April 21 - "Bob"

“Bob”
by Bentley Little
The Collection (2002)

* * * (Good) Suspense

Brandon is overwhelmed by seven elderly women who mistake him for Bob, a man who can help their friend Libby escape from her abusive husband.

You can get quite a lot of mileage out of a story of mistaken identity. These stories can go in many different directions – most ending poorly for at least one of the involved characters. But, they are, more often than not, fun. This story, and more than a handful of others like it, ends up being a brilliant little kernel of what might be a fascinating longer tale. For example, Dean Koontz takes this very same conceit – a man mistaken for a hitman – and turns it into a novel, The Good Guy (a novel in which I’m already a few chapters deep). It always amazes me how connected things can be. I have to say, though, the idea of seven elderly women barging into my home would almost terrify me to the point of accepting whatever sad story and/or deal they were peddling.