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Scorched Noir
The Border ... an alkaline limbo between two worlds, where desperation and violence loom like the ever-present sun. Scorched Noir takes a blistering look at crime along the desert corridos, the creosote bushes and dead arroyos where only scorpions thrive. Eight tales in the triple-digits by hardboiled author Garnett Elliott. From organ smugglers to drug-crazed brujas, this is one collection of Southwestern noir you don’t want to miss. Caliente!
- GenresCrime
126 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 2, 2015
Scorched Noir: A Collection Of Southwestern Crime Tales features eight previously published tales by Yuma, Arizona native Garnett Elliott. That harsh desert landscape with limited opportunities is the setting for these tales. These short stories are set in Yuma, Arizona or towns like it contain a couple of consistent themes that become clear as one reads through the book.
It opens with “Trailer de Fuegeo.” Corrections Officers need somewhere to go to blow off some steam after work. They tend to go out to a certain spot in the nearby desert to drink, smoke, and trade stories. One guard stands out in the battle to keep the inmates in line. His name is Tench and he has done fifteen years of guard duty in a lot of bad places from Texas to Arizona. He has always done what needed to be done and tonight will be no exception.
“Somerton Sangre” features a man named Jesus Vega. Known to do some questionable things when necessary, Mrs. Sandoval wants him to find out who killed her brother. Her brother was killed and dismembered just after he illegally crossed the border. While the way he was killed would indicate drug runners, his sister is sure he was not into that. She has the money to pay for Vega to look into things and find out who killed him. To do that Vega is going to have to cross into Mexico and try to find the people who transported her brother across.
Jesus Vega is also very much involved in the next story titled “Jesus Contra las Brujas Plasticas” or “Jesus Versus the Plastic Witches. “ While working for a witch lady, Dona Cruz, he is assigned the task of checking out a new and nearby competitor. He needs the money and is used to doing dirty deed for her. Not because of her supposed powers, but the fact that he needs the money she is willing to spend. He does not fear the alleged power of those who claim to see the future, cast spells, and the like. Maybe he should.
The landscape and everything on and in it cooks under the summer sun in Arizona. That certainly is true of those storage places scattered around the area. It was brutally hot when Motorcycle Officer Ray Satoshi and Robert Opp wheeled into a storage lot run by Joe Pender. They are looking for a guy who shot and killed a bouncer at the nearby gentleman’s club before getting away with forty three grand.
People are going out into the desert to commit suicide at a certain rock landmark .Why they are doing that and whether they can be stopped are just two of the issues Shari faces in “Bad Night at Burning Rock.”
In “Snowflake” he has been waiting for the stripper to show up for food at the IHOP when she got off work down the street. Dwayne knows by the way she dances just how class Lisa is. He also figures he can do something to help her career as he is a social media specialist.
“The Greatest Generation” are the targets of Vonda and her partner. They pose as home health care workers and steal everything they can to fund their travel and drugs. They figure it is their right because the seniors took everything with no though to the future. With their next score in sight it is time for Vonda and her partner to to clean up as fast as they can and do what needs to be done to claim their latest prize.
The three women, all with the first name of Debbie, work the ER at the local hospital. “The Darkest of the Debbies” works the job to do what has to be done to keep home together. Way easier said than done.
The eight short stories of Scorched Noir: A Collection Of Southwestern Crime Tales feature complicated reads of multifaceted characters often doing what has to be done to survive. Nothing is right or wrong when one is doing what has to be done to survive. Drugs and crime, like the sun and the desert, are always present in these tales of people coping with what they have and what they can do each day. Scorched Noir: A Collection Of Southwestern Crime Tales by Garnett Elliott may not make you feel better about yourself, but it might make you feel more appreciative of your working air conditioning as well as some of the life choices you had to make along the way.
Scorched Noir: A Collection Of Southwestern Crime Tales
Garnett Elliott
Beat To A Pulp Press
http://www.beattoapulp.com
June 2015
ASIN: B00ZNZP7FA
E-Book (also available in paperback form)
90 Pages
$1.99
Material supplied by the publisher in exchange for my objective review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2015
It opens with “Trailer de Fuegeo.” Corrections Officers need somewhere to go to blow off some steam after work. They tend to go out to a certain spot in the nearby desert to drink, smoke, and trade stories. One guard stands out in the battle to keep the inmates in line. His name is Tench and he has done fifteen years of guard duty in a lot of bad places from Texas to Arizona. He has always done what needed to be done and tonight will be no exception.
