By Hugh LessigAn Alamo Barnes StoryApril/May 2000 The body arrived in the newsroom around mid-morning. It came in a reinforced cardboard box from American Bathroom Fixtures that supposedly held a recessed bathtub. At least that's what it said on the outside. No one paid any attention to it. Corporate flaks mail their stuff to … Continue reading “Special Delivery”
Tag: Stop the Presses!
Alamo Barnes
Created by Hugh Lessig “He stormed out, knocking paperweights off desks as he went, calling the Frisco Foil 'a cheap, rotten, dickless rag.' Personally, I didn't think we were that cheap…" -- Alamo calls 'em as he sees 'em. ALAMO BARNES is another reporter for The Frisco Foil, a sensationalist tabloid that proudly offers "Truth and … Continue reading Alamo Barnes
“The Gift of Wallace Random”
By Hugh Lessig A Picasso Smith Story January 1999 Chapter 1 Wallace Random got shellshocked at Iwo Jima, and he came home wide-eyed and full of secrets. He took government checks and wrote letters to his Aunt Tot in Eugene, Oregon, whom I suspected did not exist. He spent his nights drinking sasperella at The … Continue reading “The Gift of Wallace Random”
Picasso Smith
Created by Hugh Lessig PICASSO SMITH, hard-boiled scribbler for The Frisco Foil tabloid ("Boldly Printing the Truth and Mayhem"), circa 1931-58, is the star of a string of on-line short stories and vignettes by Hugn Lessig that harken back to the days of the pulps. Picasso's a general assignment reporter, with no time for guff … Continue reading Picasso Smith
Lola Wicks
Created by Gwen Florio Cranky, sharp-tongued Baltimore Express foreign correspondent LOLA WICKS goes where the action is, be it Afghanistan, where she's just gone through more than enough crap to last a lifetime, or Montana, where she's planning to just chill for a while (and consider her career options) at her friend's remote mountain cabin, … Continue reading Lola Wicks
Mike Cobb & Adam Cullen
Created by David A. Poulsen MIKE COBB is a former cop. ADAM CULLEN is a former crime reporter for the Calgary Herald. Now they both freelance: Mike as a private investigator, and Adam as a journalist-for-hire. They became friends when Cullen hired Cobb to investigate the burning down of his home which had resulted in … Continue reading Mike Cobb & Adam Cullen
John Piper & Quinn
Created by Harry Carmichael Pseudonym of Leopold Horace Ognall Other pseudonyms include Hartley Howard (1908-79) JOHN PIPER was a suitably tough insurance assessor who appeared in four novels in the early fifties, and QUINN was a reporter who worked the crime beat for The Morning Post, a London paper, who showed up in three novels … Continue reading John Piper & Quinn
Jack Gannon
Created by Rick Mofina JACK GANNON is a reporter for the Buffalo-based World Press Alliance who's never been quite able to escape his blue collar roots--or the disappearance of his sister Cora decades ago. His first recorded case, Vengeance Road (2009), was all toughness and grit; as terse and hard-boiled as they come, as Gannon … Continue reading Jack Gannon
Ray Wyatt
Created by Rick Mofina A new thriller by Mofina is always good news, but a new trilogy? Sign me up. RAY WYATT is a seasoned reporter, one of the go-to guys for the First Press Alliance, a wire service based in Manhattan that covers the world, which is why Ray seems to always have his … Continue reading Ray Wyatt
Fletch
Created by Gregory McDonald (1937-2008) Hot shot investigative reporter IRWIN MAURICE FLETCHER hates his given name. He prefers to go simply by “FLETCH.” Can you blame him? And he isn't technically a P.I. by avocation. So what's he doing here? Well, when the writing's this fast, sharp and funny (and it is), we're too busy laughing to bother … Continue reading Fletch