Last Deep Breath & Thuglit

Here's the finalized cover layout for THE LAST DEEP BREATH. A big shout-out of thanks to Daniele Serra, for doing such a fantastic noirish job with the artwork, and my pal Patrick Lussier, who wrote a humbling introduction for the novella. (And just wait until Patrick's next movie DRIVE ANGRY hits theaters, starring Nicolas Cage. It's a throwback to 70s road rage/evil car on the road flicks and it's going to rock us all).

Also, keep an eye out for:

Blood, Guts & Whiskey Edited by Todd Robinson. Kensington, $14 paper (336p) ISBN 978-0-7582-2268-8 Twenty-four gritty, violent stories of the mean streets slug their way through a third volume mostly culled from the Web zine Thuglit (after Hardcore Hardboiled and Sex, Thugs, and Rock & Roll). Max Allan Collins's concise yet wide-ranging introduction traces the tough guy school of short crime fiction from Hammett writing in the pulp Black Mask up to the current generation riffing off the films of Tarantino. Highlights include the Derringer Award–winning “The Cost of Doing Business” by Mike Penncavage, and a fistful of tales appearing for the first time anywhere from the likes of upcoming noir stars such as Dave Zeltserman (“Bad Move”) and Tom Piccirilli (“The Return of Inspiration”). For dedicated fans of the genre, this anthology is worth the money just for “Death of a Rat,” a prison yarn found in the files of the late Edward Bunker (aka Mr. Blue in Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs), iconic author of No Beast So Fierce. These stories are as bleak and exciting as a cold rainstorm. (June)--Publishers Weekly

Hell, never expected to share a TOC with the great Eddie Bunker! Very proud to be a part of this anthology. If you dig hardboiled/noir fiction and haven't already tried the previous two anthos edited by Todd Robinson, go now and do so.