Blood and Gasoline: High-Octane, High-Velocity Action

by Mario Acevedo (Editor), Les Edgerton, Jon Bassoff

Overview

Seventeen stories screaming past the red line, tires tearing across the highway, guns stained with smoke and gore.

Seventeen stories of heroes and anti-heroes on desperate journeys, white knuckles on steering wheels, hearts pounding to the staccato beat of magnum hollow points slamming against flesh and steel.

Seventeen stories of hard-bitten souls hurtling over asphalt, the desert, the sea, and even through space itself in adventures fueled by vengeance, betrayal, madness, and murder.

Seventeen stories of tough justice, redemption, and salvation.

Hang on.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780999773635
Publisher:	Hex Publishers LLC
Publication date:	07/10/2018
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.67(d)

About the Author

Mario Acevedo is the bestselling author of The Nymphos of Rocky Flats, X-Rated Bloodsuckers, and The Undead Kama Sutra. A former infantry and aviation officer, engineer, and art teacher to incarcerated felons, he lives and writes in Denver, Colorado.

Table of Contents

Introduction by Mario Acevedo, Editor

Foreword by John Hartness

"Faster Than Weeping Angels" by Gabino Iglesias

"Escobar-Style" by Carter Wilson

"Do-Over" by Catherine Dilts

"The Taxi Man" by Angie Hodapp

"Little White Lines" by Jedidiah Ayres

"Desert Run" by Jeanne C. Stein

"Grag’s Last Escape" by Gary Phillips

"Last Cannonball" by Warren Hammond

"Rescue" by Merit Clark

"Kiss of the Sow" by Travis Heermann

"My Best Friend" by Les Edgerton

"Flesh for the Fire" by Jon Bassoff

"For the Road is Heaven" by Joshua Viola and Sean Eads

"Black Sunshine" by James R. Tuck

"Garvin’s Legacy" by Quincy J. Allen

"Sitting Ducks" by Manuel Ramos

"Driverless" by Robert Jeschonek

Editorial Reviews

2018-06-29

Editor Acevedo's (Blood Business, 2017, etc.) collection of adrenaline-fueled tales follows desperate characters on the run or out for vengeance.

Gabino Iglesias' opening story, "Faster Than Weeping Angels," aptly sets the tone. In it, Jaime, fresh out of prison, commits what will surely be deemed a felony. Since he's determined not to return to jail, the ensuing police chase promises to be high-speed and dangerous. Many of the indelible characters are motivated by revenge, a need to escape, or even self-preservation. This often entails speeding vehicles of some sort, like motorcycles in James R. Tuck's "Black Sunshine" or a getaway car in Manuel Ramos' "Sitting Ducks." But there are differences among the thematically linked stories. Not all are contemporary. Some unfold in a Mad Max-esque, dystopian landscape, including Travis Heermann's "Kiss of the Sow" (with protagonist Mad Maxine Monahan) and Quincy J. Allen's "Garvin's Legacy." In other stories, characters fuel the action with their own momentum and resolve. In Joshua Viola and Sean Eads' "For the Road is Heaven," Jewel struggles to survive in a world seemingly ruled by nomads, while in Merit Clark's "Rescue," Linnea's confronting her ex-hubby's girlfriend involves a great deal of travel, as well as meticulous planning. It's perhaps no surprise that the tales are generally somber since they're filled with violent gangsters, double-crossing criminals, and crooked cops. Multiple scrapes keep the book entertaining, such as that of undercover female agent Grag, who battles outlandish beasts (e.g., a "dog-like lizard creature") in Gary Phillips' "Grag's Last Escape." Prose is likewise amply detailed: "She tailgated one car after another, flipping lights on and off to move them aside, inching closer to the front of the pack."

Exhilarating, hard-nosed short fiction with a driven cast.

Kirkus Reviews