Koko Noir

By Steve Weddle

One of the things that Kieran Shea is so good at is kicking expectations in the crotch. Koko Takes a Holiday opens with a shoot-out in a bar. On display is Koko's skill with weapons. The killing and all. Ba,. Etc. It's vivid, clear, and exciting.

Koko escapes. Here comes some bloodbath, right?

Nope. Koko ends up having to ditch all her weapons before the next stop.

It's the little stuff like this that shows Kieran Shea's skills -- on full display. Show your character is a master at something, then take away that strength. See what's left. It's a stripping away to get at, well, at the character of the character. It's brilliant.

Go read the book. Koko Takes a Holiday.

This post fires off on Thursday, June 19, 2014. Tonight, I'll be in Durham, at a bar with some talented writers, doing some reading and signing. I plan to read a Roy Alison story that is set after the conclusion of Country Hardball.

You can read about the event in the Herald Sun or in Indy Week or, you know, just show up.

Seven crime authors will be reading and signing books at the bar 106 Main (located at 106 E. Main St.) in Durham during the city’s first “Noir at the Bar” event. This reading, signing and mingle event begins Thursday at 6:30 p.m. and continues until 9:30.  "Noir at the Bar" is a nationwide movement popularized in St. Louis by authors Scott Phillips, Jedidiah Ayres and others for crime authors to gather, meet, and read their work. Bars in New Orleans, San Francisco, New York and other cities have presented events.Durham's inaugural event will feature Steve Weddle (“Country Hardball”), Grant Jerkins (“The Ninth Step”), Eryk Pruitt (“Dirtbags”), Chad Rohrbacher (“Karma Backlash”), Peter Farris (“Last Call for the Living”), Charles Dodd White (“Sinners of Sanction County”) and Phillip Thompson (“Deep Blood”).Visitors may purchase books at the bar, or may bring their own copies for autographs.Pruitt, who is organizing the evening, hopes this reading will be the first of many “Noir at the Bar” events for Durham.Admission is free. For information, visit www.facebook.com/events/ and search on “Noir at the Bar.”