Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ziggy Popper at Large | 2016 | Kirk Alex | Buy |
Ziggy Popper at Large collects 14 of Kirk Alex’s short stories under the subtitle “Tales of General Degeneracy, of Mayhem & Debauchery,” which is a fair warning about what is inside. The title story features a freshly released ex-con nursing a beer in a seedy East Hollywood dive bar, and the rest of the collection follows a similar trajectory through the grimy side of Los Angeles life.
The book also includes cab driver stories drawn from Alex’s years behind the wheel and noir parodies starring his private eye character Choo-Choo Buschitski. Published in 2016, it works as a sampler platter of Alex’s various modes: straight crime fiction, dark humor, and the kind of raw storytelling that does not bother trying to make anyone look good. Readers who already know his novels will find familiar territory here, and newcomers get a broad overview of what he does.