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Switchblade: Issue Thirteen
The world's only no-limit outlaw noir magazine is back for a thirteenth round. The one you thought you'd never see. With Fiction, Flash and Poetry from Robert Ragan, David Harry Moss, Gene Breaznell, Serena Jayne, Jay Rohr, Brian Beatty, Elliot F. Sweeney, Stanton McCaffery, Danny Sophabmisay, Andrew Bourelle, George Garnet, David Rachels, and Alec Cizak. Featured interview with author Serena Jayne.
185 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 13, 2020
3 people want to read
About the author
David Rachels
47 books53 followersDavid Rachels writes crime and teaches English at Newberry College in Newberry, South Carolina.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 25, 2020
This issue revels in extremes of power vs powerlessness in dark, dreary places that often gets covered up and avoided the same way sex trafficking is avoided in the news so we don't have to hear about "icky" things that happen every day to real people.
Desperate times causes people to reach for desperate measures such as in the story The Evolutionary Purpose of Caring by Stanton McCaffrey... where the lines of right and wrong are blurred to the point there is no right or wrong, there just is...and that "is" feels like the best we can do is hope the bullet ends up where it belongs...which doesn't always happen as our protagonist discovers. Which leads us to Alec Cizak's The Pissing Wall, where a young man living on the streets of L.A. explores his conscience and humanity. It's summed up by this quote "Something happens to us, they don't talk about it on the news. Why the f**k would I care when something happens to them?" The story "Hero" by Elliot F Sweeney is also noteworthy and an exploration of the hazy gray between black and white.
The first story of the collection, The Lost and the Damned by J. Rohr, is quite memorable as it is cringy. It's about a detective who is overwhelmed by his demons, is approached by a young streetwalker with worse problems than his. The story twists and turns like dirty water flowing through a gutter grate and going lower and lower through the sewer pipes... the ending has one of the best lines I've read. And finally, a story that stuck with me is called Juvie by Andrew Bourelle. It's a bit of psychological suspense about a young boy caught in a bit of $h!t storm. What we see happening and what is actually happening, don't quite match up. I don't have time to go through all the stories, but all of them are gems, including the interview at the end with Serena Jayne.
This magazine isn't for everyone, just like a good dose of reality isn't something most can fully face, but for those who can, you'll find treasures in this issue. All things that glitter are not gold just as all things PC does not represent reality.
Desperate times causes people to reach for desperate measures such as in the story The Evolutionary Purpose of Caring by Stanton McCaffrey... where the lines of right and wrong are blurred to the point there is no right or wrong, there just is...and that "is" feels like the best we can do is hope the bullet ends up where it belongs...which doesn't always happen as our protagonist discovers. Which leads us to Alec Cizak's The Pissing Wall, where a young man living on the streets of L.A. explores his conscience and humanity. It's summed up by this quote "Something happens to us, they don't talk about it on the news. Why the f**k would I care when something happens to them?" The story "Hero" by Elliot F Sweeney is also noteworthy and an exploration of the hazy gray between black and white.
The first story of the collection, The Lost and the Damned by J. Rohr, is quite memorable as it is cringy. It's about a detective who is overwhelmed by his demons, is approached by a young streetwalker with worse problems than his. The story twists and turns like dirty water flowing through a gutter grate and going lower and lower through the sewer pipes... the ending has one of the best lines I've read. And finally, a story that stuck with me is called Juvie by Andrew Bourelle. It's a bit of psychological suspense about a young boy caught in a bit of $h!t storm. What we see happening and what is actually happening, don't quite match up. I don't have time to go through all the stories, but all of them are gems, including the interview at the end with Serena Jayne.
This magazine isn't for everyone, just like a good dose of reality isn't something most can fully face, but for those who can, you'll find treasures in this issue. All things that glitter are not gold just as all things PC does not represent reality.
November 26, 2020
Switchblade consistently showcases quality noir. Issue thirteen, the finale to volume 1, includes the usual suspects: the editor’s corner, an edgy poem, the person of interest column, gritty photography, and selections of sharp & deadly short stories and quick & dirty flash fiction. The volume is also jam packed with mentions of other great novels and magazines, making each issue an easy button for filling one’s to-be-read list.
My favorite stories in issue 13 are as follows:
“Juvie ” by Andrew Bourelle: This story, which follows a couple of criminal kids, blew me away with its unexpected but satisfying twists and turns.
“The Evolutionary Purpose of Caring” by Stanton McCaffery: A vice principal encounters a former student who needs his particular help. The awesome atmosphere, voice, and characterization make this tale a shining example of noir fiction.
“The Big Squeeze” by Danny Sophabmisay: This story is all about constipation, both literal and figurative stuckness in a situation or a life path. The characters in this one are gonna be similarly stuck in my brain as I puzzle on the author’s amazing ability to make even the most minor characters memorable.
“Brownsville” by Gene Breaznell: A car thief feels all washed up by his post-prison gig, but gets an opportunity on prove his mad skills.
“Hero” by Elliot F. Sweeney: A man and a woman take a shot on an unlikely love connection.
No less than three stories include car washes, which pretty much ensures that the next time I take my car to get cleaned, I’ll be expecting some dirty business to go down.
All the issues that comprise volume one of Switchblade are infused with no luck noir goodness. I absolutely cannot wait to see what volume two has to offer. Issue thirteen is a four and a half star read for me, rounded up to five.
My favorite stories in issue 13 are as follows:
“Juvie ” by Andrew Bourelle: This story, which follows a couple of criminal kids, blew me away with its unexpected but satisfying twists and turns.
“The Evolutionary Purpose of Caring” by Stanton McCaffery: A vice principal encounters a former student who needs his particular help. The awesome atmosphere, voice, and characterization make this tale a shining example of noir fiction.
“The Big Squeeze” by Danny Sophabmisay: This story is all about constipation, both literal and figurative stuckness in a situation or a life path. The characters in this one are gonna be similarly stuck in my brain as I puzzle on the author’s amazing ability to make even the most minor characters memorable.
“Brownsville” by Gene Breaznell: A car thief feels all washed up by his post-prison gig, but gets an opportunity on prove his mad skills.
“Hero” by Elliot F. Sweeney: A man and a woman take a shot on an unlikely love connection.
No less than three stories include car washes, which pretty much ensures that the next time I take my car to get cleaned, I’ll be expecting some dirty business to go down.
All the issues that comprise volume one of Switchblade are infused with no luck noir goodness. I absolutely cannot wait to see what volume two has to offer. Issue thirteen is a four and a half star read for me, rounded up to five.
December 13, 2020
In-your-face noir, loathsome characters doing loathsome things, with an emphasis on car washes, loathsome places. Also an unfortunate uptick in typos when compared to previous issues (I'm a fan), an unneeded distraction (especially since I shelled out ten bucks for the print version). And only one woman author (Serena Jayne, always good). Just like Mars, Switchblade needs more women.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews