TIKI CULTURE

Dark ’n’ Stormy: Your Weekend Tiki Cocktail, and A Flash of Noir

The Dark 'n' Stormy

This weekend I’m officially announcing the latest tome to my collection of books, A Flash of Noir. To go with it, I needed a noir-style cocktail…and what could be more noir than a classic

Dark and Stormy

Trademarked by Gosling’s in Bermuda, the Dark & Stormy uses Gosling’s Black Seal dark rum and ginger beer. It was invented just after WWI, and was a favorite among American sailors who picked it up in the Caribbean. A strong and simple to make tropical drink, it is certainly at home on any Tiki bar.

•    2 oz Gosling’s Black Seal rum
•    3 oz ginger beer
•    lime wedge

Pour the dark rum over ice in a highball glass or Tiki mug, then add the ginger beer. Stir lightly with a glass rod and add the lime wedge for garnish. Don’t squeeze the whole lime wedge in…taste it first, and add a little at a time until it’s the way you dig it.

Annnd…fade to black, bring up sepia lights to

A Flash of Noir

Just before you mix your Dark and Stormy, get out your Kindle (or iPhone, iPad, Mac, PC) and go to A Flash of Noir at the Kindle store. There you can download my latest book, A Flash of Noir for only 99¢! By the time you finish mixing the drink, the download will be complete and you can begin to read while you sip.

A Flash of Noir - Kindle version

Yes, only 99¢

…for 30+ short, short stories, flash fiction, beatnik poetry and kool photos, all authored by yours truly, Tiki Chris Pinto (or as I’m known on my author page, Christopher Pinto). It’s jam-packed with kool 60-second reads full of gumshoe detectives, sultry dames, ghosts, murderers, and monsters. There’s even a story made entirely of song titles…see if you can find them all!

From the book’s description: “From smokey bars in New York City to the tropical islands of the Florida keys, A Flash of Noir takes you for a spin through the seediest gin joints and darkest alleys. One minute you’re speeding down I-95 in a hot rod, the next you’re tasting cheap whiskey in a basement tap room where the women are heartless and the men are unforgiving. Gangsters, cops, private eyes, strippers, murderers, phantoms…plus a few comedy pieces to keep you from wanting to slit your wrists.”

A Flash of Noir - Print version coming soon. Cover model is Colleen Pinto.

Why only 99¢? Well, I can tell you it’s worth a lot more, entertainment-wise. But I’m hoping that a lot of you will give it a shot for a buck. If you dig it, I hope you’ll download one of my other books, Murder Behind the Closet Door: The Wildwood Paranormal Mystery or Murder on Tiki Island: A Noir Paranormal Mystery in the Florida Keys…and if you dig those, I hope you’ll tell your friends so they get em too. The idea is to become rich and famous. Ain’t that what most of us want?

I just realized…it’s beginning to thunder and lightning here at the Tiki Bar. Perfect for a Dark & Stormy!

– Tiki Chris reporting from the library at Tiki Lounge Talk, the Blounge for swingin’ retro kats and hip chicks.

Dark City, 1996 for Noir Movie Monday

Jennifer Connelly in Dark City. Wowsa.

Here’s a very stylish, very cool flick…a movie that has “Dark” in the title, and it doesn’t get much more ‘noir’ than that.

Dark City, 1996

starring Rufus Sewell, William Hurt, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly and Richard O’Brien.

What the hell is going on in this movie? is what you’ll be asking yourself in the first 15 minutes. Very strange imagery throughout, the viewer is thrown into a state of surreal chaos from the opening seconds. Written and directed by Alex Proyas (The Crow, I, Robot) this sci-fi mystery combines visual styles from steampunk (real steampunk, not that plastic gears on blue jeans crap) to art deco to industrial to nautical, blending everything together in a crazy mash-up (and for good reason, which I will not divulge here…remember, no spoilers at the Tiki bar).

