Copeland Valley Press, 228 pages, paperback, $11.66

In literature, becoming an established voice and enjoying the respect and admiration of readers, critics, and fellow authors alike is something that takes decades of hard work, talent, and massive amounts of luck. Unless your name is Josh Myers. Against all odds, Myers has achieved all that in three books and less than half a decade. With a unique voice and a knack for delivering narratives that don’t resemble anything else out there, Myers has quickly become one of those author whose books I check out the second they’re published. With Guns, his latest novel from Copeland Valley Press, the author once again proves he’s a writer to be excited about while simultaneously taking his work in an entirely new direction.

Guns follows Organ, a hitman of few words who gets hired by a shady organization to kidnap a journalist who possesses too much information. He’s forced to work with Farley, a talkative partner who seems to be the least capable man for the job, and Kate, a woman whose reputation in the crime business is legendary and who Organ thought was no longer working. Despite the secrecy surrounding the kidnapping, the job looks fairly simple — but appearances can be deceiving, especially when everyone has a secret agenda. Organ knows and has always followed the rules of the game, but when he finds out what happened to Kate’s brother, a man named Ogden who used to be her partner in crime, he gets too involved and things go from bad to worse.

I’ve always thought comparison are bad because they might lead readers to think an author is imitating someone else. However, this story was concocted with a special blend of elements that demands a comparison. While Myers’ work is all his, Guns offers a combination of fast-paced action, staccato prose, short chapters, dark characters, detached brutality, and witty dialogue that is reminiscent of Irish hard-boiled master Ken Bruen’s work. Myers dresses his characters in nice suits and then has them commit despicable acts with an unaffectedness that is as appalling as the act itself. From rough words and quick punches, to brutal beatings and murder, this narrative is packed with bloodshed — but what makes it special is the nonchalance with which the author delivers it before quickly going back to the main plot and the maelstrom of emotions driving Organ and Kate.

While Guns takes place in a world populated by bad people doing bad things, the oppressive noir atmosphere is only the tip of the iceberg. As soon as things get rolling, the narrative retains its crime-centric plot but also becomes an unflinching exploration of human nature and revenge. Also, Myers has a talent for the bizarre, and that’s as much a part of this novel as the kidnapping and the characters’ dark past. From a murderous priest who kills a man with a bottle opener, to the fact that Organ survives plane crashes regularly, the author’s distinctive weirdness permeates the book and places it somewhere between crime and bizarro.

The story and the writing are the reasons why everyone should read this book, but I would be remiss not to mention the fantastic artwork Justin T. Coons contributed to the text. While this is far from being a graphic novel, it contains 14 superb black and white illustrations that add a touch of pulp that would rival Quentin Tarantino’s best work.

Guns is strangely sinister, wildly entertaining, sadistic, weird, and unpredictable, and it’s also Josh Myers best work to date. If you like your fiction bloody and smart, don’t skip this one.

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Gabino Iglesias is writer, journalist, and book reviewer living in Austin, TX. He’s the author of Gutmouth and a few other things no one will ever read. You can find him on Twitter at @Gabino_Iglesias.