Needle

The winter 2012 issue of Needle is chocked full of very sharp crime fiction.

And a guy on the cover who reminds me of Dennis Duffy from 30 Rock.
The return of Kieran Shea's PI Charlie Byrne is alone worth the price of admission. In "Paying it Off," Byrne's up to his usual, dealing with the low-lifes and the lower-lifes as best he can. Nobody writes New Jersey quite like Shea and this one's overflowing with grimy atmosphere.


Jen Conley is a new name to me and she's got a corker here with "Finn's Missing Sister." Bobby is trying to escape old ties as best he can, but he gets sucked back in when an old flame disappears. Conley astutely captures the desperation of her characters. Soon after I read this one, I saw her name pop up again at Shotgun Honey with a vicious short, "Hatpin."

I loved Chris La Tray's take on Midwest suburban sprawl in "A Dog Named Buddy." Things get fucked up in unexpected ways when one homeowner gets tired of the neighborhood dog that's always shitting on his lawn and takes matters into his own hands.

Plenty of other excellent fiction in this issue from William Dylan Powell, BV Lawson, Matt Funk, Benoit Lelievre, Kent Gowran, and many more.