Out Now: Slab Rats by Tom Leins

“It’s a mild day – far too hot for a cheap suit – and I’m sweating like a sex offender in a police line-up.”

I’m excited to reveal that my brand new e-book Slab Rats is out today!

Set in 2004, this story is a prequel to the other books in the Paignton Noir series.

I’m looking forward to seeing what readers make of it.

Here’s the synopsis:

A missing slab of coke. An ex-con surf pro in over his head. A series of unhinged Cornish drug dealers. Sounds like a job for Joe Rey…

When his ex-girlfriend Ani goes missing with a slab of cocaine belonging to a very dangerous man, Joe Rey is coerced into accompanying ex-con surfer Rico to look for her. After kicking up dust in their own back yard, the two men head to deepest, darkest Cornwall where their search sees them go toe-to-toe with a series of increasingly deranged local malcontents. With the clock ticking, will they manage to retrieve Ani and the cocaine in time?

SLAB RATS is the vicious new surf-noir thriller from the author of SKULL MEAT, SNUFF RACKET and SPINE FARM.

Amazon UK Link

Amazon US Link

Paignton Noir on Twitter

I thought it was finally time to join Twitter!

Anyone who wants to connect can find me @tom_leins

I should have some cool stuff to share in the coming weeks!

The Proper Disposal of Body Parts @ Bristol Noir

“Wet-Look used to keep a jam jar full of loose cigarettes on his desk for visitors.”

I shrug. Wet-Look’s dead – and it wasn’t the fucking cigarettes that killed him. 

This morning I made my debut appearance at Bristol Noir, the cracking e-zine run by writer/designer John Bowie (author of Untethered). Not only did John run The Proper Disposal of Body Parts, he also produced a fantastic piece of artwork to accompany the piece (see below for a preview).

The Proper Disposal of Body Parts is a ‘late-period’ Joe Rey story (post-Repetition Kills You), which finds Paignton’s least favourite private investigator plying his trade out of the grotty, inherited office above the North Atlantic Video Lounge, as previously seen in Dirty Bullion and 49,000 Ways To Die.

I’m having a lot of fun juggling the two timelines at the moment, and they will hopefully congeal next year with some vicious stories that bridge the narrative gaps!

The Heart’s Filthy Desire @ Liars’ League London

I’m delighted to reveal that my new short story The Heart’s Filthy Desire has been selected for the Liars’ League London ‘Hide & Seek’ event next month. It will be performed live by an actor, alongside four other short pieces.

The event will be held on Tuesday 13th October at the The Phoenix, Cavendish Square. You can find more details here.

Several years ago, my story The Carny was performed at a Liars’ League event in Hong Kong, and it was great, so you should check it out! (The story itself later resurfaced in my collection Repetition Kills You.)

As for the new story: I don’t want to give too much away, but it’s a Joe Rey Halloween story…!

***

I have probably written more short stories this summer than I have in years, and I should have some extremely exciting anthology news to share very soon!

(What I’m going to do with the gruesome piece of historical fiction – created during an online workshop run by a well-known crime writer – is anyone’s guess!)

During the summer, I also won the runner-up prize (£50!) in a Devon-based short story competition, which involved creating a tale that linked a beginning and an ending supplied by UK crime writer Graham Hurley. The story was set in the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak in the UK, and involved the abduction of a baby. Dark, right? Naturally, I went even darker!

That particular piece isn’t online, but I’m intending to rework it as part of a future Paignton Noir story, so watch this space.

On the subject on future Paignton Noir stories, there should be a new novelette before the year is out. I’ll keep the title and cover under wraps for now, but this one is going to be absolutely brutal. Don’t say I didn’t warn you…!

The Exquisite Corpse Volume 2: Double Tap

“Joyce was still on lockdown when Ronald offered to have her father’s cadaver tossed in a pit and burned with the corpses of the bikers and the mercenaries. She had no qualms about this particular scenario, but April insisted that her grandfather deserved a proper burial, so Joyce relented.”

