The Crime Studio

The Crime Studio, Steve Aylett, Four Walls Eight Windows Press, 2001

This is a group of interconnected short stories that introduce the denizens of a town called Beerlight. 'Tis a very strange place.

Tony Endless had gotten a job working for a local pest exterminator. On his first job, he took out the firearms carried by everyone in Beerlight and wiped out the dog, cat and aquarium full of fish in the house, not realizing that they were not the pests in question. Word got around town, and now Tony has a thriving business breaking into houses, at night, quietly removing pets that the owners want gone, and, just as quietly, giving them to owners that do want them. Ben Stalkeye and chance don't go together very well. The strangest and unlikeliest things would happen, only on the condition that he didn't want them to happen. This presented problems for his criminal career.

Joe Solitary loved the rush from false accusation and, therefore, did everything possible to be arrested and jailed for crimes in which he was not involved at all. He would go to the local police station all the time and confess to anything and everything, just to be in jail.

In a place where paranoia is part of daily life, Carl Overchoke went back for seconds and thirds. One day, he is told that "they" are on to him. Carl is an average guy who suddenly feels important. He starts acting more self-assured, knowing that he is being watched, and eventually does gain the notice of the police.

Jesse Downtime was not good at robbing people, so he experimented with smaller and smaller thefts. He tore the stalk from an apple at the local deli. He would swipe lint from strangers. He broke into the state zoo at night to steal an ant, then return it to the authorities. He would bump into people on the street, acquiring dozens of their atoms without suspicion. After his release from prison, his thievery was refined to such a point that the thefts occurred only in his mind.

Think Raymond Chandler on hallucinogenic drugs when reading this book. The stories are short, postmodern, surreal and well worth reading.