A Smitty two-novella set

So it's done. A two-novella piece featuring Smitty, my dark eyed assassin. The first novel is entitled A Dish Best Served Cold. It's about revenge, toying with the minds of one's intended victims, metering out justice in a world filled with injustice.

In short, a revenge story. But more than that. I wanted to experiment. I wanted to see if I could fold a little of Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne style of multiple-characters, multiple-scenes, switching back and fourth from one scene to the next kind of writing. My own interpretation of that kind of writing. I wanted to know if I could make it dramatic enough. Compelling. Creating a need for the reader to hurriedly read and turn the page in order to find out what happened next. Did I succeed?

Hell if I know.

The second piece of the two piece set is called A Killing Kiss. Smitty is asked to protect the recentely widowed wife of a crime syndicate head man, and her baby son, from the circling wolves of the husband's henchmen. Henchmen who are beginning to decide the question on who takes over being the top dog.

Writing this one was a toughie. It had to follow A Dish Best Served Cold. If the first story is as strong as I think it is, well . . . the tendency is for the second piece to fall flat on its face. Can't match the pacing and tension of the first. But I dunno, I dunno, I dunno . . .

You see, I think it did.

It has lots of action. Lots of depth of emotions emanating from all the main characters. Even a complex puzzle as to who actually killed the syndicate's founding father. But I dunno . . . The only way I will know for sure if both are as good as I think they are is wait and see if someone buys it, reads it, and let's me know.

And the act of waiting, baby, for me is a bitch. A real bitch

Hard-boiled versus Noir

Okay, so I thought I was going to put a 'taste' of the first Turner and Frank novel in today. Not yet. Still working on that little exercise. Instead, I thought I'd explore the difference between a 'hard-boil' detective novel and a 'noir' novel.

So what's the difference between the two?

Turns out there's is a significant difference. In a generalized kind of way.

In the simplest of terms, 'hard-boiled' means a tough son of a bitch has been asked to solve a crime. Someone like a Sam Spade or a Phillip Marlowe--if you're old enough to know who the hell created those two 'classic' bums.

A detective is hired to solve a crime. He's tough, sarcastic, an all-around wise ass and as durable as nails. What also seems to be a common thread is the guy/gal is somewhat of a loner and as honest as a Saharan sun is unrelentingly bright. And he (or she--although I find it, personally, hard to swallow a 'hard-boiled' female detective like the one Susan Parentsky writes) works on a personal Code of Honor.

The Law may be one thing which can be side-stepped and generously altered in order to reach that unreachable goal called Justice. But the detective's Code of Honor is set in hardened cement. He never waivers. Generally speaking.

Noir fiction is, as one pundit once said, "A novel where you're screwed and you know it."

Noir fiction has someone taking the fall for a crime they may or may not have committed. They've been set up. Framed. Used as a fall guy. The writing, like that found in a hard-boiled novel, is sparse and clean, with very little frills. Perhaps 'gloomy' and 'paranoid' would be other descriptives that would fit the bill.

Generally speaking, the poor bastard who is the main character hasn't got a snowball's chance in hell. He's toast. Dead meat. The only wiggle-room left for him is to find the real culprits and exonerate himself. Or die trying--which is, for some writers, the only option.

In my novel, Murderous Passions, although not strictly a 'hard-boiled' novel since it has two cops as its central chracters, nevertheless paint 'hard-boiled' in as the general color. Two wise-ass, hard as nails, Code of Honor type of cops who like their jobs. They like bringing creeps to justice. It will remind you of a classic novel of bygone days. It'll give you a dark, gloomy sense like a good noir. So it's kinda a combination of both.

Or, at least, I like to think so. Find it at

http://www.brstateham.com/Hahn.html