Z.Z. Del Presto
Created by Z.Z. Del Presto (pseudnym of Victor Gischler and Anthony Neil Smith)

Yo ho ho and a coupla bottles of rum...

Booze-soaked P.I. Z.Z. DEL PRESTO is a throwback (or is that throw-up?) to the good ol' days of hard-drinkin', hard-fightin,' hard-boiled private dicks.

DelPresto is not your average hard case, although he does have a fondness for young women and old rum. He made his first appearancee in the now classic, self-penned short story, "Karate Babes from the Year 3000," wherein he runs up against some frat boys and superwomen from the future in ­ or does he? It's a wild ride and a lot of fun, but don't take my word for it ­ check out what Z.Z himself has to say about ole Z.Z.:

Z.Z. DelPresto doesn't like anyone to knock on his door. If you do, and you happen to be selling something or pushing gospel tracts, he might douse you with rum and chase you with a lighter. His other case histories and memoirs are available in his apartment, and he invites you to come see them if you are female, between 19 and 36, cute, and preferably drunk.

The Z.Z. DelPresto stories drunkenly (but proudly) "play with the conventions of the hard-boiled P.I. tradition. Raunchy, funny, and always about to jump the tracks, the stories featuring Z.Z. are best enjoyed while partaking in DelPresto's second favorite activity--getting shit-faced drunk on rum." They also pound on every noir button known to man.

Of course you're thinking, what kinda yabbadoo refers to himself in the third person? But actually Z.Z. is a collaboration between well-respected ybbadoos Victor Gischler and Anthony Neil Smith, two alleged grown-ups.

Cheers, guys. Next round's on me...

(In real-life, Victor is the dude behind Charlie the Hook and other hard-boiled miscreants, and Neil's the two-fisted, but always natty and tastefully-attired editor of Plots With Guns.)

UNDER OATH

• "... pulpy, raunchy fiction in the Ace or Dell tradition."
  -- HandHeldCrime

SHORT STORIES

• "Karate Babes From Year 3000" (October-December 2000, Plots With Guns)
• "Bourbon Street Spank" (June 2002, HandHeld Crime)

NOVELLAS

• To The Devil, My Regards (2001)...Kindle it!

Joint report respectfully submitted by Dale Stoyer and Kevin Burton Smith.