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Dewey Decimal Number: 813 EAN: 9780966347302 Edition: 1 Format: Unabridged ISBN: 0966347307 Label: Uglytown Productions Manufacturer: Uglytown Productions Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 224 Publication Date: July 01, 1998 Publisher: Uglytown Productions Studio: Uglytown Productions Related Items: Alternate Versions: Click to Display Browse for similar items by category: Click to Display Editorial Review: Amazon.com Review: Packaged like a pulp detective novel from the '30s, this pocket-sized mystery is packed with the kind of dialogue that makes gumshoe fiction so ripe for parody: "One false step and it's curtains for the floozy!" "There's nothing like a mourning widow ... and Suzi Biggs was nothing like a mourning widow." "Consider this an advance on a beating to come." Every cup of coffee, sleazy witness, and see-through negligee is critiqued in hard-bitten style by detective Benjamin Drake in this doubly amusing book, which works as both straight whodunit fiction and a winking satire of all things Hammettesque. Not to be missed by fans of the genre, fans of genre, or any genre of fans. --James DiGiovanna Product Description: "By the Balls" is a bowling alley murder mystery set in the fictional town of Testacy City. The story follows the exploits of Ben Drake, a pulp-style detective with a passion for small cigars and Old Grand-Dad and a weakness for women in trouble. Drake is employed by the Always Reddy Detective Agency, and his latest assignment is to investigate the bizarre murder of Gentleman Joe Biggs, a well-loved local bowling hero. As he continues to unearth clues in the case, Drake is drawn deeper and deeper into a city-wide criminal conspiracy. Designed in the fashion of a 1940s pulp detective novel. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Irresistible package surrounds inadequate story.If only as much effort and thought had gone into the writing of this book as into the design, Ugly Town might really have had something. The covers and illustrations, the intro pages- heck, even the size and weight- are darn near perfect in exactly the retro way they intended. But the writers have a background which includes scripting comics for Dark Horse, and that's how this reads. It's a meatless tribute to all things hard-boiled, featuring prose written in a spare (much too spare) ... Read More Rating:  - Wow - Naugahide, bakelite and bourbon pack less stinkSuperb. This book makes me wanna head to the nearest dive bar, sink a few stiff ones and hop into my time machine -- destination: 1942. The only reason I don't is, well, time travel and booze don't mix. So I make due with By The Balls. Rating: - Grabs you so hard, it hurtsFor men, this book literally grabs you by the balls from the first page and never lets go (for women, this book figurativly grabs you by the balls, etc.). The character of Ben Drake is the kind of hard drinking, hard talking, hard detecting detective you just don't see anymore but really should. The mystery is pure old school P.I. with a nice dash of modernism mixed in for a concoction that sure packs a wallop. Please, I beg of you, read this book. Rating: - TITTILATING AND THOROUGHLY ENGROSSING!Tom Fassbender and Jim Pascoe (alias Dashiell Loveless), have invented the worlds first time-travel conveyance out of paper and ink, and heavily fueled by Ketel One Vodka! (read this books' "About the Authors" page to decode that statement) Would you like to know more? Grab "By The Balls", their first collaborative publication from UGLY TOWN PRESS. This short, tittilating, and thoroughly engrossing trip to the world of Testacy City will grab you by the you-know-whats, and squeeze until it ... Read More Rating: - TRUE Pulp Fiction IS BACK!This is the kind of book that gets many people hooked on reading in the first place. Calling it a page turner might sound cliche, but a well timed cliche is right at home amongst its pages. With characters that show up in your imagination in black and white, By the Balls makes you check the inside cover to see when it was 'really' written. Lets hope there are more like it on the way! 
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