Thank you, Kevin, for your review of Half Crime by Rusty Barnes. Today is my Mom’s birthday, and all her daughters, one granddaughter and a great-grandson will be here, as well as an “adopted daughter”. We’ll all going to a craft show at the local park. Really, it’s a way to enjoy our time together.
In the meantime, you can all enjoy Kevin Tipple’s review.
As made clear on the cover with the phrase, Short Stories, Half Crime by
Rusty Barnes is a collection of short stories. These reads are crime fiction
tales, often noir in style, and not ones to read if you want to feel good about
people. The nine tales in the read feature characters living on the edge, in
more ways than one. Often pushed to the brink, they react.
Some stories that resonated with this reader are:
Crate Lang ticked off Robbie Moore who is now making his anger publicly
known as “Bad Old Boy” begins. Crate does not want to fight. He just wants
Robbie to take the money they already agreed to though Robbie does not
seem amenable to that at the point. For Crate, the fight is the easiest time
he will have in the days to come.
Crate Lang ticked off Robbie Moore who is now making his anger publicly
known as “Bad Old Boy” begins. Crate does not want to fight. He just wants
Robbie to take the money they already agreed to though Robbie does not
seem amenable to that at the point. For Crate, the fight is the easiest time
he will have in the days to come.
In “The Keeper” all he had to do was get the weed to Fuzzy Zemanek at
the Tioga County Fair. Fuzzy has a gig there and John, Fuzzy’s supplier
and the narrator’s boss, is insisting he make delivery to him at the fair. The
lunch sack contains a lot of baggies stuffed with weed. That delivery would
normally go to Fuzzy’s house, but John insists it goes to him at the Fair.
Obviously, this seems like a bad idea to take it to the Fair. It was, before
long, things are going worse and worse and not just because of the zebras.
“Big Daddy” is set in the Pocono Mountains in 1995. Stacy Rich was
supposed to do just one little thing to make a little money. Instead, she
keeps getting squeezed to do more and more and her options are running
out.
Ray introduced Sissy to him and that snake on her back is captivating.
Jared’s woman took the kids and split, so Ray figures Sissy would be good
for him. Whether she is or not slowly becomes clear in “Ampersand.”
Kelly had an intense romantic relationship in the past, before Brigid, and
she knows about it now. The relationship was with a man so she is very
confused as to why and who Kelly really is, beyond the father of their kids.
Angel, that man, is who Kelly wants to take the family and visit while also
making a final clean break. That visit is just one aspect of the very
complicated, “In The Blood.”
While those particular tales resonated in me, the nine short stories in Half
Crimes by Rusty Barnes are all good ones. Published by Redneck Press,
each short story tends towards the dark side of life as these are not cozy
mysteries with ladies, tea, and cats. These are tales with blood, sweat, fear,
and huge heaping tablespoons of desperation.
These tales, even for characters seemingly in charge, feature people doing
the best they can with their own circumstances. Often those circumstances,
as well as their own huma nature and the human nature of others, work
against them from start to finish. An entertaining read and strongly
recommended if you like dark complicated tales.
My reading copy was either a free book pickup OR the author sent it to me
with no expectation of a review. I have no idea now how I obtained it as
either one happens a lot with me.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2025
