13 Shots of Noir by Paul D. Brazill

Somewhere in a small dark room, possibly in an underground bunker, there is a man. This man studies, with an intelligent gaze, a bank of video screens. He sips slowly at polish vodka and watches. This man sees all human life. He sees parading before him a cast of serial killers, priests, kids with dogs, old curmudgeons and hen pecked husbands. When he’s done observing human life on special monitors he also sees vampires and werewolves. Occasionally he’ll push a button or scribble a line of text and like a master puppeteer he makes them all dance to his tune. He takes in all he sees and then drinks more vodka. When he has computed the results a little ticker tape spews from a console before him. He looks briefly at this and frowns unhappily.  He then turns it upside down, smiles and burns it with a zippo lighter. He switches off the screens and begins to write.

13 Shots of noir is a tonic akin to Lilly the pink's medicinal compound. If you are suffering from S.A.D you'll be G.L.A.D you downloaded this dark and witty chucklefest. Paul D. Brazill masters irony and makes telling a clever tale look easy. His use of misdirection is employed elegantly in one tail in particular. Paul has all the tools of the master storyteller at his disposal and he is not afraid to use them. You’ll find a bit of everything here including werewolf noir in the sublime Drunk On The Moon. A story that has spawned a hugely successful series. You’ll find the straw that broke the camels back in first story The Tut. A tale for all the married fellows out there.

The Ballad of the Kid is a very touching short tale that I enjoyed possibly even as much as Drunk On The Moon. Paul if you are reading this please make The Ballad Of The Kid into a novella or something. An incredibly powerful and emotional story. To me anyway.

The Friend Catcher had one of the best opening lines I’ve read in a very long time. A tale I greatly enjoyed and that craftily brought home a more powerful message than you might at first realise.

The pun Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder alone makes this collection worth buying. Paul’s work is always enjoyable and always a pleasurable read. There are even now folk on my morning bus that won’t sit near me for fear of small sudden explosions of random laughter as I read a kindle app on my phone and make them jump. Thank you Mr Brazill I now have plenty of space on the bus.

In my reviews I often make a big deal about Paul’s humour. However, there is much more to his stories than humour. PDB is not above a bit of crafty social commentary, why not discover that for yourselves whilst playing a Judas Priest record backwards?  13 Shots of Noir is a collection I am more than happy to give five enthusiastic stars to.

Download 13 Shots of Noir HERE