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The twenty-three stories in this collection have appeared in various internet publications. Some I was familiar with, others I'd managed to miss. It's nice to have them all in one place.The people that populate Patti's stories are all regular folks, whether they be housewives, husbands, a hit man in his later years, young folks. They get caught up in situations both ordinary and extraordinary, but never dull.Patti has her own style and has developed her own reputation as a short story writer. It...
This one really bowled me over. Twenty plus slices of awesome crime/noir in one lovely package that had me hooked from the very first sentence. The range here is superb, the characters very well drawn & believable & the dialogue pitch perfect. Hard to pick out favourites as the collection is very evenly balanced with the quality high throughout. Dip in & out or read cover to cover you will not be disapponited.Stands with Keith Rawsons' The Chaos We Know as another exceptional Snubnose collection...
Patti Abbott is an absolute master of the short mystery story.
Noir comes in many forms and nuance. Monkey Justice: Stories is composed of stories that have no easy answers on how to classify them. They live in a shadowy land where things are open to interpretation, not easily summed up at the end of the pieces, and offer a glimpse into lives already stressed by poverty, abuse, and other circumstances. The ways these characters deal with situations are driven not by societal expectations, but by their own personal frame of reference. The book opens with “Li...
It's not easy to define Patti Abbott's talent, for indeed that's what she is. I notice that Ken Bruen was hailing her in the intro to Grimm Tales where he suggests that she'll be up for an Edgar this time around for her entry there.If that's the case, I fear that story has competition - from every one of the entries in here.They are crime stories in the main, but they go beyond the run-of-the-mill telling of events and flow over into detail in every way a reader might require them. Setting, char...
This one was a bit difficult to categorize, and I think that's a good thing. I might call it "literary noir." There's plenty of violence and intensity, but many of the stories are open ended in an almost literary style, and character is clearly paramount with the author. I found myself savoring these tales rather than tearing through them. They're different. Each is a little gem, carefully constructed. I highly recommend them.
Outstanding collection of short stories by an especially talented author. Tough, gritty and often very amusing. An amazingly talented author.
I've known Patti Abbott for a number of years as a fellow fan of classic flim noir and crime fiction. She's a tireless promoter with her weblogs for other authors as well as her own postings. Her short fiction has graced many prestigious ezines and anthologies, 23 stories of which are assembled in MONKEY JUSTICE AND OTHER STORIES. I've been reading them, and there's so much I admire here. Foremost, "Catnap" is a devastating noirish tale about a baby snatcher named Melissa, a young, conniving lad...
Patti Abbott has been a tremendous and tireless supporter of crime fiction for many years through her blog and in encouraging other writers. But Patti is also an amazing wordsmith in her own right, creating a variety of tightly-woven short-story gems that delve into the darkness of the soul in ways that are engrossing, compelling and will leave you thinking about them long after you've finished reading. Kudos to Snubnose Press for making this collection available!
I came to Patti Abbott's work after reading the superb "The Instrument of Their Desires" as a Kindle bonus in the "Speedloader" collection. I had to have "Monkey Justice" immediately. It didn't let me down. Abbott never repeats herself: she has a very broad range of themes and characters. Her command of the short-story form is outstanding. She's very economical, she involves you straight away, and -- best of all for me -- she creates a gnawing sensation in the stomach of "God, what's going to ha...
This was an interesting collection of short stories, some intriguing, some odd, all from an author with a unique writing style and vision. I really liked the stories about the bad behavior of people who easily could be neighbors or co-workers, I enjoy scenarios describing the motivation that drives an "ordinary" person to commit a crime. Not that I ever would do such a thing...
In crime fiction, we see a lot of variations on staple characters. Grifters, killers, professional thieves, gamblers, corrupt cops, losers. And that’s all well and good, but…Those aren’t, generally, the characters Patti Abbott gives us. Instead, the central players in Abbott’s stories are: your next door neighbor. The girl you work with at the office. Your mother. The clerk at your supermarket. Patti Abbott’s characters, in other words, are you and me.The stories in MONKEY JUSTICE are intricate
Patti Abbott's stories are sort of slice-of life noir. She casts a keen eye on the worn and weary folks who could easily be your friends or neighbors.There are some real gems in "Monkey Justice," but several clunkers as well which isn't surprising in so large a collection of stories. A few of the stories suffer from what appear to be convenient circumstance (or maybe not, it's hard to tell). Others just seem to be Raymond Carver style visits into people's lives that just stop rather than satisfa...