Katherine Tomlinson has some top-shelf stories up at NoHo Noir Short Fiction. Her latest, Collateral Damage, might be my favorite.
It's a quiet shift for Ethan, a cop back on duty after injuring his leg, until he gets a call about a guy brandishing a weapon at a 7-Eleven store on Camarillo Street. He's praying that's it's a false alarm, but when he shows up, one guy's already dead and another is circling the drain. Ethan tries to establish control over the chaos and surmise what the hell happened.
The story is loaded with vibrant details and dark humor. Tomlinson illustrates the everyday horror of crime with a tragic but quiet ending. This kind of effort is rare and I really appreciate her no-frills approach.
Thank you for that Chris. It was a hard story to write and I'm very pleased with the way it turned out.
ReplyDeleteYou should be pleased, Katherine. It reads like Jack Webb talked. Straight out, thats-the-way-it-is internals and dialog. I worked in Hollywood, North Hollywood, Burbank a lot of years ago. Sounds like the ever-present, well-hidden streak of crazy still exists up there. Thanks for the ridealong.
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