The Slanted Gutter

S. Craig Zahler is the terrific independent screenwriter/director behind the brutal western, Bone Tomahawk (2015). He is also an accomplished genre novelist whose latest book is a violent crime novel titled The Slanted Gutter (2021).

Our protagonist is Darren Tasking, aka: Task. He’s a pimp in Great Crown, Florida - a fictional city Zahler created to be an amalgam of Miami, Tampa and Jacksonville. For a pimp, Task treats his prostitutes (“the butterflies”) surprising well, ensuring their security, childcare and a fair wage. He employs significant deception to lure them onto his staff, but after that, he’s a pretty good boss.

Zahler spends a lot of time world-building and getting the reader acclimated to the organized crime hierarchy and customs of Great Crown. The city is run by Russian mob consortiums to whom independent hoodlums like Task pay for the right to operate in the city. The consortiums compete for indie talent and provide some level of protection and support.

Task’s prostitution ring is pretty fascinating as well - operating out of small whorehouse and gambling lounges in converted apartments with architectural security designed to protect the workers and customers from corrupt police raids.

The underworld vernacular everyone uses is a great element of the novel. I won’t spoil it all here, but Zahler’s use of slang and language makes the novel poetic and a pleasure to read.

The plot takes awhile to get off the ground but centers around a new prostitute in Task’s stable named Erin. Her recruitment by Task is diabolically clever and Task’s infatuation with the girl is riddled with complications. Beyond that, the twists and turns were amazing and shouldn’t be ruined in a book review.

You should be aware that this is a graphically-violent novel. Please take this warning seriously because you’re going to read scenes in this paperback that will stick with you forever. It’s a great, great crime novel in the spirit of a classic Fawcett Gold Medal paperback filtered through a blood-soaked gauzy filter of depravity. This is the crime fiction equivalent of an extreme horror novel.

But even with the shocking violence (or maybe because of it), The Slanted Gutter is one of the best modern crime novels I can recall reading. I audibly gasped several times while reading it, and the plot twists and literary fake-outs were so satisfying. Highest recommendation (for the right reader). Get it HERE.