With Fury In Hand

by Lee Thompson

Over the next seventeen hours, on the unforgiving streets of Flint, Michigan, five people with troubled pasts and uncertain futures will collide in a devastating chain of intertwining events.

Through the eyes of a homeless orphan, a banking executive with disturbing fantasies, an adulterous wife, a young prostitute with a stash of money, and a man trying to leave his criminal days behind, you will witness their pain and feel their loss.

Redemption requires forgiveness, but fury serves no master.

Genres: Thriller

101 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

“Lee Thompson knows his horror-noir. He fuses both genres together in the turmoil of terror, tragedy, blood, guilt, and lost chances at redemption.”–Tom Piccirilli, author of THE LAST KIND WORDS

Lee Thompson is the bestselling author of the Suspense novels A BEAUTIFUL MADNESS (August 2014), IT’S ONLY DEATH (January 2015), and WITH FURY IN HAND (May 2015). The dominating threads weaved throughout his work are love, loss, and learning how to live again. A firm believer in the enduring power of the human spirit, Lee believes that stories, no matter their format, set us on the path of transformation. He is represented by the extraordinary Chip MacGregor of MacGregor Literary. Visit Lee’s website to discover more: www.leethompsonfiction.com

Some of my favorite authors: Clive Barker, Donald Westlake, Peter Straub, Stephen King, Greg Gifune, Lee Thomas, William Faulkner, Robert Dunbar, John Gardner, Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane, John Connolly, Jack Cady, Tom Piccirilli, Brian Hodge, Douglas Clegg, Jack Ketchum, Lee Child, James Lee Burke, and Cormac McCarthy.

"10 out of 10 Stars... GOSSAMER: A TALE OF LOVE AND TRAGEDY will blow you away my friends. It is that good." -- Peter Schwotzer/Famous Monsters of Filmland.

"WHEN WE JOIN JESUS IN HELL is as crazy as its tormented protagonist. Hard as nails.” – Jack Ketchum

"The voice of the deputy feels authentic: brooding, soulful, haunted. In fact, there’s a heartfelt quality to the whole grim book. Even some of the most grisly moments manage to be poetic and full of emotion, and the author’s literary influences echo loudly. At times, the mood evokes Piccirilli or Braunbeck or Gifune combined with Sherwood Anderson."-- Robert Dunbar, author of WILLY, THE PINES, and THE SHORE

“Thompson’s voice is his own — strong, hypnotic, and unsettling. Nursery Rhymes 4 Dead Children is a bleak fucking book, and therein lies its danger. So beautifully-constructed is Thompson’s prose, that the reader is often caught off-guard, mesmerized by a turn of phrase or a descriptive passage, until the book grabs you by the balls and rips them right off, breaking your heart and your psyche in the process.” — Brian Keene, author of GHOUL, DARK HOLLOW and THE RISING.

"I’ve said it many times and believe it more everyday, Lee Thompson is not only the next big name at Delirium Books but in the genre." – Shane Ryan Staley at Darkfuse Publications.

"The Dampness of Mourning is a riveting Thriller..." Midwest Book Review.

"Lee Thompson’s prose is electric!" — Bob Freeman, author of DESCENDANT.

"Like a dark Twilight Zone meets Alfred Hitchcock Mystery." -- Lee Thompson, author of NURSERY RHYMES 4 DEAD CHILDREN.


http://leethompsonfiction.com

Reviews

[Paul Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

"You climb too high in that opinion of yourself and the fall going to kill you".
 
With Fury in Hand is the gripping story of five people from very different walks of life, destined to come together in a catastrophic head on collision. You can see it, feel it, you live it with them, through them, you know it's going to happen and there's not a thing you can do to save them. Who comes out the other side, to live another day, irrevocably changed forever, I'm not telling but one thing's for sure it's well worth finding out.
 
Max Straub the banker, the respectable one or so you'd imagine, drifting through life with the darkest of thoughts, careening toward reality, will he fall or will he be pushed.
 
