Publisher: Thursday Night Press, an imprint of DX Varos Publishing (October 18, 2022)
Category: Crime drama, LGBT subgenre, Short Story Collection
Tour Dates October, 2022
ISBN: 978-1955065542
Available in Print and ebook, 292 pages
Description Book of Jobs by M.L. Grider
In this prequel to Bitter Vintage, M.L. Grider explores events in the lives of Helen Wu and Amy Dresden prior to their adventure in 1995. While these incidents may seem at first glance unrelated, they all contribute to what makes Amy and Helen who they are.Some are funny, others tragic, but that all adds up to why Helen quit the LAPD in favor of a gun shop, and Amy gave up her dream of acting to become an antique dealer.
Review Book of Jobs by M.L. Grider
Review by Suzie
A tremendous prequel to M.L. Grider's prequel, 'Bitter
Vintage.'
'Book of Jobs: A Collection of Helen Wu and Amy
Dresden,' goes back in time to before the events of that novel to show the main
characters, Helen Wu and Amy Dresden before they knew each other.
The stories in this collection go all the way back to
their teenage years, and alternate between Helen's life and Amy's, showing
different trials and situations that led them to become the strong women that
they eventually grew into.
Starting with Helen dealing with a home invader that
ends up being her sister's new boyfriend, and Amy dealing with a jealous
boyfriend of her own, who ends up causing a ruckus at her new job.
My favorite story in the collection was titled, 'New
On The Job,' and centered around Helen when she was new to the LAPD.
Alternating between a few different POVs, the story is
about Helen helping a teenage girl who has been humiliated and left in a tricky
situation by a boy at school, and a pair of criminals who are intent on killing
a local pimp in the hopes that it will earn them favor with a madam who will
offer them free services with her girls. I won't detail how this story ended,
but let’s just say it was a shocking conclusion that left me really impressed
with how everything came together.
This collection is a must-read for all fans of Grider's
first Helen Wu book, and anyone who enjoys a good, entertaining book of short
stories and the crime fiction genre.
I loved Helen and Amy's characters and the LGBT
representation in the text. Grider's writing is both beautiful and really funny
in places. I loved the way he creates a perspective for these characters that I
wanted to stay in. I cannot recommend this book highly enough!
Excerpt Book of Jobs by M.L. Grider
At about six o’clock on the morning of January 1, 1988, Monk’s Raiders were on their way home from a New Year’s Eve gig. Ted and Amy went straight back to their apartment in his new Vette. But the rest of the band had to take the long way home in the snow in the old van.
They were crossing the Jackson Boulevard Bridge when two street racing teenage boys tried to pass the van doing ninety. The driver on the left tried to make his move and crowd the other one out. The little Honda smashed into the rear left fender of the van at full speed and propelled it through the guard rail into the murky river below. The driver of the Honda was killed instantly. Monk’s Raiders weren’t so lucky. All four were trapped inside and drowned when it hit the frosty water below. The other driver was never caught.
Ted was emotionally destroyed by the accident. They were more than just his band. He had grown up with those guys. They had all learned to play together, that’s what made the Raiders so great. They had been buddies from grade school, more than buddies. They were like brothers. What a way to start the New Year.
Ted was wracked with survivor’s guilt. If he hadn’t bought the Vette, he would have been in the van with his band where he belonged. Four funerals in two days was just too much for him. He went on a month long bender of guilt and remorse fueled by alcohol and cocaine. Only the threat of Amy leaving him had pulled him out of the self-destructive spiral.
After he dried out a bit he didn’t have the strength of will to form a new band. It felt like betraying the memory of his friends. He couldn’t face the idea of a solo act either. Haunted by the ghosts of the guys, everything was the past to him with no future. Ted needed a new start, a new beginning. So he and Amy pooled their savings and packed up all their belongings to make the move to the big time. They moved to Los Angeles.
But Los Angeles was not the fresh start that Ted was counting on. In Chicago, Ted had been a big fish in a small bowl. In LA he was still a big fish, like a tuna, in a school of other tuna swimming in an overcrowded shark tank at feeding time. It had never occurred to him that he would have to audition to get into someone else’s band. Or that after an audition he might not get the gig. He just assumed that he would form his own band in a couple of weeks and start booking clubs. But the work was slow in coming. And everything in LA was so expensive.
It didn’t help his bruised ego that Amy was doing better than he was. Things started to go really wrong their first week in LA when Amy met Rachel. Amy found an ad in a trade paper for open auditions for a low-budget horror movie and went to read for the part of Kennedy Montfort, the plucky honor student that is chosen to be a virgin sacrifice by the evil cheerleader-vampires.
She sat out in the lobby of the producer’s office for two hours with ten other girls waiting for their chance to read for the part. Across from Amy was a stunning redhead in blue jeans and a tight t-shirt. She was openly staring at Amy and making her more than a little uncomfortable. After about fifteen minutes she finally spoke.
“Are you reading for Kennedy Montfort?” she said without preamble.
“Uh, yes,” Amy said a little embarrassed to be interested in such a shallow role.
“I figured. You’re too vanilla to be any of the vampires,” she said.
“Thank you, I think,” Amy said.
“I’m reading for Kennedy’s bad-girl best friend. Hey, maybe we could help each other out. I hate to go into a reading cold. Would you like to run some lines with me?”
The idea seemed safe enough to Amy, so she agreed. The dialogue was so campy that by the third reading it was becoming funny.
After they had both read, they were told that the parts had already been cast, but there were still some parts open for the vampire cheerleaders in the orgy scene, if they didn’t mind doing a little tasteful nudity.
(c) M.L. Grider, The Book Of Jobs
About M.L. Grider
The Book of Jobs is the second published novel to escape the twisted mind of M.L. Grider. In addition to writing, Grider is a professional photographer. He is busy at work on the next adventure in the Helen Wu series among other wild and warped stories. Twitter: https://twitter.com/DXVaros
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DXVaros.Publishing
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Giveaway Book of Jobs by M.L. Grider
This giveaway is for 3 print or ebook copies. Print is open to the U.S. only and ebook is open worldwide. This giveaway ends on November 18, 2022 midnight, pacific time. Entries accepted via Rafflecopter only.Follow Book of Jobs by M.L. Grider
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I am so glad you enjoyed 'The Book Of Jobs', Suzie! Thanks for hosting!
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