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Dead Cat Bounce
Old Mrs Bello lived above the family grocery store all her life, she worked hard, was frugal and lived an ordinary life. There was one thing that people knew about Mrs B though - she absolutely didn’t trust banks.When she died at the age of 88 there was only one question on everyone’s lips – what happened to the family money?Despite frantic searching from her surviving relatives, not a single cent was ever found and the missing family fortune passed into local legend.Butchie Parmenter doesn’t believe in legends.Experience has taught Butchie not to believe in anything except himself, so when good fortune unexpectedly lands at his feet he grabs the opportunity with both hands, determined not to let go. No matter what.Butchie should have figured that nothing worth having ever comes easy and if something looks too good to be true, it usually is. Praise for Robert White “Explosive pulp action from start to finish... Brutal and unrelenting” -Michael Young (author of All Blood is Red and Of Blondes and Bullets)"Quick paced and enjoyable..." -Regular Guy Reading Noir“Grabs you by the soul and doesn’t let go!” -Simon Woods, author of The Fall Guy“White writes beautiful, wrenching prose.” -Cindy Rosmus, author & publisher of Yellow Mama“White’s stories are gritty and intense.” -Douglas Rhodes, editor, Sex and Murder Magazine “It’s the subtle workings of White's hard-boiled style that often lures the reader into experiencing the same loneliness.” -Joe Zingaro
175 pages, Paperback
Published September 20, 2019
About the author
Robb T. White
18 books21 followersRobert White is a Midwest writer of genre fiction. White has published dozens of crime, mystery, and horror stories under the under the names Robert, Robb, or Robb T. White.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 5, 2019
A gritty, entertaining crime novel
Dead Cat Bounce by Robert White is the sort of book I didn’t think was being written anymore. The publisher, Fahrenheit Press, is a British imprint dedicated to keeping short, terse, hard-boiled noir alive.
The set up for the story concerns a frugal widow who lived over a neighborhood grocery store in Brockton, Massachusetts. The neighborhood legend was that the lady didn’t trust banks and hoarded money her whole life. Her family as much as verified the suspicions by searching through the store after the family matriarch died. The word went out that $260,000 was hidden somewhere in the store, but nobody knew its location.
Enter corrupt building inspector, Butchie Parmenter, a Brockton native and a lowlife among a cast of lowlifes. He’s condemned the building but before it’s to come down one of his friends introduces him to Odraye Suggs, a mediocre professional boxer, who proposes they join up for one last search for the money in the now abandoned and condemned place.
Butchie’s life is sent into a tailspin that could finish him off. His supervisor wants him fired, a woman who seduced him accuses him of rape and the one-punch power of a boxer puts him down for the count. If that’s not enough, a creepy private investigator, who’s rumored to be ex-Special Forces, and a suspicious police detective hound him. Oh, yeah. He has to be on the lookout for his ex-girlfriend’s brother, his biker pals and the MS-13 gangsters who’d be more than happy to cut him apart to get him to give them the money.
White’s writing is very engaging and humorous at times. Butchie’s ennui is illustrated by constant wry observations through descriptions and allusions that are never overwritten. Everything is in order here in service to the story. Along the way, we’re treated to comments about Black Lives Matter, Feminism, the Catholic Church, Me Too, and generally what it’s like to be a white man in a society that’s hostile to white men. He’s not what you would describe as physically courageous, emotionally either. In some ways he’s like a rat, trying to scratch himself out of an impossible situation where the deck seems stacked for him to lose.
The novel took me back to Hard Case Crime and the early works of Victor Gischler. Plus, it’s always fun to learn a few new words during an entertaining read. I enjoyed the read immensely and recommend it highly.
The book is available on Amazon and the publisher's website. Here it is for your convenience.
https://fahrenheit-press.myshopify.co...
Dead Cat Bounce by Robert White is the sort of book I didn’t think was being written anymore. The publisher, Fahrenheit Press, is a British imprint dedicated to keeping short, terse, hard-boiled noir alive.
The set up for the story concerns a frugal widow who lived over a neighborhood grocery store in Brockton, Massachusetts. The neighborhood legend was that the lady didn’t trust banks and hoarded money her whole life. Her family as much as verified the suspicions by searching through the store after the family matriarch died. The word went out that $260,000 was hidden somewhere in the store, but nobody knew its location.
Enter corrupt building inspector, Butchie Parmenter, a Brockton native and a lowlife among a cast of lowlifes. He’s condemned the building but before it’s to come down one of his friends introduces him to Odraye Suggs, a mediocre professional boxer, who proposes they join up for one last search for the money in the now abandoned and condemned place.
Butchie’s life is sent into a tailspin that could finish him off. His supervisor wants him fired, a woman who seduced him accuses him of rape and the one-punch power of a boxer puts him down for the count. If that’s not enough, a creepy private investigator, who’s rumored to be ex-Special Forces, and a suspicious police detective hound him. Oh, yeah. He has to be on the lookout for his ex-girlfriend’s brother, his biker pals and the MS-13 gangsters who’d be more than happy to cut him apart to get him to give them the money.
White’s writing is very engaging and humorous at times. Butchie’s ennui is illustrated by constant wry observations through descriptions and allusions that are never overwritten. Everything is in order here in service to the story. Along the way, we’re treated to comments about Black Lives Matter, Feminism, the Catholic Church, Me Too, and generally what it’s like to be a white man in a society that’s hostile to white men. He’s not what you would describe as physically courageous, emotionally either. In some ways he’s like a rat, trying to scratch himself out of an impossible situation where the deck seems stacked for him to lose.
The novel took me back to Hard Case Crime and the early works of Victor Gischler. Plus, it’s always fun to learn a few new words during an entertaining read. I enjoyed the read immensely and recommend it highly.
The book is available on Amazon and the publisher's website. Here it is for your convenience.
https://fahrenheit-press.myshopify.co...
June 16, 2020
Old Mrs. Bello, bless her soul, was a married Italian woman with kids, grandkids, and to top it off, distrust of banks. Everyone in the neighborhood was privy to her distrust and how she hid her money in old shoeboxes and stashed them in secret places in her house. After she passed, her kids looked for months, but to no avail. When a low-life criminal, Butchie, gets wind of this gossip, he’s all over the challenge. Unfortunately for him, he is forced to take on a partner. By means of chance, the two find the hidden money, but after that, things take a turn for the worse with their partnership. Butchie, with his “level-headed thinking”, must constantly remind his partner, Odraye, of the risks associated with their find.
Robert White has written another exciting, intense, and page-turning story. The fact that he has at least one “smart” criminal in his story makes it that much more enjoyable. Many of the situations in the story seem believable and realistic, thus increasing the story’s entertainment. The writing is well-done and easy to follow. This is definitely a read for the murder-mystery and crime lover.
Robert White has written another exciting, intense, and page-turning story. The fact that he has at least one “smart” criminal in his story makes it that much more enjoyable. Many of the situations in the story seem believable and realistic, thus increasing the story’s entertainment. The writing is well-done and easy to follow. This is definitely a read for the murder-mystery and crime lover.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews