Brandon Barrows

Guilty Crime Story Magazine: Issue 7, Winter 2023, contains seven short stories and one true crime article. As always, the read here is dark. Those seeking cozy mysteries or lighthearted fare should look elsewhere.

Colin Brightwell’s “Sad Sack” leads things off. It is the holidays and two porch pirates have their own plan to pick up spending money. The first step is hitting some porches and grabbing packages on this cold icy afternoon.

Sammy was a comedian with a bit of a cult following in the clubs he played between Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay area. He borrowed a lot of money from a guy in “Not Funny” by Jim Guigli and headed to the east coast. Now the collectors have caught up to him and he is in a world of trouble.

Crank’s girlfriend, Yulia, wants him to change. He tries in “Crank Baxter Ain’t No God-Damned Christian” by Alec Cizak. His attempt to change from his core nature has a lot of consequences.

Two young girls were murdered in Delphi, Indiana, back in 2017. “The Delphi Murders: A True Crime Story” by N. Fraley recounts the details of the case, the hunt for a suspect, and the status of the case at the time this issue was published.

Editor/Publisher Brandon Burrows is next with his short story, “It’s All An Act.” A totally insignificant man named Dan Martin ended everything. He has to pay. As does society which refuses to put a stop to such senseless acts of gun violence. The reader can’t help but wonder why this sort of thing does not happen more often when one reads this tale.

The three men had a plan and it should have worked fine. It would have too in “No Trouble” by Wayne McIntire if one man had not tried to play hero. Or if one of three had not acted as he did.

When you are convicted young and do your prison time, coming back home, and trying to get a job can be very hard. Especially in a small nowhere place like Chesterton. Andy had to come back and is now trying to make it as best as he can. It is very late at the convenience store, the weather is nasty, and it is almost time to close for the day in “Conviction” by Anderson Barres. Then a customer shows up and everything changes.

So, there he was sitting in a bar and halfway to where he wanted to be, stranger sits nearby and ask if he is willing to kill the guy’s wife. Not that our narrator has done that before. But, things are hard, it is 50k, and she will soon be dead anyway. The hook is set in “Two Guys Walk Into A Bar” by Robb T. White.

Another interesting issue, Guilty Crime Story Magazine: Issue 7, Winter 2023, is another in an entertaining series of reads. Dark in tone and filled with characters often compelled to make bad choices and deal with the outcomes, the crime fiction short stories presented here makes no bones about the inner nature of people. Some have power and use it one way. Others have it and use it another. Friends become enemies and the world spins on. If you are looking for light hearted, this is not the read for you.

My reading copy was a purchase of the eBook last December by way of funds in my Amazon Associate account.



Kevin R. Tipple © 2023… (mehr)

This novel was a short, funny twist on gaming guides.

Every game in this book does not exist, which makes this book quite amusing. It is explaining cheats and how to progress through these games that were never made. Clearly some of these stories were parodying certain games on the market today, and that made it so much better. I have a few times where I wanted to chuckle at the stories and how they explained their games.

I definitely enjoyed this book! It's a short, cute read and it is definitely more of a comedy book. People who are fans of video games would appreciate this book a lot more than the average reader!

Four out of five stars.

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.… (mehr)

Guilty Crime Story Magazine: Issue Six, Fall 2022, opens with “Overnights at the Bumblebee Motel” by Michael Grimala. Gordon has a driven a long way from Ohio to southern Louisiana in search of Hannah. He thinks the Bumblebee Motel might offer a clue or two in his search. He needs to find his sister.

Publisher and Editor Brandon Barrows is next with “One Last Ride.” Foley just wants to park his cab the night and go to bed. Dispatcher Hugh Spenser is a serious annoyance and he is not done with Foley yet. Instead, because the next driver is out sick, Foley has to keep working. He has to go to the airport on a nasty night and pick up a passenger named Thomas Bailey. Foley’s Bed, and his unhappy wife, are going to have to wait.

Steve Liskow’s short story, “Peepin’ and Hiddin’” is next where at least one of the neighbors is a real jerk. Unfortunately, he is teaching his own son the same bad ideas. Wes and Louie have fireworks, cherry bombs to be specific, and are perfectly willing to use them. It is July 1st, a drought is happening, and they have zero concern for others in their condo complex. That is going to change.

Dan Moore knows the kid is up to something in “You Wouldn’t Shoot Me” by Anderson Barnes. He tailed him from the buss and followed him off the bus at a stop in Roxbury. Every step they take sends Dan Moore deeper in a neighborhood he does not know and where it seems everyone is watching him.

He used to be a cop. Now, each evening, he sits in a bar and limits himself to five drinks. He plays an inner game with himself in “Some Sunny Day, Baby” by Joseph S. Walker and tries to figure out if this will be the night he goes for six. That is until a face from long ago, Anson Brancato, shows up and tells him of a problem and Carl Denham. Favors are owed and he owes Carl Denham.

“I’ll Scratch Yours” by Thomas Nicholson is next where our man is on a massage table having his bad shoulder and more worked on by an unseen masseuse. The department is paying and it should help him feel better. It might actually work if she did not talk so much. She has a lot to say.

The author, Mr. James, is meeting with a man known to some as Mr. John Wesley Hardin about an upcoming movie. It is to be a western and he had some questions as Wyatt Earp, still living out in California, told him to get gone. Lonnie put the two together for his own reasons. Getting Mr. James to show up was just the first step in the plan in “The John Wesley Hardin Rag by Coy Hall.

The issue closes with the nonfiction piece, “The Jeff Davis 8: A True Crime Story” by. N. Fraley. It recounts the discovery of eight women in and around various bodies of water in Jennings, Louisiana. During the period between 2005 and 2009 the bodies of the women were found. All were sex workers who may have been killed by a serial killer. They may have been the victims of rogue police officers. We may never know as this piece explains.

As always, the stories in Guilty Crime Story Magazine: Issue Six, Fall 2022 are not happy reads. Like the tales in previous ones, these are not tales of people drinking tea, cats hanging out, or ones that make one content with the state of the world where one is sure all will work out. Far from it. Darkness, in a variety of ways, is probed in the tales that make up this issue. While this reader had his own favorites, all are solidly good reads.

My reading copy was a purchase of the eBook last October by way of funds in my Amazon Associate account.A

Kevin R. Tipple © 2023… (mehr)

Guilty Crime Story Magazine: Issue 5, Summer 2022 opens with “Blood Loss” by Trey R. Barker. Diane Cooper and John Blood knew each other way back in high school. They were very close. Especially their senior year. Now he is a private investigator, her daughter was raped and murdered, and Barefield PD has done nothing. She wants John Blood’s help to settle some scores in a tale where everyone has old wounds and lot of baggage.

It isn’t the first time Mr. Walker has suddenly become a widower. So, he is sort of used to talking to investigators. In “Tale of Two Wives” by Christine Eskilson, there were witnesses in the area this time when his wife fell to her death off the bluff so that fact should help.

When you are about to get bashed to pieces by folks who do not tolerate errors or failure, you get desperate. In “Edwin Gets an Idea” by Susan Oleksiw, the aforementioned Edwin is exactly in that situation. It is desperate times indeed. Edwin thinks that knowing something about a secret regarding a local art dealer might be worth avoiding further violence against his person.

Publisher and Editor Brandon Barrows is next with “Double or Nothing.” Ed Naden is a gambler and is not very good at it. Ed has a reputation as a dead beat gambler. Rackham has a reputation of not tolerating those who don’t pay their debts. Now he is hiding out in Marky’s bar as he owes eight grand and has no idea how he is going to pay the bill. One can see the obvious problem.

When you take retirement early and cash your IRA and stock in so that you can buy a magnificent old mansion overlooking Lake Erie, you want peace and quiet. You don’t want neighbors from hell. That is what he got in “A Mischief of Rats” by Robb White. Rex McCloskey and his kin are awful neighbors and they need to be permanently gone.

Wayne is on a mission to clean the world, one stripper at a time. He isn’t the only one on a mission in “Mercy Killings” by Marie Anderson.

It is going to be a meal from hell in “Lunch” by Dustin Walker. Barry makes every new buyer eat whatever he cooks as a test. Going in, the narrator tries to explain just how bad it is going to be to pass Barry’s test, but Mac is not getting it. The meal was the easy part. Things got way worse afterwards.

The issue concludes with the true crime piece by Anthony Perronti. “The Eden Prairie Heist” explains the facts around several armored car heists in the late 80s and early 90s where the thieves placed what appeared to be a bomb on the hood of the armored vehicle before fleeing the scene. A piece of history that does not get much notice these days.

Guilty Crime Story Magazine: Issue 5, Summer 2022 is another with ranging issue of crime fiction. A lot is packed into each tale. No cardboard character cutouts need to apply. While I had my own personal preferences, variety is key, and there is plenty here to satisfy any reader.

My reading copy was a purchase of the eBook last summer by way of funds in my Amazon Associate account.


Kevin R. Tipple © 2023… (mehr)