New Crime Noir Novella: Rain Down

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Many of my books were finally published in the last two years, seemingly all at once. The truth is, these stories were years in coming after many revisions. Others won't make the cut and probably shouldn't.

The crime noir novella Rain Down always deserved a fair shot. So I'm happy to announce it just released as Rain Down (Kindle Single). 

In Rain Down a nameless man, formerly homeless, goes back on the grim streets of Portland, Oregon to find his day laborer friend who's gone missing. More here. 

The story takes place in the Portland of 2009. I recently revised it and was surprised to see how much the city I know has changed in the last few years especially — many locations are long gone. But that's all part of the story, too. 

It's great to see this last one get released. Now it's time to get back to writing. 

Rain Down is published by Endeavour Media in London. It's currently available as a Kindle ebook in Amazon's Kindle Singles line and equals about 76 print pages in length. A print version will be out soon.  

Goodreads Giveaway for Lost Kin: A Novel

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Update, March 9: The winners have been picked. Congrats to Marilyn, Ashley, Leigh, Aaron, and Cynthia. I hope you enjoy the book. 

Are you on Goodreads? You could win a hardcover copy of the new novel Lost Kin from Skyhorse Publishing. The giveaway is on now through March 8. Win the book before it releases March 29. 

Find the Goodreads giveaway here.

You're a winner, I can feel it. Good luck!

Kirkus Reviews on Lost Kin: A Novel

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I was stunned and thrilled to get a great advance review of Lost Kin from Kirkus Reviews, out this week. Here's a snippet:

"There's enough action and mystery to keep the pages turning—traitors done in by a shashka, a Ukrainian sword; a dramatic face-off in Czechoslovakia's snowy Šumava Mountains—all spun out in a masterful story of redemption found within the brutalities of postwar realpolitik . . . Classic noir shadowed by the hulks and rubble of the once-proud city of Munich, a character itself in this haunting tale . . . Anderson deserves a standing ovation."

Here's the link: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/steve-anderson-2/lost-kin/

Stranger than (My) Fiction: The Bundy Gang Invades Oregon

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I happened to write a novel titled The Other Oregon (2015). It includes a reckless and menacing militia movement scheming away out in rural Oregon. Now we have the true story of self-appointed militiamen (“domestic terrorists”? “militants”? “reenactors”?) threatening rural Oregon and this tale just keeps getting stranger.

I wondered if I was a little far-fetched in my fiction. As it turns out, the truth fetches far further. 

At this writing the story is already so jam-packed with all that’s kooky and hypocritical about America it's ready to blow. The angles are endless. It’s Red Dawn meets the Rajneeshees meets Deliverance meets Idiocracy. It’s the 1870s with machine guns. The bumbling Bundy gang, it seems, are unknowingly doing performance art as sanctioned by the Coen brothers. My favorite hashtags: #OregonUnderAttack #VanillaISIS #Yallqaeda. Now we have #BundyEroticFanFic, conclusive proof that there’s hope for America yet. Satire being the bad-assest gun ever fired. 

But while we satirize, we should always take these extremist groups seriously. Because they don’t think they’re funny. They don’t see the stunning hypocrisy. They are deadly serious. Because they are the true believers. Because other groups have been scheming much longer than the Bundys and are cunning enough to stay clear of this fight. Because they’re planning the next one. The Oklahoma City bombing was a next one. 

Not too long ago: Armed militias roamed the land for a cause to convert into their own, ultimately seeking the takeover of a democratically elected government they despised. They too believed. Claimed they're only protectors of the people, harming no one who didn't deserve it. That was in 1920s Germany. 

Or, just ask the Burns Paiute tribe what they think. 

 
Photo: Beth Nakamura, The Oregonian. Just before the entrance to the Burns Paiute Tribe.

Photo: Beth Nakamura, The Oregonian. Just before the entrance to the Burns Paiute Tribe.