The Devils Kazoo Band Don't Take Requests

by Tom Joyce

Step inside the mind of Tom Joyce, where unearthly evil lurks in your neighborhood casual dining restaurant, a secretive sect uses a nefarious device to root out turncoats and a con man faces his demons compliments of his own seance room. An occasionally hilarious place. Always delightfully odd.

160 pages, Paperback

Published October 31, 2016

Reviews

[Slade Grayson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tom Joyce's writing style is hard to describe (but I'll try anyway): A mix of hardboiled, horror, and dark humor. It's a blend of Harlan Ellison, Richard Matheson, and Mickey Spillane. The best I can describe it...

Tom is a modern day pulp writer who usually has his tongue planted firmly in his cheek. His stories are a throwback to the days when writers set out to entertain and weren't concerned with creating highbrow literature. His stories are FUN (all caps on purpose). He veers from horror to humor sometimes in the same paragraph, and when the stories don't end with a punchline, they end with a punch to the gut.

My only complaint? The book went by too fast. Tom, you need to write more.

[Betty Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

By turns creepy, mysterious, and laugh-out-loud funny, this collection of stories is a too-quick read that leaves you wanting more. Though each stands on its own, several of the stories are connected by location or mythology, so that even as you finish one tale, the mood continues to build. A thread of humor keeps things just light enough. The characters are well-drawn, and interesting enough to leave the reader hoping to see them again - maybe in a full-length novel of their own? While we wait for that, go read Joyce's first book, "The Freak Foundation Operative's Report," to experience more of his singular style.