Frank Vatel
@frankvatel312.bsky.social
Reader, watcher, and scribbler of noir. Also, book-cover illustrator and designer. Published @ Punk Noir Magazine, All Due Respect, Bristol Noir, and Reckon Review.
Reposted by Frank Vatel
If you’re looking for a quick fix this holiday weekend, head over to the ‘zon and grab “Irish,” a short story by @russellthayer10.bsky.social. Such a clever bit of noir about a girl wise beyond her years…and not someone you’d ever want to cross. Link below. Best buck you’ll spend today.
November 28, 2025 at 4:26 PM
If you’re looking for a quick fix this holiday weekend, head over to the ‘zon and grab “Irish,” a short story by @russellthayer10.bsky.social. Such a clever bit of noir about a girl wise beyond her years…and not someone you’d ever want to cross. Link below. Best buck you’ll spend today.
Reposted by Frank Vatel
Not an official Black Friday deal, but my book is at Amazon for 43% off. If you don't want have anything to do with Amazon, you can purchase the book directly from the publisher, but without the discount. Happy Black Friday!
store.bookbaby.com/book/men-don...
store.bookbaby.com/book/men-don...
November 28, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Not an official Black Friday deal, but my book is at Amazon for 43% off. If you don't want have anything to do with Amazon, you can purchase the book directly from the publisher, but without the discount. Happy Black Friday!
store.bookbaby.com/book/men-don...
store.bookbaby.com/book/men-don...
Reposted by Frank Vatel
If you’ve started your wish list for Santa, you might want to include the full color, 450-page men’s adventure mag story and art anthology WEASELS RIPPED MY FLESH! Or you could just buy a copy for yourself or a friend via Amazon worldwide (amzn.to/3Zps7Ow), BudsArtBooks.com or MensPulpMags.com.
November 28, 2025 at 3:45 PM
If you’ve started your wish list for Santa, you might want to include the full color, 450-page men’s adventure mag story and art anthology WEASELS RIPPED MY FLESH! Or you could just buy a copy for yourself or a friend via Amazon worldwide (amzn.to/3Zps7Ow), BudsArtBooks.com or MensPulpMags.com.
Reposted by Frank Vatel
Hey, help the kids!
Also, super proud of my story in this and incredibly honored to be included.
Merry Gritmas, y'all!
Shout-out to the one and only @jdclappwrites.bsky.social for inviting me over to dinner!
www.amazon.com/dp/B0G48VMTM...
Also, super proud of my story in this and incredibly honored to be included.
Merry Gritmas, y'all!
Shout-out to the one and only @jdclappwrites.bsky.social for inviting me over to dinner!
www.amazon.com/dp/B0G48VMTM...
Gritmas: 12 Sinister Tales Inside
Amazon.com: Gritmas: 12 Sinister Tales Inside: 9798274523189: Clapp, JD: Books
www.amazon.com
November 28, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Hey, help the kids!
Also, super proud of my story in this and incredibly honored to be included.
Merry Gritmas, y'all!
Shout-out to the one and only @jdclappwrites.bsky.social for inviting me over to dinner!
www.amazon.com/dp/B0G48VMTM...
Also, super proud of my story in this and incredibly honored to be included.
Merry Gritmas, y'all!
Shout-out to the one and only @jdclappwrites.bsky.social for inviting me over to dinner!
www.amazon.com/dp/B0G48VMTM...
Reposted by Frank Vatel
Day 28 #NoirvemberChallenge #filmnoir you watch over and over again?
For me, it’s Murder My Sweet (’44). Moose, murder, jade, Claire Trevor, and Powell as Marlowe. I find something new to love every time I watch it. Cute as lace pants.
For me, it’s Murder My Sweet (’44). Moose, murder, jade, Claire Trevor, and Powell as Marlowe. I find something new to love every time I watch it. Cute as lace pants.
November 28, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Day 28 #NoirvemberChallenge #filmnoir you watch over and over again?
For me, it’s Murder My Sweet (’44). Moose, murder, jade, Claire Trevor, and Powell as Marlowe. I find something new to love every time I watch it. Cute as lace pants.
For me, it’s Murder My Sweet (’44). Moose, murder, jade, Claire Trevor, and Powell as Marlowe. I find something new to love every time I watch it. Cute as lace pants.
~ Thirty More Novels for #Noirvember ~
Day 28: THE BLANK WALL (1947)
What do you do when your blackmailer falls in love with you? That’s the endlessly fascinating premise of this Elisabeth Sanxay Holding novel, a rare classic-era noir told from a woman’s perspective.
Day 28: THE BLANK WALL (1947)
What do you do when your blackmailer falls in love with you? That’s the endlessly fascinating premise of this Elisabeth Sanxay Holding novel, a rare classic-era noir told from a woman’s perspective.
November 28, 2025 at 8:21 PM
~ Thirty More Novels for #Noirvember ~
Day 28: THE BLANK WALL (1947)
What do you do when your blackmailer falls in love with you? That’s the endlessly fascinating premise of this Elisabeth Sanxay Holding novel, a rare classic-era noir told from a woman’s perspective.
Day 28: THE BLANK WALL (1947)
What do you do when your blackmailer falls in love with you? That’s the endlessly fascinating premise of this Elisabeth Sanxay Holding novel, a rare classic-era noir told from a woman’s perspective.
~ Thirty More Novels for #Noirvember ~
Day 27: KISS THE BLOOD OFF MY HANDS (1940)
Gerald Butler was ahead of his time. Though published in WWII-era Britain, this corker involving a violent drifter and his beloved reads like the greatest Fawcett Gold Medal paperback that never was.
Day 27: KISS THE BLOOD OFF MY HANDS (1940)
Gerald Butler was ahead of his time. Though published in WWII-era Britain, this corker involving a violent drifter and his beloved reads like the greatest Fawcett Gold Medal paperback that never was.
November 27, 2025 at 5:47 PM
~ Thirty More Novels for #Noirvember ~
Day 27: KISS THE BLOOD OFF MY HANDS (1940)
Gerald Butler was ahead of his time. Though published in WWII-era Britain, this corker involving a violent drifter and his beloved reads like the greatest Fawcett Gold Medal paperback that never was.
Day 27: KISS THE BLOOD OFF MY HANDS (1940)
Gerald Butler was ahead of his time. Though published in WWII-era Britain, this corker involving a violent drifter and his beloved reads like the greatest Fawcett Gold Medal paperback that never was.
~ Thirty More Novels for #Noirvember ~
Day 26: THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER (1980)
A lonely gumshoe is hired to track a female killer, only to discover that she reminds him of his estranged daughter. Marc Behm’s writing achieves a melancholy beauty that is rare in crime fiction.
Day 26: THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER (1980)
A lonely gumshoe is hired to track a female killer, only to discover that she reminds him of his estranged daughter. Marc Behm’s writing achieves a melancholy beauty that is rare in crime fiction.
November 26, 2025 at 8:10 PM
~ Thirty More Novels for #Noirvember ~
Day 26: THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER (1980)
A lonely gumshoe is hired to track a female killer, only to discover that she reminds him of his estranged daughter. Marc Behm’s writing achieves a melancholy beauty that is rare in crime fiction.
Day 26: THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER (1980)
A lonely gumshoe is hired to track a female killer, only to discover that she reminds him of his estranged daughter. Marc Behm’s writing achieves a melancholy beauty that is rare in crime fiction.
#NoirvemberChallenge
Favorite Neo-Noir
Favorite Neo-Noir
November 26, 2025 at 7:11 PM
#NoirvemberChallenge
Favorite Neo-Noir
Favorite Neo-Noir
~ Thirty More Novels for #Noirvember ~
Day 25: A KILLER IS LOOSE (1954)
A pacy, gripping ride-along noir in which the story’s hero gains the unwanted friendship of a maniac. For those who think a Gil Brewer novel without a femme fatale is like sex without foreplay, this will set you straight.
Day 25: A KILLER IS LOOSE (1954)
A pacy, gripping ride-along noir in which the story’s hero gains the unwanted friendship of a maniac. For those who think a Gil Brewer novel without a femme fatale is like sex without foreplay, this will set you straight.
November 25, 2025 at 6:55 PM
~ Thirty More Novels for #Noirvember ~
Day 25: A KILLER IS LOOSE (1954)
A pacy, gripping ride-along noir in which the story’s hero gains the unwanted friendship of a maniac. For those who think a Gil Brewer novel without a femme fatale is like sex without foreplay, this will set you straight.
Day 25: A KILLER IS LOOSE (1954)
A pacy, gripping ride-along noir in which the story’s hero gains the unwanted friendship of a maniac. For those who think a Gil Brewer novel without a femme fatale is like sex without foreplay, this will set you straight.
Movie meme of the year.
November 25, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Movie meme of the year.
#NoirvemberChallenge
Favorite noir featuring a boat?
A short scene, but Harry Fabian hides out on a barge at the end of NIGHT AND THE CITY (1950).
The shady little weasel.
Favorite noir featuring a boat?
A short scene, but Harry Fabian hides out on a barge at the end of NIGHT AND THE CITY (1950).
The shady little weasel.
November 25, 2025 at 4:00 PM
#NoirvemberChallenge
Favorite noir featuring a boat?
