The majority of the stories in this collection are unique, engaging with distinctive characters and they just make you crave more after they're over. I found only a few of the last ones more slow paced and not as interesting.

Fun, gritty and so well written. This book reminded me of Broken by Don Winslow. Highly recommended.

Tod Goldberg is a master of language and these gritty, sometimes violent but also humorous stories are a joy to read/listen. The humanity in each of the characters comes through in dark ways but reflect people trapped but trying to better their lives often through illegal ways.

I hadn't read any of the author's other work, so I came into this blind. I really loved it, read it all in a day and a half. I'll be going back to read the other gangsterland stuff now.

Goldberg continues his witty way with some of the characters we saw in the 'Gangsterland' books that came before. Will anticipate the next one, for sure, since the fascinating rabbi seems to just keep on ticking...

Aptly titled, Goldberg's The Low Desert takes us to the empty world out past Palm Springs, a world of lonely roads, forgotten buildings, abandoned lives, and dead inland seas. It's the edge of the universe, a place where bitter wounded folks come to lay down and rot away. There's not much out here, but abandoned dreams, epitomized by the developments that were started and never finished around the Salton Sea, an inland riviera where nothing lives. It's a place where you go when you're at the end...

I’ve always wondered just exactly who these unknown writers are that co-author (ghostwrite) novels with bestselling authors. I assumed they were either slow-witted relatives of the bestselling author (maybe a heavy drinker) in need of a job that were being hooked up in the family business, or captives that James Patterson has chained in his dank basement. Either way, they must be lacking the talent to publish novels on their own if they are letting an established author take credit for their wor...

Ignore the mystery thriller tab from the publishers, and the talk of gangsters, crime, and noir that fill the reviews. There are some crimes and some criminals and even some gangsters, but this is a collection of stories that is mostly about unhappy people desperately struggling to make sense of their broken lives set against the bleak backdrop of the Low Desert in California. It is no accident that some of the stories take place in on near a once promising resort complex investment on the edge

Somehow, to go on and on about the wondrousness of THE LOW DESERT, to not let its wondrousness speak for itself, would seem to dishonor the light touch and deft wit of Tod Goldberg’s writing. It’s impossible to be too dazzled by the sheer inventiveness of Goldberg’s story premises or the smiling savagery of his infinitely quotable prose. Suffice it to say that the sum of all of these qualities leave you with a feeling of how sparse and starved of imagination most crime-fiction stories pegged to

Short stories that are tough, gritty and hardcore. Stories of gangsters, cons, gamblers, murderers et. al. Each story does well as a well rounded standalone. If you like stories about the underground life in Vegas, California, Arizona this is a good read for you of true gangster stories.

Beautiful. Brutal. Poignant. Just a masterful collection.

This was a 24 hour read, and already a contender for my favorite book of 2021. Rich, funny, emotional, and unforgettable.It's not a feel good book. It doesn't give one any sense of hope. But it's remarkable.It's going to be a book I revisit sooner rather than later.

Come on universe, I need an ARC!

The Low Desert – Gangster Stories by Tod Goldberg is a collection of twelve tales of assorted characters found mostly in California, centered around the Salton Sea, Las Vegas, or connecting areas.Most of the characters—both decent or criminal, and some more likable than others—seem to be trying to extricate themselves from their current situations. Fortunately, the humans in these human stories are developed in such a way as to not be exaggerated caricatures that would render the stories meaning...

Remembering “the ghosts of another life”: Dark Disturbances in a Deadly Desertscape“The desert covers everything in these parts in a fine dust the color of dried marrow.”* * *A dozen gritty, bleakly-humorous, and unexpected shorter tales comprise Tod Goldberg’s latest, The Low Desert: Gangster Stories. I should add that this is my first reading of any of Goldberg’s work, although these pieces connect to his Gangster Nation and Gangsterland work, too. In The Low Desert, we find compelling stories...

This a a great collection of (mostly) Coachella Valley-based short stories. Several are connected to others, tied together with the same characters or the same crime organization. Most take place at least partly in the Coachella Valley, where it isv ery hot. Coachella Valley blinding sunshine hot. Salton Sea stinky hot. And while these are solid crime stories, they also explore grief and regret, aging and moving on, remembering different times in the same place. Several of them are quite heartbr...

“Raymond Carver meets Elmore Leonard...,” said The New York Times of this collection of mostly connected (pardon the pun) gangster desert stories, and it wasn’t wrong. Think Palm Springs, Vegas, the Salton Sea and so many haunted locales in between. Think cunning gangsters, Chicago mob families, hardened cops, and a-snap-your-heart-in-two story about a missing child and the desperate mother/cocktail waitress she left behind that moves throughout the collection for an incredibly satisfying, if tr...

This took me forever to read which is not a reflection of these snarky, sharp, gory, smart stories, but a reflection of me and my troubled relationship with the short story genre. I love Tod Goldberg's Gangsterland novels and several characters from the novels get their stories told in this collection. I have listened to the Literary Disco podcast for years and Tod along with his cohosts, Julia and Ryder convinced me to read this collection. Listen to their podcast and let them convince you.

Bleak. Grim. If you are looking for a hero's journey in these stories...fugedaboutit. Wiseguys , grifters, losers. Kind of like the Trump administration. There were a couple of characters you rooted for, especially the sheriff who was featured in three stories (very nice story arc btw) but for the most part the cast of these stories were just sad. All the stories were very written and well paced. Overall a real solid selection as long as you don't mind the relentless dark themes.

I picked this up randomly, knowing nothing of the author. This may well be the best collection of short stories I've ever read - I certainly feel that way currently - each one a deep character sketch with alternating gut punches and pathos, but also a grim humor throughout. I was excited to discover that these are set in the universe of Goldberg's prior two novels, which I immediately picked up and read. I liked those quite a bit less, perhaps just by comparison to how hard the collection hit me...