From the creator of the groundbreaking crime-fiction magazine THUGLIT comes…DIRTY WORDS. The first collection from award-winning short story writer, Todd Robinson. Featuring: SO LONG JOHNNIE SCUMBAG – selected for The Year's Best Writing 2003 by Writer's Digest. The Derringer Award nominated short, ROSES AT HIS FEET. THE LONG COUNT – selected as a Notable Story of the Year in Best American Mystery Stories 2005. PLUS eight more tales of in-your-face crime fiction

An anthology of stories edited by Todd Robinson My fingers can't find the bullet holes. They're there, because they brought me down. Like a guitar riff sharp enough to slit a throat or the devil's amplifiers shrieking through the lonely night, this bonanza of blood and brawn rings with the vibe of the best new noir suspense. Culled from the net's most hardcore, award-winning site, these fresh, raw, and uncut stories pack a stiff punch… "As long as she keeps calling me, there's hope. Hope is a dangerous thing." No matter where you turn-a pair of bisexual, ass-kicking Vikings on a slaughter trip; a sexy forty-something thief with angles as lethal as her curves; a porn-comic artist up against one deadly last laugh; a city's most savage gang under the gun and way out of time; or a south-of-the-borderland sleaze pit where everyone's a winner-no one gets out alive… "Escape is a bitch. A man alone and on foot would have to be crazy to try. Apparently he was." Rev up for a speed-fueled hell-trip through the dark side, where a backbeat can kill, no scene falls short of badass, and the hooligans bay at the moon… "This book is dripping so much blood and guts and marrow, it's impossible to read it in more than a single sitting. Be prepared to be shattered, shell-shocked and bruised, as Thuglit's emissaries continue to write wrongs that are very, very right." -Sarah Weinman Big Daddy Thug/Todd Robinson's writing has appeared in Plots With Guns, Danger City, Demolition, Out Of The Gutter, Pulp Pusher, Crimespree and Writers Digest's The Year's Best Writing 2003. He was nominated for a 2006 Derringer Award from the Short Mystery Fiction Society, and is the creator and chief editor of Thuglit.com. The stories he's edited for Thuglit.com have been nominated for several awards, including The Derringer and The Million Writer's Award, and been have been selected for The Best American Mystery Stories and Best Noir 2006. He lives and works in New York with his wife (Lady Detroit), a ferret named Matilda, and three freakin' cats

“What you’ll find in this volume are stories that demonstrate a mastery of plotting; stories that compel you to keep turning the pages because of plot and because of setting; stories that wield suspense like a sword; stories of people getting their comeuppance; stories that utilize superb point of view; stories that plumb one particular and unfortunate attribute of a character,” promises guest editor Elizabeth George in her introduction. The Best American Mystery Stories 2016 is a feast of both literary crime and hard-boiled detection, featuring a seemingly innocent murderer, a drug dealer in love, a drunken prank gone terribly wrong, and plenty of other surprising twists and turns

Boo Malone lost everything when he was sent to St. Gabriel's Home for Boys. There, he picked up a few key survival skills; a wee bit of an anger management problem; and his best friend for life, Junior. Now adults, Boo and Junior have a combined weight of 470 pounds (mostly Boo's), about ten grand in tattoos (mostly Junior's), and a talent for wisecracking banter. Together, they provide security for The Cellar, a Boston nightclub where the bartender Audrey doles out hugs and scoldings for her favorite misfits, and the night porter, Luke, expects them to watch their language. At last Boo has found a family. But when Boo and Junior are hired to find Cassandra, a well-to-do runaway slumming among the authority-shy street kids, Boo sees in the girl his own long-lost younger sister. And as the case deepens with evidence that Cassie is being sexually exploited, Boo's blind desire for justice begins to push his surrogate family's loyalty to the breaking point. Cassie's life depends on Boo's determination to see the case through, but that same determination just might finally drive him and Junior apart. What's looking like an easy payday is turning into a hard bounce-for everyone

The worlds greatest multi-award winning crime fiction magazine is BACK after a two-year hiatus with eight hardcore short stories to rock your literary world