Kiefer Sutherland plays a very, very strange character in this movie, so far removed from Jack Bauer or the Lost Boys it’s hard to believe it’s him. Jennifer Connelly has a smaller part, but still manages to be one of my favorite chicks of all time. Rufus Sewell does a great job as a guy with amnesia who has no idea what the hell is going on (that phrase will pass through your mind several times, but don’t worry, it will all be clear by the end).

The story: Can’t say too much, because I don’t want to give anything away. The best thing about this movie is that it’s so far out there, literally far out there. Watching the ‘truth’ unfold is half the fun. Basically a guy wakes up in a bathtub, remembers nearly nothing, not even who he is, and finds he is being chased for a murder he doesn’t remember committing. Sound normal? Forget about it. It all goes crazy from there. Especially when he sees the city (which seems to exist only at night) change. I mean, like buildings coming down and new ones popping up. ‘nough said.

The reason this crazy flick makes it to the Noir Movie Monday spot is that the city, cars, clothes, everything…is all a combination of our recent past, mixing styles of 1920s art nuevo, 1930s art deco, mid century modern, doo wop, you name it. From a Horne and Hardart-style automat to 1950’s cars mixed with 70s cars and 30s clothes, the whole look and feel of the movie is vintage (which, as I said, is explained later in the flick). Add to that some very kreepy undertaker-looking kats, and Jen Conelley performing the steamiest version of “Sway” I’ve ever heard (it should have been longer) and a very original story, and you’ve got a winner.

What I really like about this flick is that it takes you to places you’d never expect, both physically and plot-wise. Everything is constantly changing, with the main character’s quest to find his identity (and what the hell is going on) the only constant.

Food & Booze: Hard to pull anything from the flick as nobody ever seems to actually eat or drink anything. But…just for fun, I’d go with the theme of the different eras, maybe homemade baked bread with a TV dinner and Kraft macaroni and cheese. Wash it down with an old fashioned followed by a slippery nipple. Catch my drift?

By the way…Richard O’Brien was Riff Raff in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Proyas wrote the part in this movie especially for him.

Watch this one with the lights off for the best effect.

Here’s the scene with Connelly singing “Sway”. Actually not sure if it is really her singing or not…according to the info on the video it is her, not the voiceover that was done in the released version of the movie.

-Tiki Chris reporting from the screening room at Pirate’s Cove Tiki Lounge

Do you like noir mysteries? Do you like what you read here? Then you should check out Stardust Mysteries, with my novels Murder Behind the Closet Door and Murder on Tiki Island!

Catch Tiki Chris’ Interview on Koop Kooper’s Cocktail Nation This Weekend!

Koop Kooper

Yours truly, Tiki Chris will be featured on Koop Kooper’s Cocktail Nation Lounge & Exotica Radio Show this weekend…Check it out at www.cocktailnation.net.

The interview concentrates on the release of my kool new Tiki tome, “Murder on Tiki Island: A Paranormal Mystery in the Florida Keys”. It’s a neo-noir style thriller, set in 1956 and filled with swingin’ chicks, hot tropical days, kool cars, palm trees, ghosts and a twisty plot that will keep you turning the pages.

Murder on Tiki Island by Tiki Chris Pinto

Murder, Sex, Exotic Cocktails and Exotic Women. And of course, some very eerie phantoms…Set in New York City and the Florida Keys in 1956, Murder on Tiki Island is a noir-style murder mystery which follows Detective Bill Riggins (Murder Behind the Closet Door) through a series of strange, unexplained events surrounding a murder and paranormal phenomena on Florida’s world-famous Tiki Island Resort. Influenced by the style made famous by pulp fiction’s greatest authors from Raymond Chandler to Mickey Spillane, Murder on Tiki Island weaves an intricate web of lies, murder, and the occult shaken with a shot of hot dames and a chaser of cool tropical breezes.

“Murder on Tiki Island” features Marina the Fire Eating Mermaid on the cover and a custom Tiki by Tiki Hana on the spine (print version).

