After killing a yakuza in self-defense, an ex-military translator owes a debt that is payable only one way: take the dead man’s place searching for a missing woman in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. Fusing gritty yakuza action with elements of classic noir in the city that started it all, the novella smashes Johnny Ban into a rarely explored corner of Los Angeles, sending him in search of two distinct parts of his past: his long-buried Americanness, and his first love—a Japanese woman up to her neck in trouble.

The Big Drop: Homecoming (Contemporary American Novellas)

Literature & Fiction

Gattis, Ryan

Literary

Black Hill Press

After finally locating Emi Sato, Johnny Ban loses her just as quickly as he found her. Their too-brief reunion sends him careening after her once more—this time setting him up for a chain of surprises that will forever change how he sees himself and those he trusts most—as his doomed rescue mission spirals to its horrific conclusion.

The Big Drop: Impermanence (Contemporary American Novellas)

Her days and nights were filled with inspiring concerts, glamorous photo shoots and red-carpet events. Los Angeles was her life, until the unexpected happened. In nine months, ‘her’ future would be ‘their’ future.

Palms Up (Contemporary American Novellas)

Basco, Arianna

Brian, once part of the successful rock duo Owen Noone and the Marauder, moves from Iowa to New York City to recapture an earlier moment in his life. He starts performing songs in bars under a pseudonym and achieves a small degree of success, but that success doesn’t seem to bring him the peace of mind he’s been looking for. A disastrous performance coincides with the arrival of a postcard from the long- missing Owen Noone, and Brian takes to the streets of Manhattan to try to decide who it is he really wants to be.

Sing for Life: Tin Pan Alley (Contemporary American Novellas)

Cowie, Douglas

At thirty-five, Sonny Gutierrez lives a comfortable life in San Jose, California with his wife and young daughter. When he discovers a long lost son, Sonny finds himself on a cross-country road trip with a 20-year-old pregnant woman, robbing a Git-N-Go store, and running with a herd of buffalo. Bellies and Buffalos is a story about letting go, getting lost, and returning home.

Bellies and Buffalos (Contemporary American Novellas)

Moniz, Tomas

In Away, You Rolling River, Brian continues his personal journey begun on the streets of Manhattan in Tin Pan Alley. Following the trail of a postcard sent to him by his long-missing friend, Owen Noone, Brian sets out for Lake Itasca, Minnesota. However, Brian soon finds that Lake Itasca, the source of the Mississippi River, is only the beginning of his expedition. He must travel downriver by car, foot, and water: following clues and rumors of Owen from Minnesota, through Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and into the waters of the South. And as he goes, the search for his friend becomes a discovery of himself. As Brian encounters a variety of musicians and their music, he begins to use these experiences as a means of shaping his own relationship to the country he’s living in and traveling through.

Sing for Life: Away, You Rolling River (Contemporary American Novellas)

Dean O'Leary is a man who lives on the edge: of life, love, and happiness. After a bank robbery gone horribly wrong, Dean leaves his life of crime in Los Angeles and exiles himself to the cold grey sands of Las Vegas. A cruel and unusual twist of fate shows Dean a life filled with the love and hope that he has always thought impossible, and then rips it away. With nothing left to lose, Dean goes all in on one final crime.

Silence (Contemporary American Novellas)

BRANDON, William

There You Feel Free is the story of five people whom you might call hipsters. The Kid struggles to put his life together after his relationship, and the economy, falls apart. Cheyenne tries to define herself against the members of her kickball team. Doug faces isolation amid his long list of online friends. Paul attends a support group for struggling geniuses. And Nick battles the sinister feeling that life isn’t going as planned. They all cross paths inside and outside a poem: a loving rewrite of T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land refinished with contemporary references to indie music and pop culture. Packed with laughter, levity, reflection, and revolution, There You Feel Free captures the intricate quandary of the Millennial Generation.

There You Feel Free (Black Hill Press: Novellas)

Ragolia, Nate

Twenty-three year old JB finds himself in need of an upgrade in life now that he has been out of college for nine months and has found little success as an aspiring actor. Only to his surprise do the events of 9/11 ignite within him and his friends, Nick and Paulo, a sudden urge to flee Los Angeles, purge themselves of an uninspiring life, and create art — that is, an improvisational film involving each other, friends and family, and strangers they meet along the way as they venture up the Californian coast and into the Pacific Northwest. While completing the film remains their end goal, it seems more often than not they are sidetracked, resulting in an unexpected turn of events.

How to Succeed by Failing (Black Hill Press: Novellas)

Ingels, Jon-Barrett

Biographies & Memoirs

As a micro-epic The Pit has a little of everything: small town American gothic, detective fiction, spy thriller, Hollywood drama, folklore, science fiction, historical fiction, surrealism, horror gore, punk romance, and satire of American capitalism and consumerism. The Pit, and No Other Stories, might be a familiar reading experience to that of viewing the ABC television program, Lost. Many characters, different story lines, obvious points of connection, some less obvious, and many fun, stage-setting red herrings. The Pit has deep important themes about the failings of the American dream, exploitation, and objectification of humans, but it also expresses a deep veneration for storytelling, narrative, and the triumph of the human spirit through art.

The Pit, and No Other Stories (Black Hill Press: Novellas)

Rothacker, Jordan A

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