A short scene, but Harry Fabian hides out on a barge at the end of NIGHT AND THE CITY (1950).
The shady little weasel.
Favorite noir featuring a boat?
A short scene, but Harry Fabian hides out on a barge at the end of NIGHT AND THE CITY (1950).
The shady little weasel.
Chicagoans who travel east for the holidays enjoy an annual taste of what Republican “small government” really means. Or rather, their suspension systems do.
I’m convinced most Indiana roads have not been repaved since the Eisenhower administration.
I’m convinced most Indiana roads have not been repaved since the Eisenhower administration.
November 25, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Chicagoans who travel east for the holidays enjoy an annual taste of what Republican “small government” really means. Or rather, their suspension systems do.
I’m convinced most Indiana roads have not been repaved since the Eisenhower administration.
I’m convinced most Indiana roads have not been repaved since the Eisenhower administration.
~ Thirty (More) Novels for #Noirvember ~
Day 24: GRIMHAVEN (1985)
For years, the only way to read Charles Willeford’s rejected sequel to Miami Blues was by visiting his archives. Now it’s online. Because everything disturbing is online. A bucket-list novel if there ever was one.
Day 24: GRIMHAVEN (1985)
For years, the only way to read Charles Willeford’s rejected sequel to Miami Blues was by visiting his archives. Now it’s online. Because everything disturbing is online. A bucket-list novel if there ever was one.
November 24, 2025 at 10:58 PM
~ Thirty (More) Novels for #Noirvember ~
Day 24: GRIMHAVEN (1985)
For years, the only way to read Charles Willeford’s rejected sequel to Miami Blues was by visiting his archives. Now it’s online. Because everything disturbing is online. A bucket-list novel if there ever was one.
Day 24: GRIMHAVEN (1985)
For years, the only way to read Charles Willeford’s rejected sequel to Miami Blues was by visiting his archives. Now it’s online. Because everything disturbing is online. A bucket-list novel if there ever was one.
November 24, 2025 at 4:06 PM
#NoirvemberChallenge
Which noir actor stole the scenes they were in?
My vote goes to the man who likes talking to a man who likes to talk.
Which noir actor stole the scenes they were in?
My vote goes to the man who likes talking to a man who likes to talk.
November 23, 2025 at 10:22 PM
#NoirvemberChallenge
Which noir actor stole the scenes they were in?
My vote goes to the man who likes talking to a man who likes to talk.
Which noir actor stole the scenes they were in?
My vote goes to the man who likes talking to a man who likes to talk.
~ Thirty (More) Novels for #Noirvember ~
Day 23: THE MERCENARIES (1960)
The first novel Donald Westlake wrote under his own name starts like a Hammett tribute, complete with a mob fixer trying to solve a murder. Then it takes a turn toward darkness and becomes a masterpiece all its own.
Day 23: THE MERCENARIES (1960)
The first novel Donald Westlake wrote under his own name starts like a Hammett tribute, complete with a mob fixer trying to solve a murder. Then it takes a turn toward darkness and becomes a masterpiece all its own.
November 23, 2025 at 10:12 PM
~ Thirty (More) Novels for #Noirvember ~
Day 23: THE MERCENARIES (1960)
The first novel Donald Westlake wrote under his own name starts like a Hammett tribute, complete with a mob fixer trying to solve a murder. Then it takes a turn toward darkness and becomes a masterpiece all its own.
Day 23: THE MERCENARIES (1960)
The first novel Donald Westlake wrote under his own name starts like a Hammett tribute, complete with a mob fixer trying to solve a murder. Then it takes a turn toward darkness and becomes a masterpiece all its own.
~ Thirty (More) Novels for #Noirvember ~
Day 22: THE CRIMES OF JORDAN WISE (2006)
Bill Pronzini’s versatility is legendary. This novel—narrated by an old sailor with a grim trail of undiscovered crimes—finds him in James M. Cain waters, and he navigates them to perfection.
Day 22: THE CRIMES OF JORDAN WISE (2006)
Bill Pronzini’s versatility is legendary. This novel—narrated by an old sailor with a grim trail of undiscovered crimes—finds him in James M. Cain waters, and he navigates them to perfection.
November 22, 2025 at 9:10 PM
~ Thirty (More) Novels for #Noirvember ~
Day 22: THE CRIMES OF JORDAN WISE (2006)
Bill Pronzini’s versatility is legendary. This novel—narrated by an old sailor with a grim trail of undiscovered crimes—finds him in James M. Cain waters, and he navigates them to perfection.
Day 22: THE CRIMES OF JORDAN WISE (2006)
Bill Pronzini’s versatility is legendary. This novel—narrated by an old sailor with a grim trail of undiscovered crimes—finds him in James M. Cain waters, and he navigates them to perfection.
