Thuglit is dead. Long live Switchblade. That was m first thought after reading the first few stories in this magazine. As far as I know the publishing team of Switchblade has no connection to the late lamented Thuglit, but they share a noir sensibility much truer than the fancypants in the Akashic Press noir cities series. (For the record, I have been published by Akashic Press, but not by either of these two magazines.) I wish Switchblade more success in the market than the old one had.
All right. Here is how Mr. Beetner introduces his story.
"Daddy," I asked. "Is that blood?"
Mom waved a hand at me, shooing me out of the bathroom as she pulled the door half closed. I could still see Dad propping himself up on one hand while the rest of him sprawled out on the tile floor. His free hand stayed pressed hard into the deep red slain on his shirt, down near the hip.
The little boy has just discovered that his family has a secret, and that secret is going to change his life forever. B eetner shows us very grim, adult, business from the boy's point of view. Well-written.
