Riding Shotgun: And Other American Cruelties
RIDING SHOTGUN AND OTHER AMERICAN CRUELTIES is a unique collection of quirky, Tarantinoesque crime novellas, representing three very different sub-genres. In the first story, “Easy-Peezy,” a band of elderly Old West bank robbers return to their wicked ways robbing banks in the 1930s John Dillinger era. The second story, “Riding Shotgun,” is a bitter tale about a man pushed to the limits of human endurance and forced to take up arms to protect those he loves. The third tale, “$crilla,” is an urban crime fantasy in which a fledgling hip-hop group kidnaps a record mogul in the hopes of finally making the kind of loot they’ve always dreamed of.
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Author’s Bio
Andy Rausch is a a freelance film journalist, author, and celebrity interviewer. He has published more than twenty books on the subject of popular culture, including The Films of Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro, Making Movies with Orson Welles (with Gary Graver), and The Cinematic Misadventures of Ed Wood (with Charles E. Pratt, Jr.). His work has appeared in Shock Cinema, both Screem and Scream magazines, Senses of Cinema, Diabolique, Creative Screenwriting, Film Threat, Bright Lights Film Journal, and Images: A Journal of Film and Popular Culture. He has written several works of fiction including Mad World, Elvis Presley: CIA Assassin, Riding Shotgun and Other American Cruelties, and the short story collection Death Rattles. He has also worked as a screenwriter, producer, and actor on numerous straight-to-video horror films.
My Review
5 stars
Riding Shotgun is a collection of three novellas all revolving around crime. Easy – Peezy is about an aged bank robber that wants to go out with one last robbery. Emmett Dalton was one of the classic robber that has hung up his hat and saddle. But has he this desire to show Baby-Faced Nelson and John Dillinger how it’s really done.
Riding Shotgun has a crime author, Joe Gibson’s daughter has been kidnapped. They want him to kill someone else and kill Joe’s wife to show how serious they are. But after committing his murder he finds that he has another player in the game that wants his own revenge but might wait until Joe’s daughter is safe.
Finally there is $crilla. Some artists have a falling out with their producer and things get crazy as everyone get sucked into this crazy scheme. I guess if you can’t get rich one way there are other options.
This is a great collection of stories that is full of dark humor, blood and gore, and three different approaches to crime. Of course there is violet scenes and foul language but it is all part of the stories and adds so much more to a simple tale.
If you like your crime dirty you will like this book. There is a little for everyone and I’m sure at least one of the stories will appeal to you.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.
I would like to thank Rachel’s Random Resources for the opportunity to read and share this book.
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