“Money,” Shot

Since its February 2008 publication was first announced, there’s been great anticipation for Christa Faust’s Hard Case Crime debut, Money Shot. Faust, author of Hoodtown and the Scribe Award-winning novelization of Snakes on a Plane, is Hard Case’s first female author--and Money Shot, as you may guess from the title, is no shrinking violet, no “gal-noir” entry into the Hard Case oeuvre. Lucky enough to read an advance copy, I can report that it’s a high-octane bruiser filled with equal parts nastiness and heart.

As its publication date draws near, word around the lamppost was that Faust would be shooting her own book trailer. The novel’s subject matter--a porn industry vet hunts down the assassins who left her for dead--and Faust’s pulp-glam aesthetic promised something provocative and great-looking. While many authors are now hiring companies or freelancers to produce their own book trailers, Faust’s effort is pure DIY. With a small crew and some help from Skrubahl, an editing house, Faust did it all, casting a librarian (that’s right) as the Mike-Hammer-in-fishnets protagonist, Angel Dare, directing the shoot and editing it to its final form.

For his part, Hard Case Crime publisher Charles Ardai gives all credit to his enterprising young author, saying his input primarily consisted of “look[ing] at snapshots she’s sent me of various casting choices, and making Tex Avery-style ah-oogah noises.” He adds, “I loved it as soon as she told me about it, but she’s the one who had the idea and made it happen.”

Last night, the trailer, a gritty, hypnotic trawl through prime hard-boiled terrain, made its YouTube debut. Now, cue the lights ...



READ MORE: “Another Hell of a Book: Money Shot,” by Kevin Burton Smith (The Thrilling Detective Blog); “Book Review: Money Shot, by Christa Faust,” by Scott D. Parker.