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raforall's review against another edition
4.0
Review on the blog and in the January 2018 Issue of IndiePicks Magazine: https://raforall.blogspot.com/2018/01/what-im-reading-indie-picks-january.html
raforall's review
4.0
Review on the blog and in the January 2018 Issue of IndiePicks Magazine: https://raforall.blogspot.com/2018/01/what-im-reading-indie-picks-january.html
mephala's review against another edition
4.0
It took me a while to finish this one. The plan was to read Hardboiled Horror for some spookiness during Halloween month, but the book was seriously long. Maybe not Stephen King-long, but close.
In short, I liked it. Of course - as with many anthologies I've already read - it has short stories I LOVED and those that were pretty weak. The whole theme of this collection was suppose to be noir-esque stories about detectives, and most of the stories had this feel to them. Some stretched the trope a little, tho.
My favourite story was Kissyman and the Succubus by Scott Sigler. It was gruesome and dark, the plot was interesting, but was most important the main hero was truly an antihero that made me question myself rooting for him thorough whole of the story. It was also one of the few short stories that truly felt "finished" in this collection. No open ending, no feeling of it being a teaser or appetizer to bigger story. Still, I'd love to read more about Kissyman and Lefty.
Second story that I really liked was A Tiger in the Night by Rachel Cain. It's a very entertaining, more spooky than gruesome story of a female detective working for Pinkerton Agency sometimes during the tail end of 19th Century. It was great, I loved the characters and the unique feel of the story. This one would make a great starts for a series of books.
Honorable mentions:
Trouble's Braids: A Sam Hunter Story by Johnathan Maberry (very spooky, and I think the most scary of them all)
Grim Repo by Alethea Kotis (this short story felt like a teaser; it kind of abruptly ended, but it has great premise and potential for full length novel)
Rest of the short stories was hit or miss for me. Some of them were kind of awkwardly written, others had themes I'm not a fan of.
Good anthologies and entertaining read.
~4/5 stars
In short, I liked it. Of course - as with many anthologies I've already read - it has short stories I LOVED and those that were pretty weak. The whole theme of this collection was suppose to be noir-esque stories about detectives, and most of the stories had this feel to them. Some stretched the trope a little, tho.
My favourite story was Kissyman and the Succubus by Scott Sigler. It was gruesome and dark, the plot was interesting, but was most important the main hero was truly an antihero that made me question myself rooting for him thorough whole of the story. It was also one of the few short stories that truly felt "finished" in this collection. No open ending, no feeling of it being a teaser or appetizer to bigger story. Still, I'd love to read more about Kissyman and Lefty.
Second story that I really liked was A Tiger in the Night by Rachel Cain. It's a very entertaining, more spooky than gruesome story of a female detective working for Pinkerton Agency sometimes during the tail end of 19th Century. It was great, I loved the characters and the unique feel of the story. This one would make a great starts for a series of books.
Honorable mentions:
Trouble's Braids: A Sam Hunter Story by Johnathan Maberry (very spooky, and I think the most scary of them all)
Grim Repo by Alethea Kotis (this short story felt like a teaser; it kind of abruptly ended, but it has great premise and potential for full length novel)
Rest of the short stories was hit or miss for me. Some of them were kind of awkwardly written, others had themes I'm not a fan of.
Good anthologies and entertaining read.
~4/5 stars
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