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Brutal and beautiful. Lethal and lyrical. This is one freaking fierce bitch of a book.
"That man is evil you ain't even dreamed up yet, his eyes and ears reach all the way into your mama's snatch to hear your thoughts before you're born."
FIERCE BITCHES is a novella unlike any I've read before. A haunting and violent slice of noir set amongst a desolate backdrop where ramshackle residents live and die by their vices. The town of Politoburg, a satellite-like town is a lonely place where hearts come to die and hope fades quicker than innocence. The trade push is prostitution and strong arm tactics; for pimps and revellers, a haven of sorts, for those bound to the town limits, a hell as hot at the Mexican desert. Despite the bleak e...
Superb modern noir, set in the hell of a drug kingpin's dumping ground south of the border. What really impressed me about this one is how Ayres managed to weave together storylines that at first seemed disconnected. The writing is also sharp and poetic. I read this in one sitting and felt like I needed a shower after.
Re-read this earlier today.I'd forgotten what an outstanding novella this one is.Lyrical and haunting.Imagine: there's a place somewhere south of Texas in the deserts of Mexico where bad men are sent to die.Highest possible recommendation.My Original Review from 2013:What a tough, brutal novella!Read it last night on my I-Pad. Exceptional writing.From Crime Factory, right?The author is smarter and more talented than any mainstream noir/thriller author jamming the racks of bookstores from coast-t...
Hard. Fast. Nasty. Fantastic. If you like a little lyricism to your hardboiled noir, this short novel can't be missed. I enjoyed it immensely.
Quick and dirty. Ayres’s disturbed fans will find comfort here, and it’ll disturb the comfortable, as the best fiction does. Even this hardened reader cringed at its most depraved passages, while grinning at others. The POV shifts took me by surprise, adding depth even to the lowest of lowlifes within. Fierce, indeed.
All you gringos listen up, Marias are some fierce bitches and they're gonna have their revenge for all the times you mistreated them. You had better hope they haven't read this call to arms from Jedidiah Ayres before you spit on them, slap them, cut them, and rape them or you may not have a face left for next time. Or any flesh for that matter.Existing as some kind of awful halfway house between life and death, America and Mexico, heaven and hell, Politoburg is a shanty town created by a crime l...
Jed Ayres wields bludgeon and scalpel with equal grace. Yes, this story is grisly as all hell...but it has an odd beauty too, and Ayres has great command over language.
A novella with true ambition, Fierce Bitches manages gorgeous prose, experiments with form (a refreshing take on the often stodgy crime fiction genre) and still tells a compelling story. Jed's burning heavy fuel these days. You should check it out.
What a great find! I'm definitely not the first person to discover Jedidiah Ayres (I'm sure he has a bunch of fans already) but I'm glad I got to jump on the bandwagon early while his career is still relatively young! Although they're still niche areas of fiction, the new age of gritty noir and the novella format are getting more popular these days, so there are many great examples of both out there. But Jedidiah Ayres really put his mark down with this one and penned a true stand-out!The book f...
Read this when it first came out and loved it. A second reading has simply deepened my love of Jedidiah Ayres' strange and beautiful noir novella. The command of language is wonderful, the storytelling is epic (despite its brevity), and the whole thing has more ambition and density than many writers manage over the course of their entire careers. Love it.
How does one author pack so much into so little space? Ayres's writing is concise but carries a biblical weight. His characters are raw and worn out as the ragged Mexican desert setting, but somehow maintain their humanity. Which is saying a hell of a lot in a story as brutal and unflinching as this. It's unconscionable that Ayres isn't one of the biggest names in noir fiction.
This is a very dark, violent book in the noir genre, which despite the introduction by the author, does indeed have a twisted, unique redemptive quality. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in somewhat experimental fiction. Way more accessible than "naked Lunch", the setting is still reminiscent of the Interzone. Fine work.
« Il s'assit à ses côtés, l'enlaça. Elle accepta de s’incliner contre sa poitrine, mais ses bras demeurèrent cramponnés autour des genoux. Il posa sa bouche et son nez contre ses cheveux, il inspira profondément. La puanteur était atroce mais il continua à respirer, comme s’il pouvait, d’une certaine manière, purifier l’espace autour d’elle, effacer la pollution, et lui rendre sa véritable odeur, intacte et brillante ainsi qu’au premier jour. »Bienvenue dans l’antichambre d’Hadès. Une épopée eff...
Quite amazing. Never read noir like this... laid back, savage, takes you through a wasteland of harsh surprises. You might want to pick it up just for the very appropriate and brave use of second person for a portion of the story. Never have seen it done as effectively. I heartily recommend the book.
FIERCE BITCHES reads like its the haunted graveyard of Jedidiah Ayres' mind. I wouldn't have expected a writer renowned for his twisted sense of humor to stare in the devil's eyes with such unflinching courage. FIERCE BITCHES both challenge the standard in the content, mixing dreamlike horror with pure noir moments and in the form, alternating point of views and sometimes digging into stuff you've rarely seen before (second person singular narration).It's Cormac McCarhty on bath salts, mixed wit...
Jed manages to cram a lot of blood, grime and tears into so short a book--the narrative is a powerful tale of individual and systemic exploitation followed by individual and systemic revenge.Jed's a master of his craft and he knows exactly what he's doing with Fierce Bitches: Be thankful it's short--if it was longer it would destroy you.
Every crime writer worth his or her salt eventually has to turn their talent south toward Mexico, and in this short volume (which packs more wallop than most lengthy novels) Ayres puts his indelible stamp on that great southern inferno.The book (maybe a novella?) consists of three loosely interrelated vignettes that center on the life of a small Mexican town run by a mid-level Narco/pimp/all-around facilitator, who is orbited by a large number of "Marias" (the local nickname for whores). The man...
Un livre petit par la taille mais cela n’enlève rien à sa qualité et que j’ai dévoré en une après-midi. L’auteur parvient pourtant à nous transporter dans les contrées désertiques du Mexique, dans un no mans land brulant où se trouve la bourgade de Politoville spécialement créer par le truand local du même nom pour accueillir les « gringos » américains qui doivent quitter les Etats-Unis fuyant la justice, ces criminels ne comprennent que trop tard dans quel piège ils se sont tombés. Pour tromper...