Slower Bear : Anthony Neil Smith
158pp eBook, Paperback & Limited Hardback Editions
"Fantastic. Like what would happen if Jack Reacher hit absolute rock bottom, lost an arm, woke up in a dumpster, and just decided, fuck it, I'm going to keep killing bad guys." – James Kestral, author of Five Decembers (winner of 2022 Edgar Award for Best Novel)
Micah “Slow Bear” Cross returns in another breathless slice of pitch-perfect pulp from noir legend Anthony Neil Smith.
After successfully faking his own death, we catch up with Micah “Slow Bear” Cross standing in a field in Nebraska with his boot on the neck of a Ukranian human trafficker.
So far, so Slow Bear.
After handing out some of his trademark summary justice, Micah finds himself the temporary custodian of two very young, and very scared victims of trafficking.
Along with his latest one-night stand Abeline, Slow Bear and the girls launch themselves into a desperate fight for survival as they do all they can to escape the clutches of the ruthless trafficking gang who are out for revenge and restitution.
What follows will absolutely delight fans of Anthony Neil Smith and pulp-noir lovers everywhere...
Praise for Slower Bear
“Slower Bear is hardboiled like a motherlover. Tough, terse, wildly wicked and wickedly entertaining.” – Gary Phillips, author of One-Shot Harry
“In Slower Bear, Anthony Neil Smith’s prose is a hammer; sometimes pounding, sometimes clawing out flesh, but always bludgeoning or yanking the reader through the bloody and break-neck story of lost soul-asshole Micah Cross’ search for redemption. Or maybe it’s just the search for a glass of pulpy orange juice across the counter from a girl with a nice rack, but it’s fast, graphic, obscenely funny, and I couldn’t put it down.” – Meagan Lucas, author of the award-winning novel Songbirds and Stray Dogs, and Editor in Chief of Reckon Review
"Dazzles with repellent wit. A sleazy queasy poetic punch from one of the masters of pulp" – Saira Viola, author of Jukebox and Crack, Apple & Pop
“I went into Slower Bear expecting to read a fine noir novel by a gifted author I respect. I got this in spades. But what I didn’t expect was to come away with a renewed belief in the power of new love to push through even the worst of circumstances, as Abeline’s caring for the girls is also a dynamic we see form right before our very eyes. Smith ultimately offers us a side dish with his crime novel: the formation of an unusual family of four. I’ll take that with my shootouts every day of the week and twice on Sunday.” – Sheldon Lee Compton author of Brown Bottle, Alice and the Wendigo, and Dysphoria.
Praise for Slow Bear
"More happens in the first two chapters of Slow Bear than in some literary novelist's entire output.Thrills, spills. Twists, turns. Heart, soul. As good as it gets." - Mark Ramsden, author of Mistress Murder, Radical Desire and Dread: The Art of Serial Killing
"Anthony Neil Smith mixes dark humor, menace, mayhem and a washed-out, one-armed hero in a noirish tale that never stops to take a breath." - Linwood Barclay, author of No Time for Goodbye and Too Close to Home
"Slow Bear is everything I love about dark fiction and don't see nearly enough of. Anthony Neil Smith writes uncompromisingly dark fiction without sacrificing the humanity or entertainment value of his characters. If you always wondered what Jim Rockford would be if he went full dark, Slow Bear is the book for you." Bryon Quertermous
"Slow Bear is many things: a bull in a china shop; a raging lion; a stubborn mule; a fire-breathing dragon; a wise old bird. a drunken old skunk; and a murderous hyena. What's more, he's the kind of noir anti-hero who'll have you rooting for him all the way, which is good because, the way things are going, he certainly needs someone on his side. Another stunning creation by Anthony Neil Smith." - Nigel Bird
"Okay. So here's the deal. Only pick this book up and read it if you gravitate toward realistic, gritty, entertaining stories that will keep you on the edge of your seat and force you to read through the night, making you fall asleep the next day at work and get fired. If you value your sleep and your job, then by all means don't pick it up. Doc Smith has done it again—contributed to the unemployment rolls and helped increase the sale of triple lattes. This is a big-boy novel from a big-boy writer." Les Edgerton, Author, Adrenaline Junkie, The Rapist, The Bitch and others.
"Slow Bear is anything but a slow read. It's a blazing fast, brutal hurricane of a novella that'll leave you breathless and hollering for more. Anthony Neil Smith is one of those authors who must not be missed." J. D. Rhoades
"Funky and furious, SLOW BEAR is a low-blow shot of black humor and hard boiled noir. Anthony Neil Smith's laconic, one-armed Indian ex-cop protagonist lands a knock-out." - J. Todd Scott
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