Fire in the Belly
When Philadelphia police dropped a bomb on a black militant, anarcho-primitivist, racial justice group, 12 people died and 62 row houses were reduced to ashes. This retelling examines how police racism and the incompetence of civic authorities led to the fateful confrontation.
Get Bek
Max Bek is a 1970s wunderkind who is highly intelligent, wildly charismatic, and totally deadly. When his ex-girlfriend goes missing, he becomes suspect #1. With friends in high places and a seemingly endless source of support, Max seems to be the criminal that can’t be caught. How long will he stay on the run?
Death in the Family
When Donny Lentini’s father is murdered, Donny is dealt a set of cards in a game called vengeance.
I Detest All My Sins
For Bill Conlon, catching his young friend’s killer would make up for his past sins. Or would it?
Women: One Man’s Journey
One man’s cumulative experience of the influential women with whom he shared his life.
Explore the Noir Writing of Lanny Larcinese
Our friends at the Baltimore Country Public Library talked with Lanny in 2019.
Here’s a link to my interview by writer, actor, blogger. Vanessa Ryan. Check it out, and check out Vanessa’s blog. She’s a fascinating person: https://vanessaaryan.com/an-interview-with-crime-novelist-lanny-larcinese
Meet the Author
Lanny Larcinese
Lanny Larcinese is a prize-winning author of short stories and non-fiction. A native mid-westerner and dyed-in-the-wool city guy transplanted to the City of Brotherly Love, Lanny has spent a decade writing novels in addition to having authored his memoir. He is active in the writing community, offering support for those just beginning their careers and deferential to those ahead of him whose mastery of the/their craft are constant sources of inspiration.
Just when you thought the ‘mob novel’ was a thing of the past, Larcinese’s Death in the Family pulls you back in … all the way.
– Reed Farrel Coleman
This novel, both hard boiled and deeply noir, has all the pulp fiction energy of other Philadelphia-based crime writers.
– Jay A Gertzman
A helluva ride through the mob-controlled streets of South Philly … action, insights and prose that rivals a capo’s memoir.
– Chris Bauer
(Larcinese) manages to bring Philadelphia and its environs to life. A fun, energetic, Philadelphia-set Mafia caper.
– Kirkus Reviews
A believable world of intricately detailed characters…a satisfyingly dark thriller
– Kirkus Reviews
Wonderfully dark protagonist and a gritty, original story that’s impossible to put down
– David Swinson
Larcinese spins a tale as dark, disillusioned and downright hard-boiled as James M. Cain ever did.
– Jake Needham
A hell of a read. It’s dark and exciting, and Lanny is one of the great new voices in the genre
– John Gilstrap
The great pulp-noir tradition is alive and well. I Detest All My Sins is not to be missed.
– Peter Blauner
Thinkery
Book Review: Berlin Walls by Bill Rapp
On the day before my eighteenth birthday in 1961, East Germany’s construction of the Berlin Wall—which physically and symbolically further separated the burgeoning Soviet empire from the West—burst into the headlines. Soviet Russia’s 1949 acquisition of the atomic...
Book Review: Furious: Sailing into Terror, by Jeffrey James Higgins
Debut novelist Jeffrey Higgins has written a thriller that makes The Shining look as subdued as a cricket match. The story opens six months after the crib-death of Dagny and Brad’s three-month old infant child. Their live go downhill from there. As a prophylaxis to...
Review: Christ in Concrete by Pietro Di Donato (1939)
Many thanks to Peter Blauner for resuscitating a 1939 gem of a novel, Christ in Concrete, byPietro Di Donato, a tale told through the eyes of Italian immigrant bricklayers, but one also ofcapitalistic excess, the immigrant experience, and the Italian-American lens...
Freebies
Death By Lesbian
The artist Pamela Solomon is in the throes of divorce. Her soon-to-be-ex is wearing her down, that is until she finds women friends better equipped to handle the nasty husband.
Whatever You Do, Work Heartily
The first prize winner of the Lower Merion (PA) One Book One 2015 memoir contest. Excerpted from Women: One Man’s Journey. The piece reflects his working class roots and esteem of that ethic.
Manufacturing Dystopia
The 2016 Philadelphia Writers Conference first-prize winner for short story. Based on the author’s experience as a Detroit native prior to the devastating race riot of 1967.
Memoir Noir
A non-fiction account of the author’s confrontation with a knife-wielding assailant during a home invasion shortly before Christmas, 2016.
Joe College
Excerpted from Women: One Man’s Journey. A testimonial to memories which emboss the mind, despite the original experience being but a thin slice of a boy’s life.