Review: The Hard Stuff.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 9, 2012
Graham Smith's  Eleven The Hardest Way is a tight collection of short and sharp crime fiction from an up and coming writer who is pretty damned sure to make his mark on the crime fiction scene very soon.The collection kicks off in style with Shooting Stars, the lean and mean story of a sniper picking out his victim. This is the kind of stripped down writing that I like very much when it's done well and Smith does it very well indeed.The final story, Lonely Nights, is a creepy dialogue -free tale of paranoia and tension as a woman gets used to spending the night alone.And in between? Well, we have we have a selection of spicy nibbles, including some nice and nasty twists on everyday situations - a wedding, a honeymoon, a night class, a camping trip -but my personal favourites are  when Smith ratchets things up!Stories such as the droll American gumshoe pastiche of  Bobby's Bar and The Kansas Kindred Killer -a hardboiled crime novel waiting to happen- which, along with Shooting Stars, show that Graham Smith  certainly has the ability to come up with the goods when he gets stuck into something meatier.Indeed, those three stories, along with Smith's other collection, Harry Charters Chronicles and his story Issa's Island Prison, which is included in Matt Hilton's Action anthology, give every indication that Smith will produce a tense, high-octane thriller before not very long.In the meantime, Graham Smith's Eleven The Hardest Way is a very tasty appetiser while we wait for the main course.