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    Hammurabi Road
    Hammurabi Road
    Hammurabi Road
    Ebook72 pages1 hour

    Hammurabi Road

    By Steve Vernon

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Hammurabi Road is a dark redneck noir tale of retribution, backwoods justice, and getting closer to a black bear than was ever dreamed possible. We start off with the eternal triangle - four men ride out in a pick-up truck; three in front and one duct-taped and bound in the back. It's a clear cut case of Northern Ontario railroad vengeance, served up as cold as a frozen hunting knife. 

    It’s a short, fast read – about 15,000 words – and could be best described as an exercise in redneck noir.

    "If Harlan Ellison, Richard Matheson and Robert Bloch had a three-way sex romp in a hot tub, and then a team of scientists came in and filtered out the water and mixed the leftover DNA into a test tube, the resulting genetic experiment would most likely grow up into Steve Vernon." - Bookgasm 

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSteve Vernon
    Release dateOct 17, 2016
    ISBN9781533701251
    Hammurabi Road
    Author

    Steve Vernon

    Everybody always wants a peek at the man behind the curtain. They all want to see just exactly what makes an author tick.Which ticks me off just a little bit - but what good is a lifetime if you can't ride out the peeve and ill-feeling and grin through it all. Hi! I am Steve Vernon and I'd love to scare you. Along the way I'll try to entertain you and I guarantee a giggle as well.If you want to picture me just think of that old dude at the campfire spinning out ghost stories and weird adventures and the grand epic saga of how Thud the Second stepped out of his cave with nothing more than a rock in his fist and slew the mighty saber-toothed tiger.If I listed all of the books I've written I'd most likely bore you - and I am allergic to boring so I will not bore you any further. Go and read some of my books. I promise I sound a whole lot better in print than in real life. Heck, I'll even brush my teeth and comb my hair if you think that will help any.For more up-to-date info please follow my blog at:http://stevevernonstoryteller.wordpress.com/And follow me at Twitter:@StephenVernonyours in storytelling,Steve Vernon

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      Book preview

      Hammurabi Road - Steve Vernon

      What People Are Saying About Steve Vernon

      IF HARLAN ELLISON, Richard Matheson and Robert Bloch had a three-way sex romp in a hot tub, and then a team of scientists came in and filtered out the water and mixed the leftover DNA into a test tube, the resulting genetic experiment would most likely grow up into Steve Vernon. – Bookgasm

      Steve Vernon is something of an anomaly in the world of horror literature. He's one of the freshest new voices in the genre although his career has spanned twenty years. Writing with a rare swagger and confidence, Steve Vernon can lead his readers through an entire gamut of emotions from outright fear and repulsion to pity and laughter. - Cemetery Dance

      Armed with a bizarre sense of humor, a huge amount of originality, a flair for taking risks and a strong grasp of characterization - Steve's got the chops for sure. - Dark Discoveries

      Steve Vernon is a hard writer to pin down. And that’s a good thing. – Dark Scribe Magazine

      This genre needs new blood and Steve Vernon is quite a transfusion. –Edward Lee, author of FLESH GOTHIC and CITY INFERNAL

      Steve Vernon is one of the finest new talents of horror and dark fiction - Owl Goingback, author of CROTA

      Steve Vernon was born to write. He's the real deal and we're lucky to have him. - Richard Chizmar

      HAMMURABI ROAD

      THE MOON WAS A STONE’S throw away from the Jack Pine Stretch and the lights of the town were nothing but a distant memory and the three of us were bunched together in the front seat of the pickup on account of the back seat being crammed full of Tyree. He was kicking up some, trying to shuck himself out of the duct tape, snare wire and rope we’d tangled him up in, but other than that he wasn’t making much of a sound. The gag helped some and fear of retribution did the rest.

      Moose are the worst, I said.

      Worse than cows? Donny asked.

      The thing about Donny was he didn’t always care about hearing the answer. To him talking was a little like table tennis. The object of the game was to snap that ball right back at the other guy just as fast and as hard as you can. Donny had an incurable habit of asking questions because it pretty well guaranteed an answer. Words just felt good coming out of his mouth, I guess. I didn’t mind. Donny looked up to me and made no secret about it. I did my best to live up to his respect. Bert and Ernie couldn’t have done it any better.

      Worse than bears, I said. Usually a moose will just bounce, but man alive when they get their hooves tangled up in the tracks the engine will drag them a mile before letting go. You’ve got to hose their carcasses out of the locomotive’s wheel trucks. I’m telling you that nothing stinks like dead moose. Not even Irvin.

      Donny liked that. He grinned me that Donny smile of his. Half-cocked to one side, all bright and innocent. Looking at that Donny smile I knew that nothing could ever change between us. Donny and I were arguing about what kind of track-kill stank the worst after it had been pile-driver-pureed by a half a mile of freight train. It happened more often than you might think.

      You’re sure about that, are you? Donny asked.

      Sure as shooting, I replied.

      Shooting isn’t sure, Donny pointed out. Sometimes people miss.

      Donny had a point in his own weird kind of way. That was Donny’s magic. He wasn’t slow or retarded or whatever you want to call it. He just had a different way of looking at things, was all.

      You know what I mean Donny.

      I know what you figure you mean, but you’re only guessing. There’s three sides to every story, Donny said. Yours, mine and the truth.

      I smiled and nodded, preferring not to argue, but I did know what I was talking about. In my twenty years of railroading I’d shovelled and swept and hosed more track-kill from off of the CNR rails than the rest of this pickup truck combined, including Tyree. There was something magnetic in those rails that called for the kill more surely than the north wind calls the wandering wild goose home.

      Do you think there are any bears out here? Donny asked nervously.

      Donny gets antsy when you mention bears, even the Winnie the Pooh stuffed kind. He’s got what you might call a history with bears.

      All of the bears will be down to the town dump by now, feeding off of the weekend leavings, I said. And here we are out here, missing the show.

      It was as true as train tracks.

      The bears hang around down at the old town dump and waited all week for the garbage trucks to roll in with something good to eat. It was easy pickings, sure, but I think it was also just something for them to do. Just the same way we’d go up there to the dump on the weekends and watch the bears picking

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