Noir fiction for the modern reader.

Setup On Front Street is now out. It’s my latest novel, a noir tale from the shadows of Key West. But before you rush to buy a copy…

Here’s the deal with this book. It’s the first in a trio of novels set in Key West. What I want to do is lift the veil off this town and reveal it as a true noir city, on a par with Los Angeles, New Orleans, or Miami. You won’t find any margarita-guzzling goofballs in these pages, no clichéd characters.

People have told me not to do this, that readers actually want all that quirky stuff. They tell me readers want to open a book about Key West and feel like they’ve stepped into a Jimmy Buffett song. Word is, readers won’t accept Key West as having a dark center. Well, maybe they’re right, but I’m hoping they’re wrong. I’ve lived here for the better part of 20 years and I can easily say it’s a noir city. Rest assured you will find no Margaritaville stereotypes between these covers. Just noir, baby!

This is not a trilogy in that there’s no continuing story arc. Each novel is a standalone. But there are recurring secondary characters and locales, and of course, Key West itself is a great character in each book.

Now here’s a brief description:

Key West, 1991. Don Roy Doyle is back in town. Tough and quick-witted, he’s fresh out of prison, where he served three years for a diamond swindle. Now he’s back to collect his share of the proceeds, about $200,000, but the money has vanished.

A local family dynasty which has controlled the island’s politics for generations, a cop with a grudge, the FBI, and the Russian mob all have a stake in the action. They’re convinced Cuba is on the verge of “opening up”, and they all want Doyle gone.

In this tightly-knit town, who can be trusted? And how long can Doyle stay alive?

SETUP ON FRONT STREET takes you inside the world of Key West noir, a world tucked way back in the shadows, where the tourists never go.

The print version is $12.95, the ebook is $2.99. Print will be up in a few days. The ebook is available now at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Also, if you would be so kind, please go to the CreateSpace Preview Gallery, where there is a gripping excerpt from this novel, and leave a rating. It just takes a second.

The folks over at PowderBurnFlash.com have been kind enough to publish one of my very short stories, called Ringtone. It’s there now. Go there and leave a comment. They’ve published some great crime/noir flash fiction and I’m very pleased to be included on their site.

Mary Pat Hyland has posted an excerpt from my noir short story Block over on her fine website, The Hylander Diner. Block is one of the “three stories from the dark side” which can be found in my very noir collection called Bloodstains On The Wall. Check out the excerpt here, then leave a comment. Mary Pat’s one of the “good guys”, and I’d like us to support her and her website.

Then, of course, after reading the excerpt, if you are so totally electrified, you can get the entire book here in either digital (99¢) or paperback ($9.95).

The good folks over at DailyCheapReads.com have posted a little feature on my noir novel, The Take. This is pretty amazing, since they usually feature only very inexpensive books. The Take weighs in at $4.79 for the digital version and $12.95 for the paperback (both prices set by my publisher). They’ve got a great site going over there at DailyCheapReads. Check it out here.

The Caffeinated Diva has weighed in on Bloodstains On The Wall, and she…well, I’ll let her tell you. Go here.

My short story collection, Bloodstains On The Wall/Three Stories From The Dark Side, is now available in print, thanks to Amazon’s CreateSpace. Copies are available for only $9.95. Signed copies will soon be available from this website, but for now, it’s CreateSpace, specifically here. The back cover, which had to be specially designed for the print version, was done by Jeroen ten Berge, who did a terrific job.

These are three stories which will escort you to the other side of the human condition. I recommend them (now wasn’t that a surprise?).

My latest literary effort is now an ebook, available on Amazon’s Kindle store, as well as Smashwords. It’s a collection of short stories called Bloodstains On The Wall. The collection consists of three stories, all from different corners of the world of noir. Here’s a brief description of each:

1. FULLY LOADED It’s 1984 and Biloxi, Mississippi has seen better days. Sherry Lamar, used car saleswoman extraordinaire, is feeling the pinch. Then one day, a stranger walks onto her small car lot and ushers her into a world of steamy sex and murder.

2. THE DEVIL DRIVES A BIG MERCEDES A seven-year-old boy is playing with his two younger sisters when a minor accident occurs. One of the sisters is to blame, but she blames the boy and their mother believes her, punishing the boy. This starts him on a downward spiral into self-doubt and later, depravity, that will last his entire life.

3. BLOCK A famous crime fiction novelist thinks the current book she’s working on will revive her sagging fortunes. Halfway through it, however, she develops writer’s block and is unable to continue her story, until a mysterious early-morning phone caller claims to have the answers.

In two of the three stories, the central character is a woman. I didn’t plan it that way, but that’s how they spoke to me.

The knockout cover was designed by Ronnell Porter and the formatting was done by Jenna Lundeen.

The entire collection of three stories is available now on Amazon for, get this, only 99¢. How can you not order one?

My noir novel, The Take, already out in print and various ebook formats, is now on Fictionwise. This will enable people who have e-readers other than Kindle to acquire the book. Fictionwise makes it available in formats such as Sony e-reader, Palm Doc, Kindle-compatible, PDF, and nine more. You can check it out in greater detail here. It’s not on the iPad yet, but we’re working on it.

Of course, it’s also available in print on Amazon, Barnes & Noble online, and electronically on Kindle and All Romance ebooks.

Here’s a blurb for The Take, which appears on the back cover of the just-released print edition. It’s from the high priestess of noir, Vicki Hendricks:

Dennis writes true noir. The Take is a fast-motion train wreck from page one, twisting the reader’s heart for the desperate souls on a ride they never chose.

I consider this to be among the highest compliments I could ever hope to get for this novel. Vicki Hendricks has written some outstanding noir novels, such as Miami Purity, Cruel Poetry, Voluntary Madness, and her latest, a collection of short stories called Florida Gothic Stories. I’m really very proud to have her comments on the cover of my novel.

As of today, November 5, it’s available on Kindle and All Romance ebooks. Other formats will follow. The print version has just now come out! You can buy it on Amazon or on Barnes & Noble’s online page.

My new noir novel, The Take (published by L&L Dreamspell), is now available on Kindle and on All Romance ebooks, specifically, here and here. The print version will be out soon, but don’t ask me when. It was called to my attention by someone else that it was available electronically. I had no idea. But then, I’m just the author. What do I know?

I might add that All Romance gave it a “not rated” under their “sensuality rating”. That’s good to know. I mean, maybe it’s just so hot, they couldn’t come up with a sufficiently forbidding rating for it, so in their exasperation, they just called it “not rated”. Also, they didn’t rate it in their “Heat index”, presumably for the same reason.

Anyway, they charge $5.99 and Kindle has it at $4.79. I hasten to add that I did not set these prices.

Like I said, the print version will be out very soon (I’m assuming), so look for more BSP then. Meanwhile, here’s a brief description.

In the world of small-time bookie Eddie Ryan, only the cop cars and the TVs are black and white. Everything else swirls in a kind of gray soup. Overcome by greed, lust, and the survival instinct, Eddie steps into a morally treacherous world where no one can be trusted, and where life expectancy is short. Set in the dim half-light of the Houston and New Orleans demimondes, The Take is a fast-paced, nerve-jangling ride.