From Greg Shepard, publisher of Stark House Press:
Gil Brewer is a favorite at Stark House, so when we were given the opportunity to publish three previously unprinted works, we jumped at the chance.
One of these novels, ANGRY ARNOLD, was obviously written in 1976--there's a film reference in the book that gives it away. We can guess that THE EROTICS comes from this period as well based on the language, which had loosened up considerably since Brewer's start in the 1950s.
GUN THE DAME DOWN is a real treat. It is one of Brewer's very early novels, a detective story rejected when he first wrote it as being too risque. The editor's notes on the original manuscript had x-ed out a good deal of Brewer's signature sex scenes. We put them back in.
Brewer's books are sweaty, frantic, crazy noir deliriums, and that mania infuses even these previously unpublished works. Noted critic Chris Morgan provides an appropriately amped-up introduction, and Gil's sister Nancy also contributes a short piece on their growing up together.
We're excited to share these three lost treasures with a modern audience.
And we're mighty excited to get to read them. At least I am. Brewer's books are like nobody else's, and I'll take a book with a distinctive voice any day of the week. This volume will be out in September, but you can pre-order it now from Amazon or directly from Stark House.
1 comment:
Thanks for the heads-up on this one, James...I hadn't heard anything about it until now. As one of Brewer's biggest fans, I can't wait to get my hands on it...though that excitement is tempered some by the acknowledgment that Brewer's newer material -- that written near the end of his career and life -- pales to the material written both earlier in his career and at his peak. Still, three unpublished Brewer novels...I wouldn't have imagined such a treat was possible!
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