Somebody's Trying to Kill Me by Nick Kolakowski

4 out of 5 Pistols


I'd read a good chunk of these over at Shotgun Honey, so I knew I was in for a fun time. The flash pieces are largely great and show what can be done with the form. The longer pieces here were equally fun, but some felt unfinished or as if they could go on to become something larger.

One such story that has gone on to become something bigger is the opener, "A Nice Pair of Guns", which forms the basis for Kolakowski's novel, Boise Longpig Hunting Club. It introduces us to these characters and if you're intrigued by the sound of it, it is included as the first part of the novel.

Kolakowski plays with timeframes and non-linear storytelling in "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" and closer "The Coriolis Effect". They both work, but it takes a minute with both to situate yourself in the story. "The Last Redemption of Bill" might be the first story I've read from the POV of a parasite, but it contains the standard Kolakowskian humour coupled with losers trying to make good in their own way.

"Dee the Friendly Grizzly's Little Miracle" sees a disgraced kids TV personality looking to confront his gambling debts head on. My personal favourite of the collection is one that could've had so much more to it, but it's wonderfully written. Entitled "Chipping Off the Old Block" it opens with a kid setting his principal's car on fire.

"Somebody's Trying to Kill Me" is the longest entry in the collection fitting with it's title billing and is a bloody and funny tale about a journalist tasked with finding his drug dealer friend's ex. "Cops, LLC" was an unexpected satirical tale of the possibility of a privatised police force focused on the bottom line. "Stickup" takes a turn for the melancholy as we learn the history of a liquor store owner and his neighbourhood.

All in all a fine and varied collection chalk full of typical Kolakowski one liners and colourful characters.


Synopsis: A bounty hunter tears through the underworld in search of a pair of stolen assault rifles. Somewhere in the Southwestern desert, a college dropout trades textbooks and keggers for ripping off mob dealers. Up in Harlem, a liquor-store owner gambles with his life during a high-stakes robbery, while down in Brooklyn, a penniless novelist finds himself tangled in a mystery involving tattooed freaks, damaged supermodels, and hipsters who can’t shoot straight.

SOMEBODY’S TRYING TO KILL ME features seventeen adrenaline-charged noir thrillers, including the titular novella. Some of these dark tales have been published in Thuglit, Shotgun Honey, Crime Syndicate, and other crime-fiction magazines; more are all new; and every single one of them is guaranteed to keep you turning pages until dawn.