By The Balls: The Complete Collection

(Paperback)

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Description

These tales follow the exploits of Ben Drake, a detective with a passion for small cigars and big fights, a love of Old Grand Dad and a weakness for women in trouble. North of Las Vegas in the fictional town of Testacy City, Drake sniffs out killers, thieves, kidnappers, double crossers, crooked cops and number runners, all culminating in the bizarre murder of Gentleman Joe Biggs, a well loved bowling hero. As he continues to crack clues in the case, Drake is drawn deeper into a city wide criminal conspiracy.

Reviews

Classic hard-boiled detective fiction reminiscent of Mike Hammer, Sam Spade, and Philip Marlowe. Highly recommended.
--Midwest Book Review

Their noir style narration throughout the collection pays homage to the crime fiction genre's masters, Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, with crisp dialogue, a gritty tone, a story that grabs readers' attentions, and a narrator with dry wit . . . this steam trunk of titillating tales is definitely worth checking out!
--Criminal Class Press

A recommended pick for short story fans who enjoy the classic Hammett and Raymond Chandler genres. Detective Ben Drake loves small cigars and big fights--and women in trouble. His adventures and puzzling cases involve many instances of criminal angst in this riveting account, perfect for fans of hardboiled detective reading.
--The Midwest Bookwatch

By the Balls, written in a postmodern parodic and self-consciously funny fashion, contains these moments of metafictive brilliance that remind us of the parameters of the genre, and how we might understand those parameters in an age of disillusionment...By the Balls: The Complete Collection is worth reading for so many reasons - if not for the hardboiled crime fiction and all that the genre encompasses, then for the youthful punk rock idea that is at the heart of the text.
--The Philadelphia Review of Books

Author Bio

Jim Pascoe: Jim Pascoe is a writer, designer, and a multiple-award-winning creative director. He produced and designed the interactive TV game JETIX Cards Live, which won an Emmy Award in 2004, and he's responsible for the packaging design of over 100 DVDs, such as MAD MEN, the 2010 KUBRICK COLLECTION, and CORALINE, which won Best in Show at The Hollywood Reporter's Key Art Awards. Still, his primary passion remains writing. He's written comics and books featuring Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Kim Possible, and Hellboy. His graphic novel series UNDERTOWN was serialized in over 50 newspapers worldwide. And his recent crime fiction has appeared in LOS ANGELES NOIR (The Kidnapper Bell) and FLORIDA HEAT WAVE (Paper).
Tom Fassbender: Tom Fassbender is a writer, editor, and content strategist who has written, edited, and published both novels and comics. By day he manages the creative team at a Southern California financial institution. He fills the rest of his time by being a father, tending beehives, running long distances (preferably in the Angeles National Forest), and seeking new adventures in and around Los Angeles.