Front Page Palooka: A Nick Moretti Mystery

Front Page Palooka: A Nick Moretti Mystery

Newark... Las Vegas... Hollywood ... 1954

If you dig hard-boiled pulp and noir heroes like Chandler's Philip Marlowe, Spillane's Mike Hammer and Hammett's Sam Spade, Nick Moretti is your certainly man...

Years of fight halls and newsrooms have East Coast sportswriter Nick Moretti looking for a change. When a sloppy hustle goes bad and Nick takes a bullet in the shoulder, itâ€™s time to go west. Hired by Pinnacle Pictures to write a boxing movie about troubled heavyweight champ Jericho â€˜Rattlesnakeâ€™ McNeal (who accidentally killed a man in a dark juke joint), Nick joins forces with sexy public relations gal, Dillian Dawson for a cross-country tour to give an everyman boxer an unlikely shot at the world title. What could go wrong? From the crackling neon of old Hollywood and Sin City, through the steamy Delta, and on to Chi-Town, the glitzy dream becomes a noir nightmare, and newshound Nick Moretti is about to commit a reporterâ€™s greatest sin â€“ becoming a Front Page Palooka ...

For this entry in men's adventure boxing series, writer Anthony Venutolo steps in as "Jack Tunney," the shared pseudonym for today's hottest crime writers writing for the monthly pulp books. Upon its release in 2013, 'Front Page Palooka' was nominated for three New Pulp Awards including Best Novella, Best New Writer and Best New Character. Venutolo has won five critical writing awards from the New Jersey Press Association and has appeared in such publications as Bikini, Details, POV and Playboy Online. Heâ€™s also written columns for the gambling magazines Chance, Casino Player and Strictly Slots.

"Bourbon & Blondes," his second book, is filled with short stories and flash fiction and is currently available. His web site is at AnthonyVenutolo.com and he blogs from Bukowskiâ€™s Basement.

INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR

Q: Front Page Palooka reads like a vintage movie. What were your influences while banging out your prose?

VENUTOLO: Is it blasphemous to say that I try not to read in the genre Iâ€™m writing? Instead of soaking up the obvious masters like Chandler, Spillane, Robert E. Howard or any of the pulps, I went on a film noir watching tear for about roughly a year and soaked up pretty much every film I could get my eyes on. The great thing is that between sites like YouTube, Netflix and the Internet Archive, a treasure trove of both classics and B-flicks can be found to stream. Also, cable providers like Comcast have their own stupendous movie collections that can be watched On Demand at home. Itâ€™s ridiculous how many hidden noir repositories there are.

Q: So when would you watch?

VENUTOLO: Iâ€™d average a film or two every couple of days. Since my story was set in 1954, I really wanted to get a handle on how people lived, worked, spoke, dressed, worked, walked, talked, etc. It was a wonderful experience living in that retro world of George Raft, Richard Conte, Glenn Ford, William Holden, Richard Widmark, Robert Mitchum, Fred MacMurray, Sterling Hayden, Orson Welles and of course, my favorite, Bogart.
(Laughing) Even though I said I wouldnâ€™t READ Chandler, I certainly dove into Marlowe â€“ in radio form â€“ by soaking up a plethora of vintage radio dramas via the Internet Archive. Again, itâ€™s all there. You just have to know what youâ€™re looking for.

Q: When would you write?

VENUTOLO: Believe me, there were many sleepless nights... You have no idea. Although, it's worth it from the feedback I've received.

Q: How is working with Fight Cardâ€™s author cooperative different than traditional publishing?

VENUTOLO: Well, this is my first time out of the gate so working with the FIGHT CARD team has been a blast. As far as I can tell, there isnâ€™t a more supportive bunch of guys. From the writers (who give great advice) to co-creator Paul Bishop (who gave great edits); the whole experience was not as painful as it could've been.

Country	USA
Author	Anthony Venutolo
Binding	Kindle Edition
Format	Kindle eBook
IsAdultProduct
Label	Fight Card Books
Manufacturer	Fight Card Books
NumberOfPages	124
PublicationDate	2013-10-03
Publisher	Fight Card Books
ReleaseDate	2013-10-03
Studio	Fight Card Books

Front Page Palooka: A Nick Moretti Mystery

INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR

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