This is the 2nd book in a series of PULP NOIR.The rich history of Pulp stories are pure Americana. Written like a script from Film Noir movie, you are to be transported to a time in the 30’s, 40’s or 50’s, where the liquor flowed freely and there was always a Crosley radio playing in some room off in the distance, just barely audible. The stories don’t always end on a high note, or even end at … note, or even end at all.
The magic of a Pulp Noir short story is that the reader is supposed to wonder what comes next. After the last word on the page, the story for the characters moves on long after the final sentence. Unless the character is lying face down in a pool of blood or off to the clink. The reader is to guess as to what happens next and what came before. Pulp Noir is more about a small slice or life, a moment in time, and usually a dark one.
So please enjoy. Pour yourself a nice warm drink, dim the lights and in your best Robert Mitchum Or Bogart voice or maybe your Bette Davis or Barbara Stanwyck impersonation, read the stories like you were telling them to a friend over a drink at the edge of a bar somewhere.
So conjure up in your consciousness; Femme Fatales, handguns, seedy bars, bad luck, thieves, scoundrels, a book of matches, a pack of Pall Mall’s, low lighting and definitely everything in glorious black and white.
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A great collection of short stories set in the golden age of pulp noir mysteries. Fedoras, trench coats and cigarettes abound! I could almost see the characters lighting their smokes when the stress got to be too much!
If you enjoy the old time pulp noir detectives, you will enjoy this collection. Each story is entertaining in its own way and I enjoyed them all. Full of robberies, burglaries, murders and domestic abuse, set against the backdrop of WWII, this is an entertaining set of stories. Each one is the perfect length for a commute or a spurt of exercise. Reminiscent of Ellery Queen and Sam Spade, I enjoyed the old-fashioned feel of these stories.
Bill Nevitt does his usual excellent job in the narration of these stories and really added a lot to my enjoyment of this collection. I was given the chance to listen to this book by the narrator/author/publisher and chose to review it.
Coffee & Cigarettes: Pulp Noir Short Stories was a great read by Eric Leckey. This was a great collection of short stories set in pulp noir mysteries. Each of these stories were entertaining in their own way. I enjoyed these short stories and can’t wait to read more by the authors.
Coffee & Cigarettes: Pulp-Noir_Short Stories is my first read from author Eric Leckey. Bill Nevitt’s narration is, as always, excellent and adds greatly to the book’s enjoyment, in fact, it was his excellence in narration that attracted me to this book. Now that I’ve read an Eric Leckey book I’ll be looking to read more. I was given an Audible copy of this book & am voluntarily reviewing it. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 – July 24, 2018).
This is a great collection of eleven short stories that are reminiscent of gumshoe detectives and times that are past. You are plunged you into a world of murder and suspense, where police used their wits to unearth clues and sometimes their fists too. These atmospheric stories are brought to life by the excellent narration, that seems to ooze emotional impact, cigarette smoke and fedoras.
Coffee and Cigarettes by Eric Leckey is a collection of short stories that take the reader back to the days of Ellery Queen and the detectives that had to follow the clues the hard way, no computers to guide the way. Sometimes it ends well and sometimes not. The author does a great job of drawing the reader in right from the start which is good considering he only has a short story to work with. The stories were told from a variety of points of view–the detectives, the thieves, the innocent. Stories of detectives finding their quarry; a young innocent girl, or is she? safecrackers stumbling on another burglar; a “Mutt and Jeff” type thieving duo and even an abusive husband getting his just dues. I like the short story format as I could listen to just one of the stories at a time or several if I had more time. It is an entertaining book to listen to and Bill Nevitt does a great job telling the stories, giving distinctive voices to the characters. I might have to go back and get a copy of the first collection of these stories, Alcohol and Cigarettes.
I listened to a complimentary copy of the book and was not required to write a review. The opinions are my own.
I was gifted this audiobook with the understanding that I would leave an honest review. I enjoyed listening to Bill Nevitt narrate this noir mystery of short stories. I like short stories as a change of pace from a long book. These 13 short stories reminded me of my childhood reading Ellery Queen magazines. A time before all the elaborate crime scene technology.
This review is for the audio book.
This book contains eleven short stories, that are just great if you have a few minutes to kill. Most of the stories are about detectives or the police out smarting the bad guys in clever ways and a few stories from the thief’s point of view.They are all clean fun and could be set anywhere and in anytime period, so if you don’t like noir books or books set in the past don’t let it put you off. I enjoyed most of them with the exception of one or two where the ending was disappointing but on the whole I enjoyed the way the detective worked out who the killer/theif etc was and got his man and with title’s like mile away, suicide for show, the alley and beach heist you can’t go wrong with listening to this short collection.
The narrator was very good and with his range of voices it was easy to follow with the different characters.