“Somerton Sangre” features a man named Jesus Vega. Known to do some questionable things when necessary, Mrs. Sandoval wants him to find out who killed her brother. Her brother was killed and dismembered just after he illegally crossed the border. While the way he was killed would indicate drug runners, his sister is sure he was not into that. She has the money to pay for Vega to look into things and find out who killed him. To do that Vega is going to have to cross into Mexico and try to find the people who transported her brother across.
Jesus Vega is also very much involved in the next story titled “Jesus Contra las Brujas Plasticas” or “Jesus Versus the Plastic Witches. “ While working for a witch lady, Dona Cruz, he is assigned the task of checking out a new and nearby competitor. He needs the money and is used to doing dirty deed for her. Not because of her supposed powers, but the fact that he needs the money she is willing to spend. He does not fear the alleged power of those who claim to see the future, cast spells, and the like. Maybe he should.
The landscape and everything on and in it cooks under the summer sun in Arizona. That certainly is true of those storage places scattered around the area. It was brutally hot when Motorcycle Officer Ray Satoshi and Robert Opp wheeled into a storage lot run by Joe Pender. They are looking for a guy who shot and killed a bouncer at the nearby gentleman’s club before getting away with forty three grand.
People are going out into the desert to commit suicide at a certain rock landmark .Why they are doing that and whether they can be stopped are just two of the issues Shari faces in “Bad Night at Burning Rock.”
In “Snowflake” he has been waiting for the stripper to show up for food at the IHOP when she got off work down the street. Dwayne knows by the way she dances just how class Lisa is. He also figures he can do something to help her career as he is a social media specialist.
“The Greatest Generation” are the targets of Vonda and her partner. They pose as home health care workers and steal everything they can to fund their travel and drugs. They figure it is their right because the seniors took everything with no though to the future. With their next score in sight it is time for Vonda and her partner to to clean up as fast as they can and do what needs to be done to claim their latest prize.
The three women, all with the first name of Debbie, work the ER at the local hospital. “The Darkest of the Debbies” works the job to do what has to be done to keep home together. Way easier said than done.
The eight short stories of Scorched Noir: A Collection Of Southwestern Crime Tales feature complicated reads of multifaceted characters often doing what has to be done to survive. Nothing is right or wrong when one is doing what has to be done to survive. Drugs and crime, like the sun and the desert, are always present in these tales of people coping with what they have and what they can do each day. Scorched Noir: A Collection Of Southwestern Crime Tales by Garnett Elliott may not make you feel better about yourself, but it might make you feel more appreciative of your working air conditioning as well as some of the life choices you had to make along the way.
Scorched Noir: A Collection Of Southwestern Crime Tales
Garnett Elliott
Beat To A Pulp Press
http://www.beattoapulp.com
June 2015
ASIN: B00ZNZP7FA
E-Book (also available in paperback form)
90 Pages
$1.99
Material supplied by the publisher in exchange for my objective review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2015
September 2, 2015
What makes Garnett Elliott's short fiction interesting is that it's now about career criminals and unrepenting lowlives. He doesn't take easy decisions. His prose is controlled, focused but not necessarily underplayed and he writes about people on the fringe of society, which he visibly cares about a lot. My favourite stories were TRAILER DE FUEGO, BAD NIGHT AT BURNING ROCK and THE GREATEST GENERATION, which display Elliott's subtlely and sneaky empathy to its fullest.
Short stories are always a tough sell, but if you're looking for strong, cohesive material that doesn't draw outside the lines, this is a cool, short read.
Short stories are always a tough sell, but if you're looking for strong, cohesive material that doesn't draw outside the lines, this is a cool, short read.
December 15, 2017
This book of hard-boiled short stories set in the desert heat of the U.S. Southwest is the fourth book I've read by Elliot. And it's the best. I really enjoyed Dragon by the Bay and would love to see a sequel. I was less excited about his two novella SF series Pale Mars and Red Venus, though they were certainly readable.
But this is where Elliot really shines. These are short, punchy, hot noir stories with no holding back. There's a neo-noir movement that has been happening for the last 15 or so years and Elliot is a fantastic addition. Highly recommended.
But this is where Elliot really shines. These are short, punchy, hot noir stories with no holding back. There's a neo-noir movement that has been happening for the last 15 or so years and Elliot is a fantastic addition. Highly recommended.
June 14, 2015
A collection of tough minded crime stories mostly in Mexico or souThwestern United States. Drugs and the things people will do to get them are major to the storylines.
The author manages a couple of twists along the way, not always where one might think.
Quite enjoyed the book.
The author manages a couple of twists along the way, not always where one might think.
Quite enjoyed the book.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews