Crime Factory: The First Shift [Kindle Edition]

THE FIRST SHIFT is everything readers of crime fiction could hope for in an anthology: a chance to discover talented new writers as well as enjoy new works from writers whose works they're already familiar with. This is the one to buy for yourself and for anyone you know who loves noir and crime fiction. Once again, New Pulp Press continues to be the alternative to anemic mainstream publishing. Check this one out.

Anybody keeping up with this zine knew long before it came out that this would be one phenomenal collection.

Edited by Keith Rawson, Jimmy Callaway and Cameron Ashley, Crime Factory: The First Shift scorches the earth from start to finish.

I enjoyed every story, but here are a few that stood out...

"Stinger" by Dennis Tafoya. Holy f---, talk about starting out right. A classic noir tale of a woman who gets dragged down deeper and deeper. And the last paragraph is simply excruciating. Like a third-degree burn, you won't be forgetting this one anytime soon.

"Of Course You Realize, This Means War," by Jimmy Callaway. Any story with a Bugs Bunny reference is good in my book. Callaway is consistently hysterical and he doesn't fail us here. He has a brisk, unique, very readable style that I can't get enough of.

"Ravine" by Steve Weddle. Dealing with how a character changes or fails to change is very difficult. I often find that characters who change too much aren't believable -- in my opinion, people don't tend to change much, so in fiction it comes off as forced. But in this story, Weddle makes a smart move -- he tests a change his character has already gone through. The result is a tight and engrossing piece with a phenomenal last line.

"Budget Cuts" by Dave White. I have a particular affinity for this story as I will soon join the ranks of public school teachers. (White is a middle school English teacher in New Jersey.) Paul Brown is a teacher who speaks his mind. This is dangerous when there are Tea Party psychos around who like to do more than just bitch about property taxes. A tense and exciting read.

"Green By" by Chris F. Holm. For some reason, I like reading about stoners. Especially when they have really dumb ideas like breaking into a drug dealer's greenhouse cause they're fresh out of bud. Of course, it's not easy as they think.

And I didn't even get around to excellent contributions from writers like Hilary Davidson, Patti Abbott, Kieran Shea, Ken Bruen, Roger Smith and so many others.

With the crime factory name on it you know it will be quality but I really think this collection goes above and beyond. It is all over the map of dark crime fiction and that is a good thing. From the darkly funny (Jimmy Callaway's story) to the dark and twisted (any of them really but take Keith Rawson's for a start) to things as wild and varied as a western by Jed Ayres and the truly bizarre creature in Greg Bardsley's shocking tale.
A great intro to dark fiction by some real up and comers and some wounded vets in the genre. Well worth picking up.
Kudos also to the great way it is out together. This is not some slapdash pulled off the web and bound anthology. This is a well designed, well edited collection that is a great addition to my bookshelf.