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Down & Out: The Magazine Volume 1 Issue 3
This third issue of Down & The Magazine features a new Jim Brodie story by Barry Lancet, whose novel Japantown has been optioned by J.J. Abrams and Warner Brothers for the Hollywood treatment. Here we have Brodie on a trip to his home in Japan and a quest to find out what’s going on with the yakuza and a perplexing kidnapping.
But first up is a story by Canadian favorite Peter Sellers; he delivers a nasty little crime story of love and loyalty in the workplace in his own unique style. Patti Abbott gives us a searing story proving once again how nothing torches the human soul like that of another person’s expectations. Art Taylor, one of the best and most prolific short story artists working today, makes his first appearance here with a relatively short tale reminiscent of the late great Richard Matheson. Speaking of legends, Robert J. Randisi shares a story from his “Rat Pack” series. Next a writer who makes words look as though they fit together far more easily than they actually do is S.A. Solomon with her tale of corporate Big Business and other vices. Writing partners Frank Zafiro and Jim Wilsky debut separate stories from their Ania series, actual prequels to the novels, the first of which, Blood on Blood , will be released in April by Down & Out Books. A fine noir tale by prolific author Michael Bracken helps round us out.
As usual we have another fantastic column by J. Kingston Pierce on the novels of the late Stanley Ellin, and for our “A Few Cents a Word” feature we present a discussion and a story by one of the hard-boiled school’s originators, Raoul Whitfield.
But first up is a story by Canadian favorite Peter Sellers; he delivers a nasty little crime story of love and loyalty in the workplace in his own unique style. Patti Abbott gives us a searing story proving once again how nothing torches the human soul like that of another person’s expectations. Art Taylor, one of the best and most prolific short story artists working today, makes his first appearance here with a relatively short tale reminiscent of the late great Richard Matheson. Speaking of legends, Robert J. Randisi shares a story from his “Rat Pack” series. Next a writer who makes words look as though they fit together far more easily than they actually do is S.A. Solomon with her tale of corporate Big Business and other vices. Writing partners Frank Zafiro and Jim Wilsky debut separate stories from their Ania series, actual prequels to the novels, the first of which, Blood on Blood , will be released in April by Down & Out Books. A fine noir tale by prolific author Michael Bracken helps round us out.
As usual we have another fantastic column by J. Kingston Pierce on the novels of the late Stanley Ellin, and for our “A Few Cents a Word” feature we present a discussion and a story by one of the hard-boiled school’s originators, Raoul Whitfield.
176 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 29, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 17, 2018
The case of “Down & Out” the magazine, Volume 1 Issue 3”, has been received with great joy as there is not a lame story there in. Editor Rick Ollerman has supplied the reader with an excellent mix of mystery, crime fiction and questionable entertainment from revenge to a Yakuza infused food yarn .
From Mr. Ollermans heartfelt introduction regarding the recent loss of author Bill Crider, wherein he shares antidotes, reminiscences and personal recollections, to the what I would consider the fine selection of writing this issue contains, would place it as the best issue produced so far.
Contents:
001 – Rick Ollerman – “A Few Clues from the Editor”
005 – Peter Sellers – “ Kickback”
016 – Patricia Abbott - “The Wheel Has Come Full Circle”
027 – Frank Zafiro –Adam Raised a Cain”
044 – Robert J. Randisi – “Hey, Hockey Puck” (A Danny Bardini story)
071 – J. Kingston Pierce – Placed In Evidence (non-fiction) (a Stanley Ellin appreciation)
080 – (Feature Story) –Barry Lancet “Three Star Sushi”
106 – Art Taylor – Sunday Morning, Saturday Night”
110 – Rick Ollerman – “A Few Cents A Word” – the story of Raoul Whitfield
114 - Raoul Whitfield – “Death in the Pasig”
128 – Jim Wilsky – “Bear Trap”
147 – Michael Bracken – “Texas Sundown”
153 – S. A. Solomon – “Titan”
Note: Author Barry Lancet, whose novel “Japantown” has recently been optioned by J.J. Abrams and Warner Brothers for a feature film.
From Mr. Ollermans heartfelt introduction regarding the recent loss of author Bill Crider, wherein he shares antidotes, reminiscences and personal recollections, to the what I would consider the fine selection of writing this issue contains, would place it as the best issue produced so far.
