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So I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of Sweet Nothing by Richard Lange from Mulholland Books.  They asked me to read and review it for them so here goes!  So Sweet Nothing is a collection of short stories, and I would say most fall in the noir genre.  There is one post-apocalyptic story, but all the other stories are crime, hardboiled and noir stories taking place in and around Los Angels.

We got a man who finds out his Father-in-Law isn’t all he seems.

There is a Grandmother that has to face a drive by shooting that kills a baby in her neighborhood, a neighborhood that she has lived in most of her life.

A prison guard that must protect a child molester, even though he knows the prisoner is guilty.

A gambler that has a bad addiction and knows it, but can’t stop it from destroys most of his relationships.

A man stuck in his job, has an affair and all hell breaks loose.

A man and woman have a drug habit, woman dies, man’s world falls apart.

An ex-convict gets out and turns a new leaf, gets a job as a security guard at a small jewelry shop and finds out there is a plot to rob the shop.  What side of the law will our hero fall on?

Our post-apocalyptic tale of lost treasure.

The man who is starting over, works at Subway and lives with a 450 lbs man.  How is he ever going to get ahead?

The last story covers a Mexican family that is legally living in California, but has a some family members crossing the border.  The only problem is a wildfire, a recluse that lives in a trailer in the desert and some vigilantly ex-marines.

Sounds fun! right?  I will say Lange can tell a hell of a story in a short 20 to 30 pages.  I almost felt like I read 4-5 novels worth of story in these 10 short stories.   I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from Lange, especially Angel Baby.

Sweet Nothing came out in Hardback and E-book yesterday, February 10th and is a good read, check it out.