Grace MacDonald, just turned eighteen, kicked out with nowhere to go but the streets, all she needs is a helping hand but what will be hidden in that helping hand.
 
Isabelle Straub, Max's wife, a woman desperate for love and a marriage that contains none, should she do the next best thing in her eyes and get it elsewhere. A decision that may well come back to haunt her.
 
Caleb Majors is twenty-three and you could say he's turned a significant corner in his life, no more living it wild, no more trouble, in fact maybe he's found true happiness in the love of a good woman and a lovely little kid, but does trouble ever really leave completely.
 
Layla, his twin sister, makes her money by selling her ass, uncomplicated, just the way she likes it, lonely at times but she has a dream and she's saving for it, what possessed her to help the homeless girl, who knows but it's another step that links these five people.
 
Lee Thompson's extremely keen observational skills are evident once more in his characterization, his descriptive prowess presents his charges in a manner that leaps off the page at you, inspiring all sorts of feelings, offering things you'd never normally notice. This is a story about people, darkness in some, light in others, flawed in ways that make them real and I did enjoy it.
 
Also posted at http://paulnelson.booklikes.com/post/...

[Andrew Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd read one previous novella from Thompson, It's Only Death, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Clearly, the author's formula is to paint dark pictures in urban settings featuring a cast of weird and troubled protagonists. There will be violence and death, of that we can be sure!

Here, we are introduced to a group of people each nursing their own set of problems, including:

- A young girl wondering the streets without money or a roof over her head, desperate to find a friend and means of sustinance.
- A married banker who has daydreams full of violence and who carries a knife strapped to his leg.
- A younger colleague of the banker who is smugly enjoying his illicit affair.
- A downright bad dude who is trying to block out his violent streak and lead a better life.

Their lives eventually interlink in a way you just know is going to be bad news for some, if not all, of the cast. The prose is economic, the descriptions sparse and it's certainly got a strange and compelling charm. My only problem is that I failed to identify any sympathy with this troupe of reprobates. Well, maybe with Grace, the homeless waif who largely acts as an observer to the mayhem. But even her character is underdeveloped to the extent I truly felt ambivalent about her fate.

It's an entertaining, short read - but I know Thompson is capable of better.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. (Will round up on Amazon)

I have to start this review with a quote that came right from the synopsis: "Redemption requires forgiveness, but fury serves no master." If I had to use one sentence to sum up this incredibly gripping novella, this would be it! Lee Thompson introduces us to a cast of five main characters (along with some additional ones), and gives us a taste of their individual lives.

And these characters could NOT have been leading lives any more different from each other than they do. Thompson lets us get to know each of them intimately, forging a bond between ourselves, and these individuals--sometimes sympathetic, hopeful, optimistic, and at least one that was downright terrifying in every respect. The true beauty of his writing in this was in how they all come together, in some manner, and become part of a whole.

This is a gritty, emotional, impossible to put down read from first to last. Thompson breaths life into these people and makes them so HUMAN, that you won't be able to forget them easily. As I've said in other reviews, that is something that truly makes a story stand out to me in every respect.

A fantastic addition to the DarkFuse novella line!

Highly recommended!

*I received an advance copy of this novella from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Lee Thompson once again writes a simple tale that's dark but compelling, and perfect for the novella format. The cover with the hard looking dude sporting an assault rifle is a little misleading. It's not a shoot em up story but instead a melancholy tale about a group of different people surviving in the inner city. Each of them damaged and dispirited in some way, but each trying to make a change for what they feel is for the better. It's a sort of slice of life story as we follow these characters as they make these choices for themselves and watch in both horror and anticipation as these actions cause them to interconnect and collide on one fateful night. It's a sympathetic and compassionate look at flawed individuals that is still unflinching in the belief that sometimes you can't stop what's coming, no matter how much you try.

"You climb too high in that opinion of yourself and the fall going to kill you."

