Fiction: Hard Case Crime Writers

Christa Faust is the author of numerous crime and horror novels including Hoodtown, Triads, and Control Freak, as well as the award-nominated novelization of the movie Snakes on a Plane. She has also worked as a filmmaker, a model, and a Times Square peep show girl, and was the first female author ever to be published by Hard Case Crime. Film director Quentin Tarantino described Christa as “a Veronica in a world of Betties.

"Faust's fondness for writers like Richard Prather is evident in her stripped-down prose and willingness to sacrifice almost everything to the story's momentum. What she doesn't sacrifice, thankfully, is a sardonic voice and deadpan wit that makes Angel the kind of porn star you might actually prefer to share a cocktail with instead of ... oh, forget it. Let's remain somewhat tasteful. --The San Francisco Chronicle

Christa lives in Los Angeles and she reads from her book:

MONEY SHOT

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Richard Aleas (Charles Ardai)Richard Aleas is the pseudonym of an Edgar Award-winning mystery writer and editor whose work has appeared in dozens of publications including Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine as well as anthologies such as Best Mystery Stories of the Year and The Year’s Best Horror Stories. Aleas is the founder and editor of Hard Case Crime.

Richard lives in New York City

Money Shot reviews/media:

“Faust, said to be a former model and Times Square peep-show girl, is the first woman to write for Hard Case Crime, and it’s about time. Her fresh takes on stock scenarios—expressed in indelible one-liners—bring the tough-but-vulnerable Dare to life. It’s a hard-boiled crime story with a soft emotional center, and it makes a perfect addition to the Hard Case canon of old-school sensibility and new-school smarts. Here’s to more femme fatales in the author’s seat—and to a return engagement from Faust.” —Booklist

 
“Hard Case Crime, which has only published pulp crime novels by men, is finally breaking the mold - and with a bang. Money Shot, about a porn star hunting would-be assassins who left her for dead, is penned by Christa Faust, a former Times Square peep-show girl and bondage expert. Faust cheekily describes herself as "a cynical, hard-boiled bitch with a fetish for noir cinema, tattoos and seamed stockings. I've got great gams and perfect size-5 feet, if you can handle the razor-edged tongue that goes with them." The book hits shelves in January. “
—The New York Post (November 5, 2007)