I am sorry to say goodbye to Thuglit. Todd Robinson and his staff have done terrific work with this magazine - last year two of the 14 stories on my Best Of list came from Thuglit. I am sorry the market didn't support the magazine as well as it deserved.
My favorite story in this issue is by James Creally. Try this line on for size:
"I'm sorry. Things just aren't working out."
That is a man breaking up with his girlfriend. What a cliche, right? Why would I bore you with such a banal line?
Well, Lonnie, our protagonist, is saying it to the woman who has just broken into his apartment with a hired thug because she discovered he was stealing from her. Which makes the cliche response a bit more interesting.
Lonnie is a failed scriptwriter, now making his living by bedding older women, i.e. cougars, and robbing them. It is not, as they say, sustainable, so he is trying to find a different approach as well, which may mean asking someone else he robbed for help. Comic noir.
I was a bit disappointed by the ending, but a very good story over all.
And goodbye, Thuglit.