Penned by “Tiki” Chris Pinto, author of the noir mystery ghost story Murder Behind the Closet Door, this 1950s style thriller will keep you hanging on edge from the first sentence to the last. Swing back to 1956, when jazz and rock ‘n’ roll both ruled the airwaves, giant finned cars ruled the roadways and Tiki Bars were the hottest spots on the nightlife scene. Riggins, a New York City detective, takes a ‘forced vacation’ to Tiki Island in the world-famous Florida Keys and Key West. Once there he gets mixed up with the seductive daughter of the resort’s wealthy owner; gets taken for a wild ride by a beautiful blonde bombshell; and gets himself suspected of a brutal murder. Skeletons, mermaids, Mai Tais, Exotica music, fishing and phantoms all come together to make this Key West murder mystery a fun, old-fashioned pulp noir novel that’s sure to please anyone who digs the mid-century scene, or just loves plain old fashioned noir-style detective novels. Tiki Chris Pinto’s Florida Keys murder mystery will have you spooked and guessing throughout the entire story, with a few twists that will get you saying, “Wow, daddy-o! Dig that crazy scene!”

If you dig what you read here at the Tiki Lounge, you’ll love this book. Check it out:

Murder on Tiki Island official website

Murder on Tiki Island available at Amazon.com (print version, $11.95)

Murder on Tiki Island available for Kindle/iPad/Mac/PC ($3.99)

Murder on Tiki Island for B&N Nook ($3.99)

Stardust Mysteries Website

Listen to Koop’s Show this weekend! www.cocktailnation.net.

-Tiki Chris reporting from the library at Tiki Lounge Talk, the swingin’ B-Lounge for kool kats & hep kittens.

Murder, Sex, Ghosts & The Jersey Shore: Murder Behind the Closet Door

Murder Behind the Closet Door, The Wildwood Paranormal Mystery By Tiki Chris Pinto

Murder Behind the Closet Door: The Wildwood Paranormal Mystery by Christopher “Tiki Chris” Pinto, paperback now ON SALE for only $10.76 at Amazon.com!

Many of you who follow this swingin’ B-Lounge already know that yours truly is an aspiring writer millionaire.

Last year I published my first full-length retro-style neo-noir novel, Murder Behind the Closet Door. Original price for the 600-page masterpiece was $16.95, $3.95 for the kindle version. A hefty price tag for any tome, but everyone who’s read it has said it is worth it

A few months ago I re-tooled the layout to bring the paperback down to a more manageable (and less intimidating) 425 pages, at a tag of $14.95. Sales increased!

Well, Amazon has done me the great favor of running a DISCOUNT on the book now, which makes it even more enticing! Now you can get the paperback in all its glory for only $10.76, a fantastic bargain for this wild ride. Or, of course, you can still pick it up on Kindle or Nook for $3.95.

Why buy this book?

Good question. Let me just take a sip of my coffee and bourbon, and I’ll lay it down for you (siiiiiip).

Hudson House, one of the two haunted houses in Murder Behind the Closet Door

This book swings you back in time to Wildwood and Wildwood Crest, the grooviest, funnest towns on the Jersey Shore (sorry Asbury Park, you’ve got nothing on Wildwood). The action starts with a heart-wrenching murder…as experienced by the victim…then moves into the life of Heather, a 22-year old woman starting her life as marketing manager for the famous Hunt’s Pier on the Wildwood Boardwalk in 1979.

Almost immediately her story turns to one of mystery and fascination, as she admits to being haunted by an entity in her closet. This all seems innocent at first…

The Wildwood Boardwalk, 1970s

Using my own style of flashback, character-weaving and time-rearrangement, the story unfolds to reveal a multi-layered plot of murder, revenge, phantoms, wartime coverups, denial, hot women, the afterlife and the people who protect us from myriad unseen demons. All of this wraps itself around a solid, noir-gumshoe style detective story, featuring one of the freshest, most interesting and exciting hero detectives to come along since Mike Hammer (IMHO), Detective Bill Riggins. (Riggins is also featured as the main character in my latest novel, Murder on Tiki Island, and will continue his adventures in the upcoming Murder Under the Boards: The Atlantic City Murder Mystery.)

