Seven Sordid Stories

“Seven dark tales that make the hair on your neck stand up as you read them. Meet this talented voice on the noir scene.
- H.L. Osterman, Short Changed

1. The Blood on the Curb. A morally questionable detective, George “Six-Shot” McGraw, returns to the job after the highly-publicized killing of a notorious mobster.
2. It Comes in Threes. A man succumbs to his greatest suspicions in this story of love, friendship, paranoia, possession, actuality, and murder.
3. A Killer Scoop. A young waitress in a neighborhood terrorized by a serial killer finds her life forever altered when two strangers walk through the diner doors. Both seem all too familiar with her.
4. Devil’s Gypsy. Criminality runs rampant, loyalty is tested, and life is considered cheap in this hot-rodding, switchblade-wielding rumble of a story.
5. The Briefcase. When two low-life friends stumble across the violent aftermath of a mysterious meeting gone wrong, what seems like a stroke of good luck takes multiple turns into murder and deception.
6. Lunchroom Verdict. This crude farce showcases the indifference men of power can hold for human life when presented with even the remotest possibility of threat.
7. When They Came Back. The story, told in numerous flashbacks, follows the return of psychopathic hitman Peter Ritten after his latest “job.” But nothing is as it seems. Even the hauntings.

A young writer from Raleigh, NC, Nick Swain’s publication history includes several works of crime fiction featured in Crimson Streets Magazine; this includes the Neo-Noir heist story “The LaFierra Caper and Its Rat Pack Robbers”; the one-room gangster mystery “The Cabanga Situation”; and the serialized novella “Devil in Disguise”; along with an engaging guide for aspiring Pulp writers and avid readers alike titled “Fast Talk: The Slang of Pulp.”