by Jordan Harper
Hardcore Hardboiled
* * * * (Great) Suspense
John Mashburn is not the young man he once was. As he climbs the three flights of stairs seeking revenge against the man who harmed his granddaughter, he worries about the knee he injured years ago in prison, and what impact this climb of stairs and injury will have on his cold plan of punishment.
Now this is the type of story I bought the collection hoping to find. It is well paced, brutal, and contains that hard-edged dialogue you expect to find in a collection with the words “hardcore” and “hardboiled” in the title. It is a revenge story, which is nothing new, but what elevates it above the common tale is the language – you feel as though you are with that old man climbing the long stairs in search of revenge for the crimes committed against his granddaughter. There is also a nice twist near the end of the story, along with an unexpected, but fitting end.
“He knew he had to answer for what he did, so he didn’t hold it against us for doing what we had to do. And my whole life I’ve thought more of that hanged son of a bitch than a lot of people who never did wrong, but never did right either.”Revenge colored with responsibility – what sounds more noble than that?
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