Reposted by Frank Vatel
Cheers, Bluesky! Very proud to share that my Debut Crime Collection TALES FROM TERREBONNE is being published in 2026, courtesy of Rock and a Hard Place! Thank You Everyone on here who’s supported my writing! Thank You @robdsmith.bsky.social and the @rhppress.bsky.social Team for the dream come true!
September 18, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Cheers, Bluesky! Very proud to share that my Debut Crime Collection TALES FROM TERREBONNE is being published in 2026, courtesy of Rock and a Hard Place! Thank You Everyone on here who’s supported my writing! Thank You @robdsmith.bsky.social and the @rhppress.bsky.social Team for the dream come true!
Reposted by Frank Vatel
Stoked this excellent series is being rebooted. Includes my episode, “Stealing Paradise.”
November 21, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Stoked this excellent series is being rebooted. Includes my episode, “Stealing Paradise.”
Reposted by Frank Vatel
SINNERS RIDE, the weird western that's lived in my head for almost six years, is out now on Kindle from 13 Days Publishing !
Ben Keelock was hanged at sundown. By sunrise, he was riding again.
www.amazon.com/dp/B0G36C8VZ1
Ben Keelock was hanged at sundown. By sunrise, he was riding again.
www.amazon.com/dp/B0G36C8VZ1
Sinners Ride
Sinners Ride - Kindle edition by Barrows , Brandon. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Sinners Ride.
www.amazon.com
November 21, 2025 at 8:55 PM
SINNERS RIDE, the weird western that's lived in my head for almost six years, is out now on Kindle from 13 Days Publishing !
Ben Keelock was hanged at sundown. By sunrise, he was riding again.
www.amazon.com/dp/B0G36C8VZ1
Ben Keelock was hanged at sundown. By sunrise, he was riding again.
www.amazon.com/dp/B0G36C8VZ1
Reposted by Frank Vatel
A sizzling review of my "Poolside" story published in the LAXtras charity anthology (edited by Margot Kinberg) - fun read folks!
Mark Yost (@taketwonoir)
I had the pleasure of reading some more great work by M.E. Proctor, the Texas-based noir writer. This was a short story, part of an L.A. anthology.
In Poolside, we meet private detective Jack Carver,...
substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 10:44 PM
A sizzling review of my "Poolside" story published in the LAXtras charity anthology (edited by Margot Kinberg) - fun read folks!
~ Thirty (More) Novels for #Noirvember ~
Day 21: MURDER ME FOR NICKELS (1960)
It’s difficult to write a funny noir novel, let alone one that observes gang warfare from a fresh angle. Peter Rabe does both here with a jukebox-racket exposé that buzzes with off-kilter dialogue.
Day 21: MURDER ME FOR NICKELS (1960)
It’s difficult to write a funny noir novel, let alone one that observes gang warfare from a fresh angle. Peter Rabe does both here with a jukebox-racket exposé that buzzes with off-kilter dialogue.
November 21, 2025 at 11:55 PM
~ Thirty (More) Novels for #Noirvember ~
Day 21: MURDER ME FOR NICKELS (1960)
It’s difficult to write a funny noir novel, let alone one that observes gang warfare from a fresh angle. Peter Rabe does both here with a jukebox-racket exposé that buzzes with off-kilter dialogue.
Day 21: MURDER ME FOR NICKELS (1960)
It’s difficult to write a funny noir novel, let alone one that observes gang warfare from a fresh angle. Peter Rabe does both here with a jukebox-racket exposé that buzzes with off-kilter dialogue.
~ Thirty (More) Novels for #Noirvember ~
Day 20: THE KILLER INSIDE ME (1952)
Arguably, there are better Jim Thompson novels. But no narrator in crime fiction infiltrates the reader’s mind—and lingers there—like deputy Lou Ford, Central City’s resident philosopher and psychopath.
Day 20: THE KILLER INSIDE ME (1952)
Arguably, there are better Jim Thompson novels. But no narrator in crime fiction infiltrates the reader’s mind—and lingers there—like deputy Lou Ford, Central City’s resident philosopher and psychopath.
November 20, 2025 at 11:54 PM
~ Thirty (More) Novels for #Noirvember ~
Day 20: THE KILLER INSIDE ME (1952)
Arguably, there are better Jim Thompson novels. But no narrator in crime fiction infiltrates the reader’s mind—and lingers there—like deputy Lou Ford, Central City’s resident philosopher and psychopath.
Day 20: THE KILLER INSIDE ME (1952)
Arguably, there are better Jim Thompson novels. But no narrator in crime fiction infiltrates the reader’s mind—and lingers there—like deputy Lou Ford, Central City’s resident philosopher and psychopath.