A novel of revenge by Brady Putzke

My Sweet Esmeralda

Betsy: Hello Felix, so good of you to join me again to introduce our next Soaring Twenties Social Club author, Brady Putzke and his new book My Sweet Esmeralda. For those of you who might not be too familiar with the Social Club it was created by Thomas J Bevan a few years back as a place for creatives to hang out, relax and share ideas. It wasn’t intended to produce anything except camaraderie among the patrons and maybe a small income for Thomas. People from all over the world joined and as we shared our ideas many of us became real friends. As you know Felix, we met there.

Felix: Helloooo Betsy, and helloooo to the readers (hopefully all of you, though statistically speaking some of you are bots and I'd rather not discriminate this late in the decade). I’ve always wondered, how does the STSC keeps creating these little groups of writers inside an already small group, how far the fractal can go, you know?

Betsy: I do wonder. Go on sir.

Felix: One such cell is, as you said, a group of comrades with a love of pulp and men's adventure. Just this spring alone: Frank Theodat & Zack Grafman release a book, Frank Kidd releases a book, but our guest today Brady Putzke does what?

Betsy: Felix! Stop the suspense. I am nearly crazed with wonder!

Felix: Releases a book, too! What do we call it, Betsy?

Betsy: Well, you’d probably call it something like “a pulp-explosive phenomenon”.

Felix: Right! Brady and Frank Kidd also run a podcast together. Like many, they aren’t especially active on the main Discord these days, having quietly moved to the back room, which is, frankly, extremely on-brand for the genre, isn’t it? Betsy will tell me I'm overcomplicating it—

Betsy: I will.

Felix: … and that the word for this is simply magic, and she's usually right—

Betsy: I am.

Felix: … so, magic it is! (Though privately: I still think of it as emergent behavior in a low-decoherence cultural environment.)

Betsy: Oh, Felix you are so silly. My Sweet Esmeralda is a cross between Falling Down and Taken with a 72-year-old hero (I imagined Clint Eastwood from Gran Torino). It’s true to the pulp fiction genre, plus it gives you little more to think on. Give it a read.

---

From Brady:

Hello, friends. My new novel is now available on the ‘Zon. To anyone who picks up a copy, it truly means a whole lot to me that you’d trust me with your time and hard-earned cash. I hope you’ll be entertained and, ideally, moved by the book.

Some Early Reviews:

“Excellent book. I ordered the paperback and it is a slick little mass market size that fits in a back pocket. The book has kept me thinking about it for several days after finishing… always a sign of good art. But this book is significantly more than a revenge thriller or action crime caper. It’s actually quite subversive if you take a closer look, and a scathing takedown of a certain brand of generational delusion and narcissism that fails to meet the world, and therefore everyone else, where they are.” — Scott M.

“This book is a straight up page turner. If I had had the time, I would've read it in one sitting. The writing is great, and it had more to say than at first glance. Great vigilante crime novel!” — Dan B.

“My Sweet Esmeralda joins the list of revenge novels at the highest tier.” — Zach

Where it outdoes all the others is through the tremendous characters, the moral questions it raises, the smooth and exciting pacing, and lastly, through a unique and fascinating plot.

---

Felix: Betsy and I are destined to maintain this newsletter without our fearless leader. We (you) might take it as granted but it’s really rather a subtle nod, a compliment to the cultunity he built that he runs whether he’s in the room or not. We could even ask Brady to write a novel about that, actually. Imagine, a mysterious cult leader disappeared when stepping out to Tescos to buy cigs...

Betsy: Indeed, Felix we cannot deny destiny. We will continue to feature the works of our compadres. Thomas inspired a lot of talented people. So, see you next time. Thanks for reading.