The Gritty Gastown Collection: Ride the Lightning, Triggerfish, and The Deadbeat Club

“If you like your crime hard and fast, Kalteis is for you.” — Globe and Mail. This collection features three of Dietrich Kalteis’s high-octane crime novels, all set in Vancouver, BC: Ride the Lightning, Triggerfish, and The Deadbeat Club.

Ride the Lightning: A fast, powerful read full of action, twists, and dark humour. Vancouver is teeming with two-bit criminals, drug dealers, and gangsters, and dope dealer Miro seizes an opportunity to settle his score with bounty hunter Karl while working a major drug deal. What follows is a ride through Vancouver’s underbelly with a cast of characters whose ambition exceeds their criminal acumen. With dialogue that crackles on the page, Ride the Lightning introduces a new voice in crime fiction featuring grit, realism, and a comedic touch.

Triggerfish: A novel that Publishers Weekly called a “high-octane tale [that] will suit hardcore crime fans,” Kalteis’s second outing follows Rene Beckman, a dishonoured ex-cop with only two things on his mind: his new boat, the Triggerfish, and his hot date, an environmentalist named Vicki. When the two unknowingly dock the boat in the same secluded cove as a Mexican cartel’s drug submarine, the date ends with a bang. With the cartel’s deal torched by Beckman, he’s forced to go on the run with half the underworld chasing him through the streets of Vancouver and the waters surrounding it.

The Deadbeat Club: “Kalteis skillfully writes authentic-sounding dialogue . . . [He] makes it difficult not to root for the little guys up against ruthless gangs in this fast-paced thrill ride.” — Publishers Weekly. Grey Stevens took over the family business after his uncle passed away, and now he grows the best pot in Whistler. Everybody wants to get their hands on it, including the two rival gangs coming to town. When Grey rescues a girl from a beating at the hands of one of the gang members, he finds himself in the middle of a turf war and a new relationship at the same time. Grey has to decide whether he’s going to play it safe — take off with the girl and start over someplace new — or stay and fight for what is his.