TAMPA, Fla. - s4story -- Down & Out Books is pleased to announce that COAL BLACK: STORIES by Chris McGinley has been published by its imprint Shotgun Honey on December 13, 2019 in trade paperback and ebook formats.

About COAL BLACK: STORIES …

Coal Black is unfiltered mountain crime. Set in the hills of eastern Kentucky, these tales lay bare the dark realities of the region. Sometimes the backdrop is the opioid epidemic and all the human detritus and bloodshed that comes with it. Other times it's poachers or petty thieves who take center stage, people whose wild desperation invite danger everywhere they go. High in the hills the action takes place, alongside the rarely seen animals who hunt up there, and sometimes alongside the "haints" and spirits of popular folklore.

The stories are full of action, twists and turns, and characters on both sides of the law who navigate the treacherous, often violent terrain that spares so few. Coal Black is a collection of gritty crime stories—cleverly drawn tales with sometimes savage surprise endings.

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Praise for COAL BLACK: STORIES …

"Mesmerizing and intense, the stories in Coal Black are a treat to read, every honed sentence reminding us that we're in excellent hands as we travel into the darkness of haunting crime and equally haunted countryside. This collection rocks." —Rusty Barnes, author of The Ridgerunner and The Last Danger

"These stories offer some of the best rural noir you'll ever read. They are a pitch-black journey into the heart of America." —Nick Kolakowski, author of Maxine Unleashes Doomsday

"This is a book that deserves an audience, and stories that deserve to be remembered." —E.A. Aymar, author of Unrepentant

"Beautifully written stories; this is a stunning collection." —Rob Pierce, author of Tommy Shakes

Meet the author …

Chris McGinley has appeared in Mystery Tribune, Mystery Weekly, Retreats from Oblivion, Tough, Switchblade, HardBoiled, Shotgun Honey, and in other on-line publications. He lives with his wife in Lexington, KY where he teaches middle school.

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Established in 2011, Shotgun Honey (ShotgunHoney.com), an imprint of Down & Out Books, came onto the scene to provide readers with a regular diet of flash crime fiction. Living by the simple tenet of keeping it lean and mean, over 800 stories from more than 400 authors from around the world have been published to date.

In its ninth year as an independent publisher of award-winning literary and crime fiction, Down & Out Books (https://downandoutbooks.com) is based in Tampa, Florida. For more information about the book, to request a review copy of the book, or to inquire about an interview with the author, contact info@downandoutbooks.com.