For an in-depth look at Murder Behind the Closet Door, visit the MBTCD official website.

OK, that sounds cool, but why should I think Tiki Chris’ writing is worth 11 bucks?

Fair question. Short answer is if you dig what you read here, you will absolutely dig this book, and my other writings.

"Tiki" Chris Pinto, old-school style

Although I compare the book to those of Stephen King, Mickey Spillane, Raymond Chandler and Dean Koontz, my style doesn’t copy any of theirs…my style is my own, hammered out over 30+ years of writing, learning, experiencing and, well, drinking.

I’ve been writing since I was 12, winning a prize from the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin for a short story, then taking a stab at writing a full-length musical (entitled “Swingtime”) which was performed at my high school during my senior year (it too was a neo-noir style drama).

In 1989 I picked up the pen for my first paid advertising assignment, and have been writing advertising copy professionally (and making typos) ever since (just like Mad Men, I’m the Creative Director of a national ad agency…except my office is in Hollywood, Florida, not CA).

"Tiki" Chris Pinto and Jeannette Pereda in "One Crazy Mystery", Stardust Productions, 1995

That same year I formed Star Dust Productions Mystery Theater, and began writing and producing comedy plays and murder mysteries, mostly for dinner theater settings. With my wife Colleen, we successfully ended a 10-year span of over 400 performances of six different shows (written by me) with a 1930s radio show performance on the Ocean City Music Pier, NJ.

After moving to South Florida in 2000, I decided to turn my talents toward writing noir fiction, and began a series of short stories and flash fiction (due out in book form & ebook this summer). A flood of memories from my shore days in Jersey came with the move, and in 2002 I sat down to write my first novel. I decided to make it something I’d want to read myself, something fun and full of action, something spooky yet believable, with interesting characters and an unusual plot line. At 2am on a thunder-filled south Florida night, “Behind the Closet Door” was born.

Today, I write for The Fort Lauderdale Examiner, manage the Facebook Retro Tiki Lounge, and of course run amock here at Tiki Lounge Talk.

So, yeah, I’ve got some experience as a writer, right? So trust me, the book is solid.

What makes Detective Riggins so special?

.45 Auto used by Detective Riggins in Murder Behind the Closet Door

Riggins is not your regular ole goodie-two-shoes, uphold-the-law kind of guy that you read about in most books or see in a lot of flicks. To say he’s flawed is a true understatement. He’s big, tough, sarcastic, arrogant and has his own code of conduct and sense of morality that doesn’t always jive with the establishment, but he’s smart enough to stay out of most trouble, and to get away with dealing out justice the way he personally thinks it should be dealt. He does some screwed up stuff but in the end you’ll find yourself on his side, routing for him to succeed. He’s an old-time tough-guy cop with a young, hard-drinkin’ jazz-diggin’ spirit. He learned how to kill on the battlefields of Korea and still carries his military-issue .45 automatic. He likes hot rods and fast women and doesn’t have time to settle down with just one dame. He’s a New York vice cop who has a deep hatred for pushers yet a soft spot for junkies and hookers, as he usually sees them as victims. He doesn’t have many friends on the force; he prefers to hang out with beat musicians and barflies, as he finds them much more interesting. And somehow, for reasons he’ll never learn (but you will), he seems to attract the spirits of the murdered dead.

If you’ve read through this whole long-assed post, I guarantee you will truly dig this book. You can read the first few pages on Amazon, and can find snippets of it at Stardust Mysteries Publishing or the official Murder Behind the Closet Door website.

Oh, and if you do dig it, please post a review on Amazon.com. Every little bit helps, and maybe someday you can say you’re pals with a famous mystery writer

-Tiki Chris Pinto reporting from the library at Tiki Island Resort, Florida
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