Kat Sloane could do with a shot of cash. She’s in debt to a nasty shark named Milky Kong, but her posh friends have a rule about money: it’s not fit for polite conversation. That means Kat’s getting on with plan B in Saira Viola’s “Monkey Fizz,” a poetic, richly depicted tale of manners and desperation.
Or take Phil Trullo on New Year’s Eve. Before he can chill, he needs to knock out a couple errands. His boss might start to notice, for instance, if Phil keeps letting guys slide on what they owe. And some weird dude has started to trifle with Phil’s girlfriend. But something else is up with Phil that he can’t put his finger on in Brian Silverman’s “Where the Happy People Go.”
Chicanery, survival and revenge. A mystery surrounding an old buzzard’s death. Competition between friends over a spectacular young woman. Or that moment when a character crosses the threshold into another version of reality.
It’s all in a day’s noir in the Winter 2021 issue of Vautrin.
Pre-Order the Winter 2021 issue here https://www.watermarkbooks.com/book/9780983679950
In this issue:
Blair Kroeber| Gingerbread
A Jubilant Fruit kiosk-kind of revenge.
Saira Viola| Monkey Fizz
Kat Sloane could do with a shot of cash.
Alison Katon| Godspeed
Megan just wanted to get away, up highway 41 to Green Bay.
Brian Silverman| Where the Happy People Go
Phil Trullo ushers in the New Year.
Leslie Elman| The Troll Was An Old Man
The women at this funeral have a little something in common.
Michael Bracken| Crush
Bryce is a great catch. Her suitors mean business.
Emilee Prado| Envy the Animals
Rendezvous at Hegira.
Albert Tucher| The Zen of Mickey D’s
Diana’s adventure in higher learning.
Scott Phillips| War Eagle
Creeping around a boxcar, checking for bulls. Excerpt from a work-in-progress.
Wendy Purcell| Planting a Money Tree
An utterly reasonable proposition.
Paul J. Garth| Aperture
Jefferson needs a shot.
Rob Pierce| China, My China
What kind of people go on a dig?
James Sallis| Revenance
Random sounds, open chambers, baffled passageways.
Divya Mehrish| Crimson
In which Carys ponders her regrets.
Paul Dee Fecteau| Liber ‘LXIII vel The Gematria of Lee Harvey Oswald
The second installment of this Vautrin series finds the young screenwriter attempting to decipher hidden meanings in the aliases of Lee Harvey Oswald.
Book Review:
Bruce Jacobs| An Unconventional Rabbi
Bad deeds are Tod Goldberg’s bread and butter.
