Review of Snapshots by Paul Brazill (Pulp Metal, 2012)

Paul Brazill burst on the flash fiction crime scene in late 2008 and he quickly developed a reputation for dark, inventive, clever and witty stories.  Snapshots is a collection of 21 of his short stories published on various online magazines between 2008-11.  The tales mostly focus on the everyday, gritty underbelly of society - lowlife criminals, chancers, losers, affairs, prostitution, robbery, murder, seedy pubs, drink, drugs and rock n’ roll - and whilst they are dark, there is also an undercurrent of humaneness, wit and warmth.  There is a strong element of his adopted Poland throughout, but the stories are undoubtedly British in character and feel.  Like the vast majority of collections there is a little unevenness across the pieces, with a handful of stories a little underdeveloped,  There is undoubtedly, however, some very fine pieces of writing here.  Brazill writes in colourful prose, has some lovely turns of phrase, and is handy with an effective simile (though some are used a little too often).  What I would really like to see is what he could do with a longer format - even a novella the same kind of length as Gerard Brennan’s excellent, The Point.  My money’s on it being a knockout.  Whilst we wait for that, Snapshots is a visceral, enjoyable introduction to one of the most productive and entertaining practitioners of crime flash fiction. 

Two gritty takes on justice

Patti Abbott and Paul Brazill, two very fine crime short story writers, have published collections recently.

Patti's collection of 23 stories is Monkey Justice and is published by Snubnose Press. It's been praised thus:

"Patricia Abbott proves that there are many shades of noir as she expertly layers her stories with melancholy, loss and the frailness of the human psyche" – Dave Zeltserman

“In this collection of short contemporary noir fiction, Patti Abbott distinguishes herself as an extraordinary storyteller of the dark recesses of the human heart. Abbott’s characters hit hard, fight dirty, and seek a brand of hardscrabble justice that will leave you both wincing and wishing for more.” – Sophie Littlefield

Paul's nine story collection is Brit Grit and is published by Trestle Press. Reviews run thus:

Brit Grit gives you a meaty, informative introduction to the genre followed by nine terrific fast-paced stories populated for the most part by stoned, drunken, thieving losers. The absurdities of everyday life are meat and drink to PDB, and his observations and characters are in turn sad, poignant, greedy, wicked, ridiculous and funny - Julie Lewthwaite

'Brazill's knack for mining life's absurd moments ... is on full display here, as is his razor sharp dialogue' - Death by Killing

'Paul Brazill's writing is a wonderful mix of gritty urban noir stylings, superb dialogue and wonderful one-liners' - Gone Bad

Both have nothing but five star reviews on Amazon UK and US. If you like the short story form, worth checking out.

Red Hot?

There are a handful of blogs that if I've only got a couple of minutes to browse, I always click through to and one of them is Paul Brazill's excellent, You Would Say That, Wouldn't You.  There were two surprises waiting for me there this afternoon.  First, there is a review of The White Gallows - not the usual blog fare given that TWG is a straight-up police procedural rather than the more usual noir and hardboiled YWSTWY covers.  Second, my short story, Stakeout, has been shortlisted for the Jason Duke's Red Hot Writing Contest, which has made my day.  I'm chuffed to make the last eight, and thrilled for Harry and Pete, the stars of the story.  I've been meaning to write another installment of Harry and Pete's politically incorrect observations of life and bad jokes and this is a spur to get my act together and get on with it.  A good review of The White Gallows and making the Red Hot shortlist - a double whammy.  Red hot?  Well I'm certainly flushed.