Contents:
001 – Rick Ollerman – “A Few Clues from the Editor”
005 – Peter Sellers – “ Kickback”
016 – Patricia Abbott - “The Wheel Has Come Full Circle”
027 – Frank Zafiro –Adam Raised a Cain”
044 – Robert J. Randisi – “Hey, Hockey Puck” (A Danny Bardini story)
071 – J. Kingston Pierce – Placed In Evidence (non-fiction) (a Stanley Ellin appreciation)
080 – (Feature Story) –Barry Lancet “Three Star Sushi”
106 – Art Taylor – Sunday Morning, Saturday Night”
110 – Rick Ollerman – “A Few Cents A Word” – the story of Raoul Whitfield
114 - Raoul Whitfield – “Death in the Pasig”
128 – Jim Wilsky – “Bear Trap”
147 – Michael Bracken – “Texas Sundown”
153 – S. A. Solomon – “Titan”
Note: Author Barry Lancet, whose novel “Japantown” has recently been optioned by J.J. Abrams and Warner Brothers for a feature film.
June 11, 2018
Wow, my hat’s off to editor Rick Ollerman and the writers of this volume. Seldom do you read an anthology in which every story rates five stars. Down & Out: The Magazine No. 3 is outstanding!
October 8, 2021
I had too much fun reading these post-modern noir crime stories
Down and Out is the magazine for Down and Out Books, a small press publisher of contemporary noir-style crime stories. I've read several books they've published, and was even a beta-reader/pre-publication reviewer for two, and I have to say they have a great stable of authors. But not all of them have learned to tap into the noir vein yet.
Of course, on-line and hardcopy publishers of noir short story magazines have been trying to re-create the original crime caper, detective, weird story pulp vibe for decades but alas, it just hasn't quite come together in a commercially viable package yet. People have too much streaming content on their smart phones to revert back to reading for pleasure, I suppose. Which is a shame. I like short fiction and there is simply too much self-published nonsense posing as short fiction glutting the market with garbage these days to stir up a revival.
But Down and Out "The Magazine" (Volume 1, Issue 3, and published all the way back in 2018) comes close.
It's chock full of noir crime reading pleasures, some of the best short stories I have read in this genre in years, and includes a couple of interesting non-fiction pieces about authors from the golden eras of pulps and paperbacks. This is a short story magazine I highly recommend... even if the issue I read was three years old. Hey, you can find the back issues on Amazon. And probably on the Down and Out website. But I digress.
This is a meaty magazine (more like a digest format than a slick mag) with eleven works of short fiction and two of non-fiction. I am not going to review each piece because, well, I mostly like all of them. All I can say is that the quality is unexpectedly good, the stories unexpectedly edgy, and this collection got me through a couple of tough days lying on my back recovering from surgery -- so get yourself a copy. Are all the issues as good as this one? Probably. Because the key to good short fiction publishing is good editing, the one thing missing from all of the self-published tripe out there. And someone did brilliant work putting these together. What can I say? Recommended!
Down and Out is the magazine for Down and Out Books, a small press publisher of contemporary noir-style crime stories. I've read several books they've published, and was even a beta-reader/pre-publication reviewer for two, and I have to say they have a great stable of authors. But not all of them have learned to tap into the noir vein yet.
Of course, on-line and hardcopy publishers of noir short story magazines have been trying to re-create the original crime caper, detective, weird story pulp vibe for decades but alas, it just hasn't quite come together in a commercially viable package yet. People have too much streaming content on their smart phones to revert back to reading for pleasure, I suppose. Which is a shame. I like short fiction and there is simply too much self-published nonsense posing as short fiction glutting the market with garbage these days to stir up a revival.
But Down and Out "The Magazine" (Volume 1, Issue 3, and published all the way back in 2018) comes close.
It's chock full of noir crime reading pleasures, some of the best short stories I have read in this genre in years, and includes a couple of interesting non-fiction pieces about authors from the golden eras of pulps and paperbacks. This is a short story magazine I highly recommend... even if the issue I read was three years old. Hey, you can find the back issues on Amazon. And probably on the Down and Out website. But I digress.
This is a meaty magazine (more like a digest format than a slick mag) with eleven works of short fiction and two of non-fiction. I am not going to review each piece because, well, I mostly like all of them. All I can say is that the quality is unexpectedly good, the stories unexpectedly edgy, and this collection got me through a couple of tough days lying on my back recovering from surgery -- so get yourself a copy. Are all the issues as good as this one? Probably. Because the key to good short fiction publishing is good editing, the one thing missing from all of the self-published tripe out there. And someone did brilliant work putting these together. What can I say? Recommended!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews