson yet, this is a great place to start. Even if you've already read some of the stories contained in this volume, there is much to be found in those you have not.
I rank this as one of the very best short story collections from a single author that I've ever read (I’d put it on the shelf next to Franz Kafka and Flannery O’Conner).
And it’s exciting to see the ongoing quality we are getting from All Due Respect Books as well, with this being one of the best so far. And if you are keeping up with ADR’s releases, you know that is saying a lot.
Get the Deepening Shade. You won’t regret it.
Thematically these stories are heavy. Each one delivers what feels like a kick to the soul. Each will leave you thinking about them long after you have finished. But despite the heavy themes, the pages flip by quickly. These stories are just so engaging and entertaining.
What’s inside? You get 15 short stories, and there are no throw-aways. This is the greatest hits collection of greatest hits collections. Every story is solid. Once started, I guarantee you will not be able to put them down. You get a stripper with a sister problem, a cop with a moral crisis, two criminals debating theology as they flee with their loot, and so much more.
I predict this one will rank as one of the most important works in the Crime/Noir genre to hit the shelves ever. It also has the potential to transcend the genre. Hinkson has a way of challenging our simple moral systems—whether it be religion, criminal law, or accepted family order—and show where they are lacking. Our simple systems do not measure up to the complexity that the human condition presents. And it is this that makes the book not only entertaining, but one that you will ponder long after finishing. This is one that will affect you in such a way that you will turn to it often. It’s just that good.
If you've read anything by Jake Hinkson, then you already know you just have to have this one. If you have not read Hinkson yet, this is a great place to start. Even if you've already read some of the stories contained in this volume, there is much to be found in those you have not.
I rank this as one of the very best short story collections from a single author that I've ever read (I’d put it on the shelf next to Franz Kafka and Flannery O’Conner).
And it’s exciting to see the ongoing quality we are getting from All Due Respect Books as well, with this being one of the best so far. And if you are keeping up with ADR’s releases, you know that is saying a lot.
Get the Deepening Shade. You won’t regret it.
June 2, 2015
Pulp writers of old churned out stories as much due to work ethic as the market demand that existed. That being said, while classics emerged to shape the culture, many who turned out a high volume of work couldn’t always maintain a consistently high level of quality. Very quickly Jake Hinkson has amassed an admirable body of work that shows no deterioration in the dark tales he tells.
The destruction that lurks beneath religious fanaticism fuels many of his stories. Hinkson is attentive and respectful to the peculiar psychology and emotional idiosyncrasies of those struggling with their faith. Whether it’s the twisted logic of the recovering addicts who burglarize the grieving in “The Theologians”, or the women who run a homeless shelter in “The Girl From Yesterday” trying to aid a battered and malnourished pregnant girl still in the company of the man who abducted her years ago; the propensity for violence and compassion coexist even in the bleakest or most darkly comic situations.
Hinkson also excels at blending familiar genre elements without being predictable. A wrong man thriller reminiscent of the lean boiled down best of Cornell Woolrich, the narrator of “Night Terrors” leaves a one night stand early only to learn the next day that he was the last person to see her alive.
“Maker’s And Coke” finds an off duty police officer struggling to stay sober as he grieves the end of a relationship. Sitting behind a convenience store drinking and wallowing, the officer’s misfortune magnifies as he spots a robbery in progress and responds.
The finely crafted “Our Violence” closes out the collection with a single father and his two sons struggling not with just bonds of family but also land shares and diminished expectations. They are the type of characters that embody Hinkson’s fictional worlds, heartbreakingly familiar for their bad choices, dogged by bad luck as they struggle to forgive themselves and each other.
from my review in Crimespree Magazine #59
The destruction that lurks beneath religious fanaticism fuels many of his stories. Hinkson is attentive and respectful to the peculiar psychology and emotional idiosyncrasies of those struggling with their faith. Whether it’s the twisted logic of the recovering addicts who burglarize the grieving in “The Theologians”, or the women who run a homeless shelter in “The Girl From Yesterday” trying to aid a battered and malnourished pregnant girl still in the company of the man who abducted her years ago; the propensity for violence and compassion coexist even in the bleakest or most darkly comic situations.
Hinkson also excels at blending familiar genre elements without being predictable. A wrong man thriller reminiscent of the lean boiled down best of Cornell Woolrich, the narrator of “Night Terrors” leaves a one night stand early only to learn the next day that he was the last person to see her alive.
“Maker’s And Coke” finds an off duty police officer struggling to stay sober as he grieves the end of a relationship. Sitting behind a convenience store drinking and wallowing, the officer’s misfortune magnifies as he spots a robbery in progress and responds.
