As voted by the Short Mystery Fiction Society:
BEST STORY, 1000 or LESS:
"My Hero" by Patricia Abbott
Published in DZ Allen's Muzzle Flash
BEST STORY, 1001 to 4000 WORDS:
"In the Shadows of Wrigley Field" by John Weagly
Published in The Back Alley
BEST STORY, 4001 to 8000 WORDS:
"The Gospel According to Gordon Black" by Richard Helms
Published in The Thrilling Detective
BEST STORY, 8001 to 17500 WORDS:
"Paper Walls/Glass Houses" by Eric Shane
Published in The Back Alley
Congratulations to the winners.
Showing posts with label The Thrilling Detective. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Thrilling Detective. Show all posts
Friday, May 02, 2008
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
"A Saving Grace", by Patricia Abbott
From: The Thrilling Detective.
Jim could have taken the Interstate to get to work every day, but instead he liked driving the back roads, seeing the farms, the little roadside stores here and there, just taking it easy instead of racing along with his foot on the gas.
He'd taken that same route in his career, trading in the stressful life of a police detective and then a private investigator for the simplicity of life as a mechanic. After a while he settled into a peaceful routine, his existence taking a winding path that never varied.
That's how he'd met Louise. He had seen her standing by the mailbox at the edge of the road on four Tuesdays in a row, until he'd finally asked her if she needed a ride. Jim wasn't attracted to her, and she was already married with a pair of kids, but he needed some human contact, some companionship.
Jim couldn't shut off the sixth sense he'd had as a detective, and over time he noticed things - bruises, finger marks, little cuts - but when he saw these injuries on Louise's little daughter, he decided to take action.
This moody little short story moves along with great economy. All the characters are sketched in with the briefest of descriptions, but their words and actions ring true, which makes the twist at the end more surprising.
Jim could have taken the Interstate to get to work every day, but instead he liked driving the back roads, seeing the farms, the little roadside stores here and there, just taking it easy instead of racing along with his foot on the gas.
He'd taken that same route in his career, trading in the stressful life of a police detective and then a private investigator for the simplicity of life as a mechanic. After a while he settled into a peaceful routine, his existence taking a winding path that never varied.
That's how he'd met Louise. He had seen her standing by the mailbox at the edge of the road on four Tuesdays in a row, until he'd finally asked her if she needed a ride. Jim wasn't attracted to her, and she was already married with a pair of kids, but he needed some human contact, some companionship.
Jim couldn't shut off the sixth sense he'd had as a detective, and over time he noticed things - bruises, finger marks, little cuts - but when he saw these injuries on Louise's little daughter, he decided to take action.
This moody little short story moves along with great economy. All the characters are sketched in with the briefest of descriptions, but their words and actions ring true, which makes the twist at the end more surprising.
Friday, February 09, 2007
"Blondes, Blondes, Blondes!" by Jack Bludis
"It wasn't much, but it was better than a bottle across the face."
But a bottle across the face is what sometimes private eye Ken Sligo gets as "Blondes, Blondes, Blondes!" opens. With demand nonexistent for his sleuthing skills, he's taken a job as a doorman on Baltimore's Block, a seedy row of nightclubs and strip joints.
That's when his old pal Tommy Phelps shows up. Tommy stole Ken's girl Ginger when Ken shipped out for WWII. Now Tommy thinks that Ken has turned the tables, and recruits an emtpy beer to get even.
Ken manages to talk some sense into him before any real harm is done and ends up agreeing to find out where Ginger is. With Tommy unable to find work due to his war wounds she had taken a job as a bar girl at The Alley, still on the Block but on an even dingier side street.
Complicating the situation is the arrival of a rich Cuban and his entourage, their yacht docked in Baltimore's harbor. The new arrivals seem intent on taking in the local sights and have enough pull to get into the Block's segregated nightclubs. They have plenty of money and influence - what are they using it for?
The second Ken Sligo story from Jack Bludis (after 2001's "New Kid on the Block") doesn't have the same narrative drive that marks much of Bludis' work. The plot seems unfocused; it's hard to get a sense of where the story is going. In his story notes, Bludis reveals that this story started life as a novel, and the cast of characters might be better served at a higher word count.
Still, it's a Jack Bludis story, so it's well written, with good period detail and local color. Though this is not my favorite Bludis, if you've liked his other work you'll like this one, too.
But a bottle across the face is what sometimes private eye Ken Sligo gets as "Blondes, Blondes, Blondes!" opens. With demand nonexistent for his sleuthing skills, he's taken a job as a doorman on Baltimore's Block, a seedy row of nightclubs and strip joints.
That's when his old pal Tommy Phelps shows up. Tommy stole Ken's girl Ginger when Ken shipped out for WWII. Now Tommy thinks that Ken has turned the tables, and recruits an emtpy beer to get even.
Ken manages to talk some sense into him before any real harm is done and ends up agreeing to find out where Ginger is. With Tommy unable to find work due to his war wounds she had taken a job as a bar girl at The Alley, still on the Block but on an even dingier side street.
Complicating the situation is the arrival of a rich Cuban and his entourage, their yacht docked in Baltimore's harbor. The new arrivals seem intent on taking in the local sights and have enough pull to get into the Block's segregated nightclubs. They have plenty of money and influence - what are they using it for?
The second Ken Sligo story from Jack Bludis (after 2001's "New Kid on the Block") doesn't have the same narrative drive that marks much of Bludis' work. The plot seems unfocused; it's hard to get a sense of where the story is going. In his story notes, Bludis reveals that this story started life as a novel, and the cast of characters might be better served at a higher word count.
Still, it's a Jack Bludis story, so it's well written, with good period detail and local color. Though this is not my favorite Bludis, if you've liked his other work you'll like this one, too.
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