Sunday, May 22, 2011

The Libertine

Having admitted to my past as a tax collector, busker, journalist, motorcycle messenger and general wastrel, I have also decided to out myself as the author of another novel.... one that I have shied away from releasing until today...

The Libertine, which will be available shortly in eBook format, is an exercise in picaresque wastrelism in extremo. A true opus peccatorum, you might say.

The novel was written when I was young, free and very single. When I think back now I do believe that there is more than a passing resemblance to myself in the main character, Don Kehoe - though only a bit...

Yes - Don Kehoe is a play on Don Quixote, Cervantes' knight of old. And The Libertine lends heavily in style from the likes of J.P. Donleavy, Henry Miller, Hunter S. Thompson and Hank Bukowski to name but a few of the latter-day saints that have blessed the lowly picaro with their wit, time and artistic abandon.


The publication of this book takes me back to Kehoe's Bar on Anne Street South, just off Grafton Street in Dublin, wherein I spent many's the dole cheque and butter voucher when I lived hand to mouth, scraping by selling photocopied collections of my short stories, busking, or blagging pints from unsuspecting acquaintances. The good old days, when the result of a horse race would decide if I'd eat for the next four days.


The story follows the story of Don Kehoe as his life descends into chaos, all thanks to the usual culprits that face a man of thirst.


Ladies and Gentlemen I give you The Libertine. Click here to buy it!

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Out of the Gutter Magazine

Here's another wee gem...

Out of the Gutter Magazine

Lots of good stuff and some quite enjoyable FREE Noir fiction.... Some short, some flash, some frenzied...

Behold some reviews from the site to make you salivate...

"Out of the Gutter is not just some punk zine ... This filth is well-executed, tightly edited and focused on story construction."
—The UT Daily Texan
"GUTTER is the bastard child of Blue Murder . . . it's profane, lewd, violent, and frequently funny. Despite its low-rent origins, it's also a nice looking package."
Crimespot.net
"Matthew Louis has thrown down the gauntlet, set a new standard for unflinching, deliciously dirty, exploitative tough-ass fiction."
—Victor Gischler, Edgar-nominated author of Gun MonkeysSuicide Squeeze andShotgun Opera
“While it’s great to see indie guys taking a chance on such a project, it’s even greater to see that project work. The boys residing in THE GUTTER are to be commended for pulling it off ... Buy one, read it in public, raise eyebrows and be proud.”
—Bookgasm.com
"[Out of the Gutteris] even a little harder than Thuglit.com. Stories are nicely separated into sections of 10-minute and 20-minute reads. I keep Issue One in the bathroom and Issue Two in the livingroom. Highly entertaining for those with a strong stomach. Very well written."
—Jason Thibault,founding editor ofOptimum Wound Comics

International Noir Fiction

I'm a little slow on the uptake, that's all... that's why I keep finding new stuff that isn't really all that new to everyone else, but it's new to me and you can never have too many links to good stuff, can you?

I just discovered the International Noir Fiction blog and I thought you'd like it...

It's chock-full of interesting reviews, views and other stuff all relevant to and pursuant of a love of all things Noir.

So there...

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Killing a Friend - a rave first review!!!

Below you'll find the word for word review of my literary fiction novel, Killing a Friend. It doesn't get much better than this.... Thank you MJL in Florida!

It's available in both print and eBook format.

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful literary voice, May 10, 2011
By 
MJL (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews


Amazon Verified Purchase
(What's this?)
This review is from: Killing a Friend (Kindle Edition)
I found this gem mentioned in the literary fiction community on Amazon, read a sample and couldn't resist the purchase.

Briefly: The narrator, Jack McCormack, is an Irish writer living in Sweden who is befriended by a local artist named Wolf. Jack is slowly drawn into Wolf's inner circle and, eventually, into the depths of Wolf's private life. Jack is inspired by the creative success that Wolf is able to achieve. He professes to crave the intimacy of love and friendship that is available to him for the first time in his life.

That's the premise but - as with all good literary works - the real story takes place below the surface. Suffice it to say that the narrator - more of a casual observer of life than an actual participant - eventually achieves the emotional maturity that his past once kept him insulated from. And because T.S. O'Rourke is such a skilled writer, Jack takes the reader with him every step of the way.

O'Rourke claims that this is his first foray into literary fiction but it seems as if he was born to the medium. I was drawn into the story from the first sentence, read it in one day and it is still resonating. I suspect it will be for a long time to come - in my humble opinion, the true measure of a novel.

*For those to whom this matters: the ebook edition is well edited and formatted.*

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Three Short Shots... for the price of one...

In order to provide a better bang for buck for the readers of my bestselling short story, Why I Kill (The Confession of a Serial Killer), I've added two more shots to the publication. The price, however, remains the same.

The main story is a first person confession of a killer, and it has done really well, being in the top 10 under the Forensic Psychology section of Amazon.com since it was published last year.

To this I've added Groucho Riley: (The Birth of a Serial Killer) and Mirror, Mirror (The Naked Truth of Being Alone).

When the Amazon.com cover resembles this one to the right, then you know you've got the bonus material included!

Why I Kill (The Confession of a Serial Killer)

If you like what you read, then take a gamble on my other recent publications: Candy Says Kill (A Shot of Modern Noir) and Killing a Friend.