The Doc and the Dame (Merchant #1) by Chris Miller
The Doc and the Dame is the first Sam Merchant thriller, set in a strange alternate reality full of things that go bump in the night.
United StatesA fun, weird little hard-boiled private eye / monster mash-up short story.
Really enjoyed this. Quick, down to business, and a blast. Looking forward to more of Merchant!
United StatesA New Favorite Private Dick
Private eye, Sam Merchant's luck might be about to change if he can stomach the request of the beautiful potential client with a startling and peculiar job offer. All Sam needs to do is kill her husband. Can Sam make the transition from private detective to killer-for-hire? Will the surreal and unbelievable tale spun by the estranged wife be sufficient to nudge him in that direction? What will Sam discover at the palatial manor where a sinister doctor performs unspeakable experiments on his voluntary subjects? If he accepts the job, will he be able to trust his senses long enough to complete the task at hand? Caught between The Doc and The Dame might be the worst place Sam Merchant has found himself. Chris Miller takes readers back to the days of hardboiled detective fiction with a delightfully gritty and horror-themed twist. Blending perverse nightmares with period storytelling, Miller nails the amalgam he's crafting.
20 K changes everything
Don’t trust your eyes. Haunted house, private eyes, sexy dame, Insane doctor - what’s not to love. The question is - is what we have read real or just what the house wants us to think is real - can’t wait for part 2.
United StatesNoir Nightmare
Totally kick-ass story. Great humor, and twisted premise. Bogart meets Barker.
United StatesGET READY FOR YOUR NEW FAVORITE THRILLER SERIES
I read this one over a month ago and let me tell you, it has been living rent free in my brain since then. Merchant is a private dick who owes money to everyone in town, his ex-eife, landlord, and the owner of the local watering hole. FFS, he’s sleeping in the closet in his office. When Mrs. Spieglman comes in to request his services, Merchant gets more than his fee. Her husband is being Frankensteinian with some of the assistants in the house and she needs an end put to it. What will Merchant do when face to face with Mr. Spieglman? Miller excels in this series (I have read the next one as well and ooooooh buddy, it only gets better from here.). Interweaving dark humor with noir and a touch of bizarro mixed with gore, we see Chris with a different genre. And let me tell you, this is one genre redefine I can get behind. 5/5 incorrectly cooked steaks.