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The Nightbeat Novelette Collection

出版	Independently Published, 2019-11
主題	Fiction / Noir
ISBN	10961231429781096123149
URL	http://books.google.com.hk/books?id=5nWiywEACAAJ&hl=&source=gbs_api

註釋Meet Reporter Randy Stone. 'Nightbeat' is an adaptation of the 1950 radio drama of the same name. It relates the adventures of the fictional Chicago Star newspaper reporter Randy Stone. His 'beat' covers all of Chicago after the sun goes down. The stories range from tragic to comic. It is in the style of other 'Noir' (Noir is French for black) literature of the time. The settings can't help but be black. Almost all the stories happen in the darkness of night. Randy, on the other hand, is a detective with a heart. He is constantly being pulled apart by his two-sided approach to his job. "Here we go again. Aren't reporters supposed to show up after something has occurred and, well, report about it? No, not me, I always get there just before the man is flattened by a falling safe, and I am torn between saving him or letting him be flattened and getting a great story. Won't I ever learn?" The stories cover many more topics than who killed who that was the basis of numerous Noir detective yarns of the time. Such as, The Big Sleep (Philip Marlowe) by Raymond Chandler, The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett, I, the Jury (Mike Hammer) by Mickey Spillane.But, as Randy is quick to point out, he's no "hard boiled detective. I'm a reporter. I'm more... soft boiled." There are five novelettes in this first collection of stories. This reincarnation of 'Nightbeat' first took flight as staged readings complete with music and sound effects. The scripts for those presentations will be published soon. An audio CD of one of those plays, Big John McMasters, is also available. Finally, the adaptations of these 'Nightbeat' stories are being written for a possible television series.- William J. Durkin 'The Devil's Bible' - Hi, this is Randy Stone. I cover the night beat for the Chicago Star. Last night, Halloween, this reporter found a rare 'Black Gospel' hidden in a 16th Century Bible. There have been several deaths associated with this book. The bible had belonged to the late publisher Ron Heidleman. A year ago, he was stabbed by his houseboy, Willie Canto, who then drowned in Lake Michigan trying to escape. Last night, Heidleman's mansion burned to the ground. Heidleman's wife Beatrice, and his assistant, John Talbot, could not be located for comment today. 'Wanna Buy A Story?' - Stories start in many different ways. This one started with a girl - a girl and a full load of hate. You can't beat that combination for trouble. I was sitting in Benny's all night Beanery, staring at a beer, when she walked in and climbed up on the stool next to me, this dame with the scared blue eyes. She wanted to sell me a story (almost never done). She would tell me who killed nightclub owner, and gangster, Marty Crane. After trying, unsuccessfully, to locate Crane around town, and learning that he was anything but a good person, I talked my editor into funding this piece. I could not have guessed the truth of the matter. 'Big John McMasters' - Last night, I investigated a bootleg kingpin who was released from prison after nineteen years and then walks the streets of Chicago with a couple of slugs in his side. A lawyer, gangsters, a milkman, a wedding, and three deaths tell us why. 'Zero' - The story begins modestly enough with a zero on a typewriter. That's right cipher, naught, nothing, but to one man of Chicago's four million that zero meant death. Phillip Warren is given the wrong medical report and plans to kill himself because the report says that he has a fatal disease. I, and the receptionist that accidentally gave him the wrong report, try to track Mr. Warren down before his planned suicide at midnight. 'A Girl From Kansas' - A girl from Kansas named Linda Johnson arrives in Chicago on a train. She is then arrested for stealing a wallet. She insists she was set up. She's bailed out by someone she doesn't even know. Apparently, this person wishes her dead. She has no idea why.