New Book Alert - Born a Ramblin' Man by Michel Lee Garrett

 Hey DSD Family, 

While some of us DSD regulars have become less frequent posters, you can be sure that, while we're away, we're getting a LOT of reading done. In the last several months, between my responsibilities as a books editor at Rock and a Hard Place, being a fan of books in general, and being asked for beta reads / feedback, I've read a ton of collections. Some of them are incredible. Some of them are pretty good. Only one or two of them were worse than that. 

In other words, it's an incredible time if you like crime fiction collections, and the future is looking even brighter. But in the meantime, one of those collections I read, one of those collections that was incredible, just came out yesterday, and I want to make sure everyone knows about it. 

BORN A RAMBLIN' MAN: fourteen tales of thieves, killers, vagabonds and lost souls by Michel Lee Garrett dropped yesterday, and I want you to read it. 

Here's the cover, if you haven't seen it. 

And here's what the book is about: 

In Born a Ramblin’ Man, Michel Lee Garrett weaves a tapestry of crime, desperation, comedy, and hope, all set against a backdrop of rural despair and big-city corruption. Across fourteen stories, small-time thieves pick the wrong pockets, small-town lives become uprooted by violence, and Michel’s recurring hero Raymond Reynolds grows from a ramblin’ vagabond into a seasoned investigator as he stumbles from one misadventure to the next. From the gritty darkness of the rural south to the neon underbelly of Las Vegas and all the highways in between, Born a Ramblin’ Man celebrates victories, heroes, criminals, and failures in equal measure.

Finally, don't take my word for it; two friends, who are known for their exquisite taste, had this to say about the collection: 

“Michel Lee Garrett is not only a brilliant writer, but an important one. Born A Ramblin’ Man is packed with the tough and the proud making their place in the lost corners of America.”

—Libby Cudmore, Shamus and Black Orchid award-winning author of Negative Girl and The Big Rewind

and 

“Born a Ramblin’ Man marks the debut collection of a ferocious and talented writer. Michel Lee Garrett brings to her work equal measures a vivid eye for character, a whip-lash storytelling sensibility, and an unquenchable thirst for justice. Haunted characters and haunted lives roam these pages, each one with Michel’s unmistakable touch. This is one not to be missed.”

—James D.F. Hannah, Shamus Award-winning author of Behind the Wall of Sleep and Because the Night

You might remember us previously doing a cover reveal and interview for the anthology Michel edited, Burning Down the House, which you can read here (and which is another anthology you should check out, if you haven't), but, if you're all already caught up, Born a Ramblin' Man is out there and waiting for you to pick up a copy; make sure you get yours here. 

About Michel Lee Garrett: 

Michel Lee Garrett is a noir fiction author and Pennsyltucky poet. A queer and transgender writer, her work seeks to examine how inequitable systems manufacture injustice, and how the human condition is ultimately one of rebellion against an absurd world. Her fiction has appeared from Flame Tree Press, Shotgun Honey, Down & Out Books, Cowboy Jamboree, and others. She is the editor of Burning Down The House, a charity anthology incited by the songs of the Talking Heads to benefit the fight against climate change, forthcoming from Shotgun Honey.