More Large Books From Smaller Houses

I was talking below about the importance of smaller houses to the crime publishing scene. Here are two more current examples of books which deserve wide attention.

KEEP IT REAL, published by Bleak House and one of Sarah Weinman's picks these days, is a debut novel by Bill Bryan, a television writer who has "stolen vast sums from all the major media companies." It's about a TV veteran reduced to producing a reality show called "The Mogul" and who investigates a crime using the genre's techniques.

Imagine Kafka crossed with Woody Allen and you'll begin to see why Pushcart Prize-winning Pendarvis's stories are so highly-praised. THE MYSTERIOUS SECRET OF THE VALUABLE TREASURE, from MacAdam/Cage, is a collection of stories as funny as they are weird.

Let's hear it for the little guys...