Thompson sets the novella in Flint, Michigan, considered one of the most dangerous and unfortunately neglected cities in the country. This choice doesn't seem arbitrary. If you are familiar with anything about the city, it will add an extra mood of sadness and gloom that supports the book's atmosphere. A tale of broken people in a broken city. And another solid story by Lee Thompson.

"I like you just the way you be now. You smell real good. You smile and it makes me want to kiss you. You open your mouth and say something and it's like I'm hearing the voice of God. It gives me hope, and that's something, since there is so little of that to go around these days."

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dysfunction Junction, what’s your function. Hookers and psychos with homeless and gangsters. (Ok, so I like Schoolhouse rock. Got a problem with that?)

Lee Thompsons latest takes a dark look at inner city life gone sideways. Just regular folks trying to survive in an unforgiving urban landscape. (Please take that “regular” with a grain of salt.) Lee knows how to pen the human experience and bring his characters to life. No matter what their circumstances or how hopeless they may appear, Lee has a knack for bringing all those jagged edges into the light – tragedy and loss, love and sadness, hopelessness and redemption. Another solid work and as always, highly recommended. 4+ Stars!

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an E-arc from Darkfuse Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

The lives of five people become intertwined over the course of 24 hours, ending in a tragic frenzy of violence. Max, a banker who harbours violent fantasies; Isabelle, Max's neglected wife who has turned to one of his colleagues for affection; Layla, a prostitute who wants a better life; Caleb, her brother who is trying to turn his life around and Grace, a homeless orphan who just wants to get off the streets.

I found the first third of this interesting but not really grabbing me, however after this point the threads of all the stories started coming together really well and it became impossible to stop reading until the end. Thompson does a great job in creating some very dubious characters that you can care about and feel invested in. Max was probably the most problematic character or me but even so I couldn't help but feel sorry for him as his story progressed. Not one character is what you would call perfect but it's their complex natures and flaws that draw you further into their lives and the overall story.

I can't say that this is a story that you can really enjoy, it's a hard hitting look at the cruelty of people and it left me feeling hopeless but for the last couple of pages. That being said it was a read I felt invested in, I cared about these characters and their lives and this is what makes it a read worth seeking out. Another great noir piece from this author, subgenre I hope he continues to write in.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is number seven, books read by Lee Thompson. The first being As I Embrace My Jagged Edges. Just like any book some better then others but all good reads. The story is centered around a group of characters in Flint Michigan. It starts with this homeless person named Grace MacDonald, eighteen years old. Who was thrown out of foster home when she turn eighteen. All she had was a back pack with a couple of books and three changes of clothes. She sees Max Straub kissing his wife Isabelle in doorway before he leaves for work. Needing food Grace decides to follow him. Will stop here, don't want to say too much and spoil the story. I have enjoyed reading Lee's books over the years. All are well written with nice flow. This was a very good read. Almost as good as It's Only Death, my favorite book by Lee. I gave With Fury in Hand 4 1/2 stars.


I received an e-arc of this book from DarkFuse in exchange for an honest review

[Kenneth McKinley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The mean streets of Flint, Michigan have been known to chew up many an innocent soul and spit it out. For five individuals, change is in the air like a breeze of desperation. Unknown to them, their lives will intertwine in a chaotic storm of death.

With Fury in Hand is a gritty tale that oozes with despair and locks it's icy grip onto your throat taking your breath away. No matter how much you struggle, you can't change what's unfolding in front of you. This is my first story by Thompson and I'm impressed at his realistic characters and his ability to ratchet up the dread. You can see what's happening, but you're helpless to do anything about it. My only criticism, and it's a small one, is that the story felt a little too convenient in how it wraps around full circle.

4 Bullet Holes out of 5


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https://kenmckinley.wordpress.com

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[Kaisersoze · Rating 4 out of 5]

A deftly written tale of five people whose lives interact with tragic results, With Fury in Hand is a stark snapshot of life on the down-trodden streets of Flint, Michigan, that is intriguing from its opening page. Thompson does not seem the type of author to compromise his bleak view of the world for an audience-friendly ending, and so it is here, with the question being less who might die, rather than who might actually survive?

