Bunco Brawl: Hand Three

 

All three authors fold, clearing the table for the next hand.

Slocum 1: Hanging Justice by Jake Logan

Slocum 1
Hanging Justice
by Jake Logan
1977, Playboy Press

Slocum is forced into jury duty for a trial of a notorious criminal gang. There's a subplot or maybe a flashback of Slocum being captured and turned in by a crooked bounty hunter. None of these really go anywhere, and the plot is confusing despite not much going on.

Slocum himself is hard on his luck schlub, which would have worked better with a less grim tone. I don't think there were any on-screen sex scenes, and there was little action. By the end it was just rambling.

Some literary flourishes in parts, but they just seemed to underline that the author would rather be writing a different book.

From Amazon

Six-Gun in Cheek: An Affectionate Guide to the "Worst" in Western Fiction by Bill Pronzini

Six-Gun in Cheek: An Affectionate Guide to the "Worst" in Western Fiction
by Bill Pronzini
1997, Crossover Press

There's a serviceable history of popular western fiction in the framing, but I've been so broken by pulp fiction that all of this sounds normal to me. There's a little bit of silliness with overdone slang, but there was nothing here to snicker at or appreciate the audacity, it's just western fiction.

From Amazon

Bunco Brawl: Hand Three

 

Last hand's winner Breed antes up against Slocum and Six Gun in Cheek

Garth Marenghi's Incarcerat

Garth Marenghi's Incarcerat
by Garth Marenghi 
2023, Coronet

Three more stories escaped from the mind of Nick Steen, the fictional author written by another fictional author, etc.

The first involves Steen being captured by a secretive corporation for psychic research. The second is a gothic/folk/evil doll combination, and the third is a Freddy parody with a dash of Candyman - the Randyman, a wrongfully accused toilet attendant getting vengeance from beyond the grave.

This one didn't do it for me. Trimmed down the underlying stories may have been better, and I know that it's half the schtick to have purposefully repetitive and overwrought exposition, but it wears a titch thin after 400 plus pages.

From Amazon

Pavement Princesses by Kathy Woods

Pavement Princesses
by Kathy Woods 
1977, Fawcett Gold Medal

A thin veneer of investigative journalism over Penthouse Forum style smut vignettes of the pavement princesses, also known as lot lizards, sex workers who frequent truck stops. A few accounts make some attempt at realism, but a lot of the narrative depends on the notion that truckers are incredibly desirable and women get on the game for the amazing sex. Too sleazy for a sociological text, a bit restrained for 70s smut, though some interest as a time capsule.

Available to borrow on archive.org 

Available for purchase on Amazon

Frenzi 3: Six Bullets Left by R.J. Calder

Frenzi 3
Six Bullets Left
by R.J. Calder
2022, Point of Impact Publishing

Former mafia hitman John Frenzi is on the run since his last encounter in Florida. He makes it as far as Belle Rivière, Louisiana before his car breaks down and he runs into mafia goons in town to smuggle in some dope. Wounded, under-armed, and outnumbered, he uses his wits to hide in the small town before dealing with the mob and corrupt sheriff.

Starts off small scale until things ramp up once mafia backup and the Black Panthers get involved, giving us the best action yet in the series.

From Amazon https://amzn.to/40vDYcX