by Dale Bridges (Author)

Sam Drift is a college dropout who spends his days smoking pot, writing movie reviews, wallowing in the betrayal of the only girl he ever loved, and watching old noir flicks with his beloved cat, Audrey Hepburn. Life is perfect. But when Sam's editor forces him to write an article about the death of an exotic dancer outside an unpopular strip club, he suddenly finds himself tangled in a web of local politics and criminal enterprise.

Falling somewhere in the middle of the crime genre spectrum that shimmers between Dashiell Hammet's Maltese Falcon and Edgar Cantero's Meddling Kids, The Mean Reds taps our hapless protagonist's silver-screen obsessions to reveal just how valiantly a drug-bedraggled schlub of a journo can rise (or, yeah, fall) when death, dames, and destiny come a-calling. You might be able to put this archly cinematic novel down for a minute--like, for a quick swig on a double-strength Old Fashioned or because you need to pass along the candy blunt you've been hitting--but, friend, I'd bet you a purloined Oscar that you'll pick it back up again ASAP.
-- Austin Chronicle

Author Biography

DALE BRIDGES is a writer and painter living in Austin, TX, with his wife, two cats, one tarantula, a corn snake, and far too many old movies. His work has appeared in more than thirty publications, including The Rumpus, The Masters Review, and Barrelhouse Magazine. His short story collection, Justice, Inc., was published in 2014. His essay, "Off the Grid," was included in Sundress Publications' Best of the Net 2012, which was judged by writer Lee Martin. For three years, Dale worked as the A&E editor at an alternative newspaper, where he won awards for his feature writing, narrative nonfiction, and cultural criticism. He has a master's degree in literature from the University of Northern Colorado. This is his first novel.

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