Populated with unforgettable characters such as a corpselike hitman plagued with OCD, a death metal bassist in serious need of anger management, and an extremely unlucky drug addict, Chase the Dragon is so wickedly entertaining that adjectives such as “crazed, “outrageous,” and “savage,” fail to do it justice. From start to finish, Chase the Dragon is fast-paced and darkly humourous—a story about bad luck, a story about fate, a shitkicking, backslapping, riotously disturbing page-turner gu...

Chris Walter doing what he does best — a rowdy, frantic tale of madness and booze Old man Hendrickson is relatively happy until two crazy whores teeter into his life and complicate everything all to hell. Faster than a beer can roll off a porch, he has pantyhose draped over his shower curtain and tampons in his medicine cabinet. Hendrickson somehow adapts to this oddly comfortable scenario only to have is shattered by a vicious pimp with an evil agenda. The tsunami of bullshit that follows...

Driven by a desperate housing shortage on Vancouver’s troubled Downtown Eastside, local activists begin a guerrilla campaign to target Olympic sponsors. Then, with the Games just six scant months away, social unrest erupts leaving the neighbourhood in ruins. Will the Games be stopped as police race to catch the anarchists? The Countdown Clock is ticking.

"I was standing around waiting for the Nostrils to play when one of the smaller guests came over to say hello. With his black brothel creepers, spiky black hair, dark blue socks, skin-tight latex trousers, and layers of studded belts and wristbands he looked as if he'd stepped from the cover of a UK punk album. I don't remember if he introduced himself as Chi Pig or Ken but I've always known him as Chi Pig. Standing five-foot-one and weighing maybe 110 pounds with a case of beer in each ha...

Drunks, punks, junkies, and whores: these are Chris Walter's people and he portrays them with empathy and humour. The characters in this collection of short stories have much in common with each other, but more than anything else, they are real enough to stumble over and piss on your shoe. So laugh when you can, cry if you want, but when you close your eyes, these flawed yet enduringly human characters will still be with you.

A Rock Band that Moonlights as Jewelry Thieves? The members of Sabotage are fun-loving thrill-seekers with expensive tastes. Unable to sell enough records or concerts tickets to cover hotel damages and keep their tour buses on the road, they turn to crime. Everything is grand until a careless accident puts a third-rate detective and his rookie partner on their tail. While it would seem simple enough to stay two steps ahead of them, the incompetent dicks prove to have more tenacity than any...

DOA exploded on the ‘80s music scene like a sonic hand grenade. The bastard son immediately spawned hordes of new bands, and the angry kids burst forth from the suburbs, pawnshop amplifiers cranked to an ear-splitting and pain-inducing volume. Hardcore was here. Eighteen-year-old Randy Rampage helped form DOA just months after discovering punk rock in early ‘78, latching onto the new music like a problem child to model glue. In open, candid tones, the rock and roll survivor describes a dru...

The Real McKenzies were the first group to wed traditional Celtic folk music with the ferocious roar of punk rock, and this is their booze-fueled story. Formed in Vancouver, Canada in 1992, the scrappy Canadians broke all the rules, placing bagpipes and tin whistles alongside supercharged guitars and a pounding rhythm section to form an explosive and widely imitated genre of punk rock. The Real McKenzies began with songs of a satirical nature but slowly evolved as master storytellers, writ...

YOU’LL HATE THIS BOOK because it may or may not include your high school band that played one gymnasium show back in ‘95. But these hair-raising tales of battles lost and won might grab your attention anyway, even if the ruffians telling those stories sometimes disagree on the details. Recalling tours from hell, illicit substances consumed, sexual acts consummated, and countless halls trashed, the narrators take us for an exciting stumble down memory lane—a spray-painted alley littered wit...

This collection of tales harvested from tattoo shops across North America is wild enough to make the saltiest sea dog squirm with horror and delight. From mild-mannered kindergarten teachers to outlaw bikers and criminals headed off to prison, each customer brings something special to the shop, and no two stories are exactly alike. While some clients may feel compelled to remove unwanted tattoos on the spot, others might wish to run off without paying, and some might even brandish swords o...

Imagine if your favourite punk band signed to a major label and released a hit record… Success can be a double-edged sword, and Triple Negative is feeling the pressure. Will they soar with the eagles or will they plunge into a desperate quagmire of hard drugs and even harder women like so many bands before them? The young musicians soon learn that fame is the least of their worries—that their main problem is singer Richie Dagger, who seems intent on destroying himself even as the band appr...

Chris Walter writes like a man on death row, with nothing to lose, and East Van is his finest moment. A classic tale of addiction and greed that makes Trainspotting look like Chicken Soup for the Soul, this is one book you do not want to miss. “A broken bottle on the sidewalk reflected sunlight, splintering it into millions of twinkling prisms. The mailman walked by, whistling a jaunty tune as he went about his job. Laughter floated from a window and touched Angie deep in a spot she rarely...