Thompson's prose is vivid and at times poignant, whilst still being easily consumable. I had little time to read this week, so it took me far longer to finish this one than it should have. On any other week, I suspect I would have torn through this within a day - such is the strength of the characterisations and my desire to see what befell them.

An easy novella to recommend to anyone who enjoys thrillers with a jagged edge, With Fury in Hand might not be the most enjoyable read going round, but it is most certainly haunting.

3.5 rounding up to 4 Unfortunately Timed Appearances for With Fury in Hand.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full Disclosure: I was a pre-reader on this book.

I have read pretty much everything that Lee Thompson has written and this is one of my favorites from his crime fiction novels. This novella is good for the reason why most of his novels are good---the characters. It is also an example of the fine fiction being published by Darkfuse.

I don’t like to give away too much plot in a novella since it may spoil the book for some people and in a novel this short it is really unnecessary. Suffice it to say that the people in this novel are all damaged in different ways. The protagonist is struggling to keep his grip on reality and his sanity, which is sliding around like a squirming eel in his hands. His wife has travelled down a dark road and wants to turn around and return to a place where she can at least respect herself, but is she too late? A young, fragile girl is seeking safety and someplace where she can belong and turns to an aging prostitute who is ready and perhaps able to close a chapter in her life and save this girl and herself in the process. However (isn’t there always a however?) several dark figures have different plans.

The tension is high. The pace is relentless. The tone is typical dark noir Thompson. If you enjoy Cormac McCarthy or Elmore Leonard, you will most likely enjoy this novella.

5 stars. Well done.

[Rob Twinem · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one crazy ride, Lee Thompson doesn’t just look down on people he gets in amongst their wretched and dysfunctional sad lives and gives them an adrenaline boost. In one bloodthirsty day in early July in the small town of Flint Michigan a number of residents will have their everyday dreams and existence interrupted and destroyed in some way. From the seemingly cosy life of Max and Isabelle to the street wise Layla and her young friend Grace with the drug crazed antics of Caleb and Lenny....nothing will ever remain the same.
 
They live a f***ed up life in a f***ed town and take from and abuse each other with no respect of life or consequence....”why not ride that bus into oblivion, or simply in circles around the city, because their lives offered little else in way of entertainment or meaning.”
 
What Lee Thompson as a writer does...he does extremely well. He likes to put his characters in extreme situations and allow the dialogue and action to develop almost dare I say with a touch of Tarantino, and by that I do not mean discussing the finer merits of a Big Kahuna Burger!
 
 Layla is a working girl and she looks after all types of clients, she is not there to question or criticize but to supply a service in the best and only way she can....”Blue-collar men, White-collar men. Black men. Shy men. Aggressive men. Married and unmarried. Ugly or handsome or in some ways both. Men with simple desires their wives no longer satisfied. Men with wives who no longer looked at these men with adoration, like they were conquerors. They were sad men, unhappy men, distracted men. She’d talk to them for twenty minutes after they bought her first drink, and she’d coo and purr and laugh in a girlish manner, this man, that man, pulling in his gut and grinning, telling her a story he’d told his wife a thousand times or more; a story that demonstrated he was someone other men looked up to, he was a go-getter, a man that women valued.”
 
This is a short novella, an adrenalin fuelled in your face look at inner city “rats” squabbling to make and keep a living...and not very successfully. Lee Thompson is an author I really enjoy who writes with a real unforgiving punch and this story is a knockout!!

[Robert Mingee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, there is truly no sunshine in Lee Thompson's world. This is a brutal, fast-paced book about bad things happening to virtually everyone, whether they are good, bad, or somewhere in between. The pacing is very good, and most of the characters are well-realized, at least to the extent they need to be. This is one of the few DarkFuse titles where the cover is not a good fit for the story, but it is still a striking cover.

I enjoy Lee's work, and this one is no exception. I couldn't read this sort of work all the time, because the pervasive atmosphere of despair would get to be smothering, but it is well-written and compelling.