Last month I had the pleasure of overseeing the second instalment of the multi-author Exquisite Corpse project. I wrote the first chapter, and then the story passed on to a further 23 authors, each of whom added his or her unique fingerprint to the proceedings.

Writing can be a solitary, selfish pursuit, so it was a lot of fun to collaborate in this way, and everyone delivered the goods. Despite kicking things off myself, it’s safe to say that the story veered off into some crazy directions I never saw coming!

All things being well, a third volume will emerge later this summer.

In the meantime, here are the Volume 2 links for your reading pleasure!

Part 1: Paradise Parlour

Part 2: Security Measures

Part 3: Richer Than God

Part 4: What The Bones Said

Part 5: Nothing But Darkness

Part 6: The Art of Violence

Part 7: The Taste of Blood

Part 8: The Mistress of Death

 

Dry Salvage @ Near To The Knuckle

“Spaulding was in his eighties, and looked far too vulnerable to put a proper beating on, but I had agreed to give Marie Andretti at least five of his teeth in order to get my full fee. They came loose effortlessly, and the old bastard bled like a stuck pig regardless.”

Last month my 10th story went live at top UK crime fiction site Near To The Knuckle. Check out Dry Salvage!

If you have read my novelette Skull Meat, this story is a sequel of sort, and sees the (un)-welcome return of demented ex-cop Wet-Look, who also appears in Wet-Work, a previous Near To The Knuckle story.

 

 

Slay Ride @ The Flash Fiction Offensive

“I jerk awake as the Motorola twitches in my pocket. The ringtone is motherfucking Jingle Bells. I’m face down in an alleyway, Santa suit splattered with fresh excrement and stale fast-food waste. I struggle to make out the caller ID because my right eye is swollen shut.”

Last month I was delighted to have my new story Slay Ride featured in the Flash Fiction Offensive’s inaugural ‘Twelve Daze of Christmas’ series, as curated by FFO co-editor Hector Duarte Jr.

Other participants included Ryan Sayles, Paul Heatley, Paul D. Brazill, Patrick Cooper, Cal Marcius, Nicola Hardy, John Weagly, Beau Johnson, Paul Greenberg, Preston Lang and John Ryan, so make sure you stick around and investigate the rest of the stories!

The Carny @ Liars League Hong Kong

Late last year my story The Carny was selected by the Hong Kong offshoot of cult literary event Liars League for their ‘Rich & Poor’ event. The video has now emerged online, and you can find it here. The actor, Aaron Kahn, adds a great new dimension to the story, and I think his Americana-fuelled take on my Paignton Noir yarn is fantastic. Check it out!

A Brief History Of Bad Men In ‘Walk Hand In Hand Into Extinction’ Anthology

I am very excited to be able to confirm that my short story ‘A Brief History of Bad Men’ will be featured in Walk Hand In Hand Into Extinction, an anthology of True Detective-inspired short fiction. The first series of True Detective is one of my favourite TV shows of recent years, and I’m thrilled to be included in the line-up.

The collection has been edited by Christoph Paul and will be published by the people behind That Lit Site. Look out for further details in due course!

Guatemala Kill Pit @ Akashic Books

“On weekends, off duty cops prowled the barrios in unmarked cars, shooting men like rats. Afterward, they would hack off the hands and throw the bodies in ditches.”

And now for something entirely different…

I very happy to report that Akashic Books – one of my favourite publishers – has included my story Guatemala Kill Pit in their long-running ‘Mondays Are Murder’ series.

I spent four months traveling across Central America (Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica) in 2005-2006, and I’m currently working on a series of stories set in the region. Guatemala Kill Pit is the first one to see the light of day.

Sticking to Central America, my story The Belizean Body Dump will appear in Akashic’s Caribbean-focused ‘Duppy Thursday’ series in January 2016.

In the meantime, feel free to check out my Akashic debut Paignton Rust, which first appeared back in December 2013.