The Crime Factory
Fierce Bitches is a 74 page Molotov cocktail. That may seem short to you. It did to me at first but I was blown away just the same. It burns hot and fast. The book is the bastard son of Sam Peckinpah and Jim Thompson. It is an expanded version of Jedidah Ayres short story that first appeared in Thuglit.
Politoburg is a small Mexican village just across the border. It’s where American crime boss Harlan Polito dumps his pet thugs and psychos after using them for jobs. He tells them it’s a vacation. It’s more like a prison. The story is broken up into 3 sections told in different points of view. The sections are called Politoburg, Carrion and Exodus. Politoburg is centered around a bar run by Ramon. Ramon runs whores and they are all named Maria. Get out of line in Politoburg and you get put back in line real quick. It’s the last stop.
Fierce Bitches is released by Crime Factory Publications. It’s the first title in their Single Shot line of novellas. That’s the only thing I didn’t like. That it was a 74 page novella. The story reads like a Cormac McCarthy fever dream and ends too quickly. I wanted to know more about certain characters, their backgrounds and how they got to where they were. I loved the language and imagery of the writing. It’s a powerful tale and definitely worth reading. It’s literary crack. It gets you high and is gone before you know it leaving you looking for the next hit.
Dave Wahlman