Manchester 6 by Col Bury (Ganglion Press, 2012)

I bought Col Bury's Manchester 6 at the weekend. It's a collection of six hardboiled, flash fiction pieces set in the city (plus a bonus story). The stories were:

Lucky Shit (the perils of winning big on the horses and partying afterwards)
Fists of Destiny (being caught up in a terrorist incident)
Mr Curly Top (anger management when being taken for a mug)
Forum of Fury (a wannabe writer gets a visit from someone he cheesed off online)
Snakes and Ladders (a window cleaner tries to catch up with the person collecting his wages)
Gallance (a hit man takes down a criminal gang)
Till Death Do Us Part (a bent copper gets his comeuppance)

This is a tight, taut little collection, focusing on everyday people living on the margins in working class Manchester. The stories are short, sharp, with dark humour and crisp twists. If you like noir flash fiction - the kind you find on Shotgun Honey, Flash Fiction Offensive or Thrillers, Killers n Chillers, then you'll enjoy Manchester 6. The writing was a little raw at times, but I blasted my way through them in about forty minutes and was left wanting more.