MURDER IS NEVER PRETTY ... EVEN WHEN THE CORPSE IS A BLONDE CHAPTER ONE I was cruising west along Great Eastern Highway, going nowhere in particular, waiting for the call. It was one of those nights. It was hot, the moon was full and the dregs of society were restless. Black storm clouds hung over the Perth hills to the east and we'd had a drizzle of rain. It was enough to bring out the smell of hot tar. It had been a long day and I knew it was going to be a long night. I needed a drink of good old Queensland rum but the wagging finger in the back of my brain told me I had to stay sane.
I've seen plenty of girls with slut written all over them, but never one like this.
She was near naked, tied to a bed and the killer had driven a sharp object through her heart.
'Slut' had been written on her skin with a black pen.
Book Review:
Joe Blake is a cop and it's hard being a cop in Perth, Western Australia. You have to drive around in a hotted up super special cop Commodore. You have to be a sexual gymnast and super athlete, just to keep up with the women throwing themselves at you. You have to have nerves of steel - when women aren't handcuffing you to your bed, naked so the cleaning lady will find you; other people are trying to thump you when you're just out for a harmless night of too much drinking and rock and roll.
But Joe's a pro - he can handle it. Everything the world throws at him, he'll give back in spades. And while he's at it, he'll solve the case of one poor little country girl who came to the big smoke to go to university, fell for a would be rock star, and died, staked through the heart.
WARNING SHOTS LAST is the second in the Joe Blake series - current day hard boiled pulp fiction in very traditional style, with an Australian twist.
I've seen plenty of girls with slut written all over them, but never one like this.
She was near naked, tied to a bed and the killer had driven a sharp object through her heart.
'Slut' had been written on her skin with a black pen.
Book Review:
Joe Blake is a cop and it's hard being a cop in Perth, Western Australia. You have to drive around in a hotted up super special cop Commodore. You have to be a sexual gymnast and super athlete, just to keep up with the women throwing themselves at you. You have to have nerves of steel - when women aren't handcuffing you to your bed, naked so the cleaning lady will find you; other people are trying to thump you when you're just out for a harmless night of too much drinking and rock and roll.
But Joe's a pro - he can handle it. Everything the world throws at him, he'll give back in spades. And while he's at it, he'll solve the case of one poor little country girl who came to the big smoke to go to university, fell for a would be rock star, and died, staked through the heart.
WARNING SHOTS LAST is the second in the Joe Blake series - current day hard boiled pulp fiction in very traditional style, with an Australian twist.
Latter day Australian Pulp Fiction at it's best, Murder is Never Pretty... is, well hilarious.
Part of the attraction is that it's 100% true to the style and phrasing of the pulp writers of bygone times - but it's all set in current day Perth - dare one say the mean and dirty streets of Perth?
When a beautiful (are there other kinds in pulp?) blonde is murdered (shot / naked of course) in her suburban unit the local police put a call through to Joe Blake (who fortunately is chatting up another girl in his hot police car which he uses to hoon away to the call annoying the local lads trying to do burnouts in the vicinity), because nothing gets in his way. (Except for a lot of very athletic sex which is just a sideline that he specialises in).
Joe always gets the bad guy. (They may land a couple of glancing blows on the way, but he'll always get his man). And along the way he gets a few naughty girls (well just a few - and he's obviously a darn sight younger than he seems to be if he can keep up that strike rate!), because Joe likes them naughty - very naughty.
It's silly, it's fun, it's the first in the series. See http://joeblake.com.au for more (and you can buy them new from the publisher on ebay so do yourselves a favour!)
