Synopses & Reviews
Chicago, 1950. An S&M supermodel, a visionary mafioso; a dying editress of pulp fiction, a legendary horror novelist; a screenwriter stuck in a war zone, a crippled stunt woman; a McCarthy blacklisted cinematographer-turned-pornographer; two warring godfathers; and a heap of Nazi gold. Three perfect heists--same day, same place.
The House of Whacks--it'll knock you sideways.
Review
"Cheesecake bondage pinups, cheap-thrill dime novels and B-movies collide in Branton's pitch-perfect novel. His ear for the lingo and lowlife landscape lives up to the legacy of Charles Willeford and Cornell Woolrich, and he delivers an ending that is literally dynamite." Publishers Weekly
Review
"A book about a low-down, dirty world, and the shocking truth about why that world had to end. You read it fast, with a permanent wry smile....Full of the twang and slang of the film noir era, written lovingly from the contemplative distance of fifty years, it's cleverly done, and true." The Observer (U.K.)
Review
"A wisecracking novel, that is truly both wise and cracking." Esquire
Review
"This is smart stuff. [Branton] convincingly captures an America on the cusp: between movies and TV; between common-sense and McCarthyism...between popular music and Pop Music; between sex and titillation; between the legal and the not-so legal. That's really what this book is about. It's not about its plot, which, to be frank, is messily constructed and badly paid off in explosive farce. It's about the journey rather than its ultimate destination. It's good, but the 28-year-old Branton will write much better." Gerald Houghton, The Edge (U.K.)
Review
"Branton has an uniquely nineties take on the crime thriller genre." The Face (U.K.)
Review
"Branton has wild talent, which the S&M mafia noir of The House of Whacks proves in spades." Neon (U.K.)
About the Author
Matthew Branton wrote The House of Whacks in Sheffield and London between the ages of 27 and 28. He is also the author of The Love Parade and, most recently, The Hired Gun.