[Andi Rawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Redemption requires forgiveness, but fury serves no master."

Yes, the cover is misleading. Yes, some parts of the story are cliche, but very few stories are not so. My favorite read from Mr. Thompson so far, Fury in Hand, is about more than fury and more than redemption. Seventeen hours. Five damaged lives. The way they intersect and what brings them together makes the plot line but the story is a reflection of humanity itself. Great novella.

I received this e-book from DarkFuse in exchange for an honest review.

[Michael Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lee Thompson's WITH FURY IN HAND is a gritty and dark crime thriller revolving around a handful of characters who lives are either marked by or defined by violence. There's an emerging psychopath who is descending further into madness and envisions himself committing atrocious and random acts of violence, a prostitute who befriends a homeless girl, and a recovering drug addict fighting to leave behind his past. Over the course of several hours these figures converge upon one another, some through happenstance and others with deliberation, each with motives all their own.

Flint, Michigan - a city once named the most dangerous in America only a few years ago - provides an appropriate backdrop for Thompson's story, and the author's depiction of the city, its demographics, and locales like the local University of Michigan campus, ring true. Thompson also provides enough details on his characters and their emerging relationships to satisfy, with Max in particular being a very troubled sort and a fairly uncomfortable head-space to root around in for very long.

If you're looking for a quick, dirty, and dark bit of crime fiction, Thompson's latest should satisfy pretty easily.

[Mommacat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally. Lee Thompson writes a book that doesn't suck! It's been a long time coming and I'm glad to see it. Dysfunction abounds in this slice of inner city life on the street. This is the type of book that Thompson does well. I felt that the writing was a little ragged, it could have been cleaner - tighter. But after the last few terrible books he's written, this was wonderful.

I gave FURY 3.5 stars. I received an advance copy of the e-book from the publisher in exchange for my review.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thompson spends the first two-thirds of this novel deeply exploring five characters from the inside-out before using the last third to bat them about and deliver an ending in league with a Shakespearean tragedy. The writing is strong, the character portrayals are unflinching and unforgiving, as is the ending, when the lives of these five characters intertwine just long enough to all unravel together.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

With Fury In Hand was not what I was expecting. The cover is quite misleading. It could be classified as a crime novella, but it is more a slice of life featuring characters in some kind of desperation. If I had to compare it to another author I would say Joyce Carol Oates, but at one third the length.

Lee Thompson's writing is top notch as always and he brings his characters to life quickly, which is necessary for a novella with so many of them. Obviously the characters intersect as the story draws to a close, and there is a lot of coincidence that can ruin your suspension of disbelief. It wasn't a problem for me, but I can imagine complaints. A certain reveal near the end about a supporting character was too over-the-top and stereotypical for me.

If you are looking for an action packed noir thriller (as the cover suggests) you will be disappointed. There is an audience for this type of literary novella, and I hope With Fury In Hand finds it. 4 stars, recommended.

[Oskar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a tense and intense story with a teenage girl as the main protagonist.And through her eyes we'll see what happen to her and the rest of the
characters of this novella.Via the peculiar and personal style of Lee Thompson we have a look at the life of the protagonists,a very near look and the
reader is able to see the personality,struggles,fears,hopes...of the characters.I think this is the main virtue of this intersting author,he can create rea-
listic,solid and memorable characters and this novella is not exception.Highly recommended.

[Mark Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading, I spent the evening wandering how each of our individual orbits get sucked into a common black hole and radiated out into an illusion of self determination. There but for the grace of God goes the reader. Happy Thanksgiving everyone ;-)

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Augh, this is a great and crazy story! Kept sneaking away to read it because I had to know what he would slip in next.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent gritty crime/slice-of-life story. Interesting diverse characters who converge for an explosive finale. Very highly recommended.

[Troy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another wonderful crime novel from Lee Thompson, the characters are believable although some of the situations were a tad bit coincidental.