The finely crafted “Our Violence” closes out the collection with a single father and his two sons struggling not with just bonds of family but also land shares and diminished expectations. They are the type of characters that embody Hinkson’s fictional worlds, heartbreakingly familiar for their bad choices, dogged by bad luck as they struggle to forgive themselves and each other.
from my review in Crimespree Magazine #59
March 28, 2016
After reading a rave review of Jake Hinkson’s Hell on Church Street (2011) I went to Amazon for a Kindle edition and found that only used paperbacks were available—and they were priced between $50 and $261 (one source listed $650!!!). Apparently this first novel had quite a limited run and has developed a sizable and affluent cult.
No way!! So I rolled the dice and picked the Kindle edition of Hinkson’s A Deepening Shade (2015). This is a book of short stories, all odd and most very short (one was about a page). A Goodreads rating of five stars seemed quite attractive, as was the $2.99 price. And I wasn’t sorry—this is a book of kinky stories. The common characteristics of the stories are a moral quandary, a choice, and a consequence. Abusive fathers are common, and the setting is often in a context of religious fundamentalism. One might describe the genre as backwoods religious noir.
The brevity of each story is, surprisingly, a plus—Hinkson writes in a sparse but effective style, like Hemingway on steroids. Among my favorites is the story of a Pentecostal snake manager whose daughter is raped and murdered by two drifters while she is on her way to church to deliver a snake; the killers then arrive at the snakeman’s house and try to sell him his own daughter’s coat; a moral dilemma and interesting ending. Another story is about a nightclub stripper who makes a dreadful choice to protect her younger sister; a moral dilemma and interesting ending. The last story is about a widower with two sons--a "good" boy and a "bad" boy; whatever the bad boy does, Dad beats on him. As expected, the bad boy becomes bad. A sad tale indeed.
Four stars.
No way!! So I rolled the dice and picked the Kindle edition of Hinkson’s A Deepening Shade (2015). This is a book of short stories, all odd and most very short (one was about a page). A Goodreads rating of five stars seemed quite attractive, as was the $2.99 price. And I wasn’t sorry—this is a book of kinky stories. The common characteristics of the stories are a moral quandary, a choice, and a consequence. Abusive fathers are common, and the setting is often in a context of religious fundamentalism. One might describe the genre as backwoods religious noir.
The brevity of each story is, surprisingly, a plus—Hinkson writes in a sparse but effective style, like Hemingway on steroids. Among my favorites is the story of a Pentecostal snake manager whose daughter is raped and murdered by two drifters while she is on her way to church to deliver a snake; the killers then arrive at the snakeman’s house and try to sell him his own daughter’s coat; a moral dilemma and interesting ending. Another story is about a nightclub stripper who makes a dreadful choice to protect her younger sister; a moral dilemma and interesting ending. The last story is about a widower with two sons--a "good" boy and a "bad" boy; whatever the bad boy does, Dad beats on him. As expected, the bad boy becomes bad. A sad tale indeed.
Four stars.
February 22, 2015
A fun and different kind of read. As the full description on some retail sites mentions, Hinkson’s first novel, Hell on Church Street, combined religious fundamentalism with crime fiction. Many of these stories do the same to varying degrees. This is a strange juxtaposition and prior to reading I was curious as to whether the stories would slant towards a positive or negative portrayal of religion. While every reader is going to view the answer to that question through his or her own personal lens, to me the collection as a whole didn’t do either. Instead, religion was an integral part of the characters or setting. Not likely to offend or please either non-believers or the more faithful, while still adding to the story. A varied collection that should please fans of crime fiction.
**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **
**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **
February 6, 2015
Call it 4 1/2 stars. Jake Hinkson's work here is consistently strong and interesting, and the best stories here -- especially "The Serpent Box" and "Our Violence" -- are real knockouts. My other particular favorite was "The Theologians", though I knew it from its earlier appearance in "All Due Respect" magazine.
If you know Hinkson's other work, you'll be aware that religion is a central theme of his, and that's true here too. He also uses his Arkansas origins very well.
I still like "Hell on Church Street" most among his works, but everything he's done is quite good and memorable.
If you know Hinkson's other work, you'll be aware that religion is a central theme of his, and that's true here too. He also uses his Arkansas origins very well.
I still like "Hell on Church Street" most among his works, but everything he's done is quite good and memorable.
August 9, 2021
This is the second time I've read these dark, noirish stories populated with hapless characters unsuccessfully trying to negotiate the currents of life. Hinkson has a gift with words and I enjoyed all the tales in this little collection. Will be looking for more from this talented author. A very strong 4 stars. Recommended for any fans of noir fiction.
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