I
just turned the final page of Nick Kolakowski’s, A Brutal Bunch of Heartbroken Saps from Shotgun Honey and I am left with the feeling that I will watching out
for his next book every day until news breaks it’s coming out. This novella is
a lightening quick read and it’s full of memorable characters, great witty
dialogue, and a plot which never lets off the throttle.
The
plot is a strange one to sum up, as it’s simple in many ways, yet has quite a
few complexities that keep the reader guessing where Kolakowski is taking them
next. Bill comes to and finds himself chained up and dangling upside in an
apparent robbery attempt. His backstory emerges that he has tried to rob a
syndicate of a lot of money and make himself nothing more than a memory. In his
attempt to vanish, car trouble forces him to stop in a rundown town and trouble
ensues. He finds himself running from a crooked sheriff, a former lover may or
may not be planning on killing him, and hitmen sent by the bad guys to retrieve
the stolen money. Violence, hilarity, and a shitload of fun for the reader
follow in short order.
I
have to be honest, Kolakowski is a brand-new author to me. A bit of research
tells me he has written some short stories in a few anthologies I have read,
but for whatever reason, none of his stories have stuck with me. Sometimes all
you need is more an awareness of an author to enjoy their work on a more
personal level, so I am making it my business to seek out some of his older
work and dive in. I have his noir collection, Somebody’s Trying to Kill Me,
locked and loaded on my E-Reader, so I am anticipating a great weekend of
reading in the near future.
With
the warmer weather approaching, and a few beach days on the horizon, you would
be doing yourself a favor to grab a copy of this novella and enjoy it in one
sitting while you nurse a cold one.
Recommended.
