AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR
Craig Faustus Buck
"Home Game"
A short story in
Alfred Hitcock's
Mystery Magazine
July/August 2024
A home invasion goes wildly awry when the thief turns out to be a contract killer
whose aspirations to become a murder entrepreneur runs afoul of mindfulness training.
Famous former Shabbos goys include Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and Elvis Presley.
"The Shabbos Goy"
a short story in Jewish Noir II A Shabbos goy (a non-Jew enlisted to perform tasks that ultraorthodox Jews are forbidden to do on the Sabbath) is seduced into committing murder on the Holy days so that the true killer can invoke God as her alibi.
Famous former Shabbos goys include Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and Elvis Presley.
Published in a 2020 Anthony-Nominated Anthology
Head Over Heals
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A process server falls head over heals for a client when she serves a restraining order to the client's ex-lover. Little does she know that her life is about to be turned head over heels.
This noir romantic suspense was first published in Murder-A-Go-Go's: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of The Go-Go's (Down and Out Books, 2019).
2019 Macavity Award Nominee!
Readers' Choice Finalist from the Nov/Dec issue of
Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
Race to Judgment
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A noir tale of sibling rivalry, blind ambition, lust, betrayal, and murder
awash in the mud of Mississippi delta politics. The honorable Enoch Crood,
Judge of the Coahoma County Court, is just a few days away from what
appears to be a shoo-in election to the Mississippi's Attorney General's
office. But when his brother Homer pulls a seemingly harmless, if odious
prank, Enoch finds himself with two feet in the grave and a shovel in his
hand. Things go tragically awry from there.
"It's a crime novel dream"
-- American Library Association's Booklist
"GO DOWN HARD is a spirited mix of noir homage and hard-boiled spoof, and Craig Faustus Buck gets the proportions just right. Sexy, tough and comic -- and often all three at once. Noir fans with
senses of humor will dig it."
--T. Jefferson Parker, author of Full Measure
Go Down Hard is a noir romp through the worlds of aging rock-and-rollers, live Internet sex shows, abusive psychiatrists, Slavic mobsters, child molesters, emotional betrayal, deceit, arson, murder and estate planning.
...one of the finest and most entertaining crime novels of the year... GO DOWN HARD also shows traces of such contemporary masters as Donald E. Westlake and Elmore Leonard – especially in its combination of abrupt, unexpected violence and laugh-out-loud humor. Anyone curious about the state of or characteristics of the contemporary crime novel need look no further than GO DOWN HARD. Let’s hope Craig Faustus Buck doesn’t keep us waiting too long for a follow-up.
--Bookgasm.com
Craig Faustus Buck's GO DOWN HARD is a pleasure. Buck gives us a wisecracking
freelance writer, a delectable female cop, detestable bad guys, and a plot with
excitement that builds to the end.
--Thomas Perry, author of THE BUTCHER'S BOY
Hardbitten and told with a deft hand, Craig Faustus Buck delivers a twisty and
engrossing tale that will stay with you long after the last page is finished.
--Gary Phillips, author of WARLORD OF WILLOW RIDGE
