Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Top Five for 2010: Col Bury

Col Bury is an editor for one of the finest noir sites around, Thrillers, Killers 'n Chillers. I'm thrilled, killed, and chilled to have him with us today...

It’s been fun choosing my five memorable shorts from 2010, so thanks for asking, Chris. I make no apologies for TKnC featuring heavily, but obviously that’s where much of my reading is done. I’ve tried not to duplicate, and have gone for stories folks may have missed.  All resonated with me.  I hope you enjoy…

Regards,
Col

Top class writing this.  Atmospheric, exquisite and wickedly mesmeric with an unexpected twist perfectly executed.  A seamless, flawless must read. Truly awesome.

Cleverly woven parallel plotline in this chiller, incorporating a gradual ‘reveal’ and menacing, matter-of-fact voice in the mind of a truly fucked up individual.  Unique and well worth a nosey.

Ever heard of Sawney Bean?  Well David’s take on this legendary tale will rock your core, over at Erin Cole’s 13 Days of Horror.  Gruesomely shocking, with a gut-wrenching denouement leaving images that linger.

UNITED WE FALL by Sean Patrick Reardon   http://dosomedamage.blogspot.com/2010/12/united-we-fall.html
“Textbook noir spat out with venom,” was my comment after reading this cracker as part of the Do Some Damage Christmas Noir Challenge.  No nonsense, punchy tale, and don’t expect a happy ending!

Richard created a whole new sub-genre of Sci-Fi Noir with this crazy ride a year ago at A Twist Of Noir.  Complex plot for a short, with warped phraseology second to none. I loved it so much it was given a second airing recently at TKnC.

Col Bury is the co-editor of Thrillers, Killers 'n' Chillers, and his crime novel is being touted by a NY agent. Col's short stories can be found in anthologies, and scattered around the blogosphere. He blogs, reviews, and interviews crime authors at: http://colburysnewcrimefiction.blogspot.com/

10 comments:

  1. What a group! AJ Humpage turns the tables then turns 'em again THEN flips those suckers right out the window. Lily makes you a custom nightmare featuring those harmless buggy eyed goldfish we children all knew and loved and WTF!!!!! No, really, WTF!!! David makes sure you'll never have ribs again without having a side of Sawney Beans flash through your brain.And they won't cost you an arm and a leg -- wait a minute, maybe they will. Real handy for losing weight, that story. And of course Reardon's gonna just fill your Santa stocking with C4 and coal and DETONATE that bitch when the kiddies get near. And then there's Richard who takes you to a pleasant town. The kind you'd want raise your kids in and grow up in and bring your folks and gramma and grampa to live there . . . IF YOU'RE A PSYCHO! And psst. oh by the way, it's not nice to double xx a hitter. I like tales with morals like these . . . so do all my friends here at Arkham Asylum. We'll all be at you guys next book signings too by the way.

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  2. Col, thank you mate, I'm honoured to be among these names. And Bill you crack me up.

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  3. an attractive list and more for to check out for me. i like the names up there, so those i've missed are bound to be a pleasure.

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  4. I must admit that I missed most of these (except for Richard's excellent sci-fi noir piece) the first go around. Just read the Barber and Reardon pieces--top stuff!

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  5. Man, my list just keeps getting longer. I'm pretty sure it reaches to the Atlantic Ocean by now.

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  6. Col- Thanks for including me, it's a real kick to be mentioned with the other writers you chose. All the stories were very entertainging, as were A.J's comments.

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  7. Col - I'm honoured to be in your top 5 with those great writers. I'm still learning the craft and this is a great boost! My year seems to be off to a great start. And thanks for your comments, AJ & Chris!

    Thanks guys!!

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  8. Thanks everyone for commenting & Chris for the invite. I enjoyed sifting the blogosphere to take part in this cool series.
    Regards,
    Col

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  9. Wow, just goes to show what talent there is out there. Amazing talent, and it's a pleasure to be included with them.

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