In what has been described as "not altogether bad news for crime fans", The Threadbone Press has announced a major new reprint series in which it will publish over the next decade some of the best American noir and pulp fiction novels of the 20th century.
In the new series Threadbonenoir will bring back into the public domain - on an every six months or so basis - novels which "though once popular and well-known, have since become forgotten - largely due to their becoming unpopular and/or unknown - a phenomenon not entirely uncommon in the febrile world of pulp fiction publishing", says series editor and noir expert Molly Shankshaft.
Not seen in our bookshops since 1958, She Done Him Wrong is a tale of infamy and suspense set in the heart of Frome Vauchurch's seedy underworld where life is cheap and [SPOLIER ALERT] people die. Author Jim Thombone (1918-1972) who was born in New York but settled in Osmington Mills is, says Ms Shankshaft, a very appropriate author with whom to begin the new venture: "he never sold well in his lifetime and probably won't now, but it seems only right that a series destined for the remainders shops should start out with a classic failure. By setting the bar quite low, readers will know what to expect and can decide for themselves whether to call it a day on the whole tired idea".
The Threadbone Press's new THREADBONE noir series will hit the shops shortly amidst a massive publicity campaign which will include newspaper, magazine, television, radio and billboard advertising. The firm of Charles and Morris MacPro have, once again, be engaged to spearhead the effort and are said to be working "flat out" - "fouetter le cheval mort".