Created by Victor Gischler
CHARLIE “THE HOOK” SWIFT was one of the hard-boiled kinda guys in a promising new series of stories back when this site started.
Written by one of fellow upstarts in those heady times, Victor Gischler’s first story featuring Charlie, “Hitting Rufus,” was selected by Otto Penzler for his Best American Mystery Stories 1999, while “Headless Rollo,” a stand-alone chapter of the first novel in the proposed series was posted on fellow barbarian Neil Anthony Smith’s Plots With Guns web site. That novel, Gun Monkeys, was published in 2001 by UglyTown to much acclaim, and was even nominated for an Edgar.
Charlie’s a nice enough guy — he takes care of his mom and kid brother. But don’t cross him, because he’s also one stone cold killer, an assassin who isn’t shy about killing anyone who gets in his way.
Yeah, that’s right. Charlie’s not a private eye, but a “gun monkey” for a Florida crime boss, but whether the author knows it or not, these stories were a huge inspiration for this site.
So there.
And that’s why I’m so tickled that some twenty-odd years later, Gun Monkeys has become Fast Charlie, a biggish deal motion picture starring Pierce Brosnan as Charlie, also starring Morena Baccarin, and James Caan, (in his last role), as well as a Hard Case Crime a movie tie-in, complete with photo cover.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
According to his bio, “Victor Gischler started by writing science fiction, horror and fantasy stories. Although he published a few things in minor places, most editors were content to politely ask him to crawl off and die alone and unloved. Instead, Victor decided to shift gears. When Victor was a teenager, his step-father started feeding him John D. MacDonald novels, and Victor consumed the entire rainbow of Travis McGee adventures. Thus began the slow hard-boiling process of Mr. Gischler. He soon learned the brutal joys of private eyes, street-wise hoods and femme fatales. Victor lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with his wife Jackie.” Victor’s also writes about dark fantasy/horror private eye Dean Murphy and Florida’s beachcombing P.I., Conner Samson.
SHORT STORIES
- “Hitting Rufus” (1999, Best American Mystery Stories 1999)
- “Gun Monkeys” (1999, Plots With Guns)
- “The Art of Death” (April/May 2001, Futures)
NOVELS
Gun Monkeys (2001; aka “Fast Charlie”) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
FILMS
- FAST CHARLIE | Watch out now!
(2023)
Based on the novel Gun Monkeys by Victor Gischler
Screenplay by Richard Wenk
Directed by Phillip Noyce
Starring Pierce Brosnan
Also starring James Caan, Morena Baccarin, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Toby Huss, Jacob Grodnik, Sharon Gless
Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith. Thanks, Victor.
