The latest issue of Out of the Gutter arrived not long ago, and I've just gotten around to reading it. If you can't figure out the target audience for the magazine, then you just haven't thought about the title, read the blurbs, or looked at the cover. These guys aren't trying to fool anybody. The question is, do the stories inside deliver on the promise? The answer is that they sure do.Well, at least the ones I've read do. I haven't had time for the whole issue. I've read all the flash stories, and it's hard to single out one. I'll just mention that Christa Faust's "Hit Me" should whet your appetite for her forthcoming Hard Case Crime novel.
Of the longer stories, I've read Steve Alten's "Lost in Time," which is very good; John Rickards "Vengeance is Mine," lots of fun and sure to make you say "Huh?"; Michael Bracken's "Professionals," which reveals that Bracken is himself a real pro when it comes to crime shorts; and of course the one I was destined to read first, "Fat Larry's Night with the Alligators" by Ken Goldman. Lots of blood and gore, and lots of alligators. What's not to like? Check out this issue when you're in the mood for some fine degenerate literature.
3 comments:
I loved the first issue. Still checking the mail for my copy of this one. I hope it gets here in time for me to take it to Stonecoast next Thursday. OOTG will be a good way to decompress after long days of "serious" writing discussions and workshops.
Be sure you let the others see you reading. They'll be favorably impressed.
It will only reinforce the prevailing opinion of me as the barbarian who somehow got inside the gate. I can live with that.
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