Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Steve Aylett

I've only read The Crime Studio, but this series of short short stories is pretty entertaining. They are all set in the town of Beerlight, which has to be the most violent depraved town on any planet. In Beerlight, people are punished for not being criminals. The characters have names like Brute Parker, Bleach Pastiche, and Jesse Downtime and hang out in the Delayed Reaction Bar and the all night gun shop. The stories are always violent, often hilarious, and never dull. Full of twists and anti-logic, they are perfect for the truly speed-deprived attention deficient reader as well as people just yearning for noirish crime fiction. It doesn't take much to coax the residents of Beerlight to unholster their weapons and go on a crime spree, and Aylett is a ready scribe.

One day, the patrons of the Delayed Reaction Bar notice the thermometer hit 92 degrees Fahrenheit (the temperature at which the most crimes are committed). This drives the entire town ballistic, and they proceed to self-fulfill the prophecy by starting what has to be the most violent gun battle in the history of literature. The temperature changes, and everyone saunters back to the pub, leaving the city in ruins.

No comments: