From the massive archive…
Published
in 2015 by All Due Respect Books, Crooked Roads: Crime Stories by Alec
Cizak features fifteen previously published short stories. Published in print
and online the tales reflect flawed characters, crimes of various types, and situations
where there are no easy answers.
“The
Space Between” starts readers off with a very short tale about the
relationship, as well as the lack of one, between the cashier and the customer.
She spoke in clichés, but for the narrator, his life is also full of clichés.
The
guy known as “Bump” had never seen somebody die until Kristos put the shotgun
deep into Hector’s mouth and pulled the trigger. Now it is supposed to be
Bump’s turn to kill in “Columbus Day.” All that was supposed to happen was the
three of them, if you counted in Sophia who is about as crazy as Kristos, were
to bust into a cook house, grab the latest batch, and go back home to watch The
Vikings on Monday Night Football. At least, that had been the plan just a
couple of hours ago.
Dad
always said to never underestimate just how stupid some folks can be and then
proved it himself. Living in a trailer park, Neptune Park, isn’t that great. He
knows his girlfriend’s dad, Mr. Vaughn, is not happy at all that he is intimate
with his daughter, Missy. Sure, she might be working out her issues, but Dwayne
likes her a lot and knows the score in “No Hard Feelings.”
It
is January and the rains have come to Wilshire Boulevard. For Rex Burris, who
relies on the generosity of others, the rains are a bad thing because folks
don’t give when it rains. In “American Chivalry” Rex has a plan for the Korean wives
on the 20 bus if he can get enough space change to get on the bus in the first
place.
The
short Mexican is in the wrong place at the wrong time. Though he doesn’t know
it yet as “Dumb Shit” begins. Donny and his friend, Smitty, lost their roofing
jobs to Mexican workers that worked far cheaper for the contractor, Jimbo
Pincer. Donny is mad at everyone in the world. It never is a good thing when
Donny is mad.
She’s
alone, drinking, and has a .32 in her purse. She also has a story to tell in
“Spare Change.”
Bud
Gorski has a wife he can’t make happy and a night job at Liberty Steel that
does not pay enough. The strike has not helped things at all. Ron feels
bad for him in “State Road 53” though he does not feel bad enough to stop seeing
Bud’s wife, Lynn.
Stan
Dillon does not normally go for blondes and then she walked into the bar. As a
cop, he knows a hooker when he sees one. In “Patience,” the hooker of the same name
has a friend, Finesse, and a place, if he is willing. Off duty and male, he is
definitely willing to go with her to the Ramada on Wilshire.
The
two guys that are friends of Katy’s dad showed up wearing ski masks. They gave
her a blindfold and put her in their car. She wanted to see Billy get his in
“Katy Too.”
“My
Kind Of Town” features Jenna and Tom who have a plan for their future. Tom’s
wife Maggie is not part of that plan. Neither is his gas station.
Enrique
Paz has been trailing the guy on foot for a while now in “A Matter Of Time.”
Paz was supposed to be meeting a couple of white guys from West Hollywood to
sell them some meth before this guy earned his attention. The fact went he into
a church isn’t going to save him.
Debbie
had seemed fine when she left after having drugs and sex with Ethan though she
did not tell him where she was going. In “Methamphetamine And A Shotgun” Ethan
has decided to go outside and see the day. He has also decided it is a good
idea to take his shotgun.
She
needs a payphone and that has proved to be a bit of a problem in “Little People.”
She could use her cellphone, but that would create a record. A record of the
call could link her to the guy in the trunk of her silver Lexus.
Harold
showed up early at Nicole’s place in “A Moral Majority.” He has a problem and a
sin to confess. If the congregation finds out, they won’t be happy. He needs
advice and a solution to a terrible problem he has created.
“The
Ralphs At Third And Vermont” used to exist before the riots. It burned. What
happened to Charlie, who used to carry folks groceries, is the point of this
tale that shifts back and forth in time.
The
tales in Crooked Roads: Crime Stories are all good ones.
These previously published stories feature a range of characters, emotions, and
situations that create a dark atmosphere full of vengeance and violence.
Nothing is simple in these tales whether it is the plan for survival, the
reason for the situation, or the actions by anyone involved. Published by All
Due Respect Books, the short stories contained in Crooked Roads: Crime Stories
by Alec Cizak live up the title and then some. In a number of cases, the
road is not just crooked, but pulverized into sharp channels that rip your
soul.
Crooked
Roads: Crime Stories
Alec
Cizak
http://nomoralcenter.blogspot.com/
All
Due Respect Books
http://www.allduerepectbooks.com
May
2015
ASIN: B079KX5GSW
eBook
(print format available)
160 Pages
Material
was purchased in August 2015 to read and review by way of funds in my Amazon
Associate account.
Kevin
R. Tipple ©2016
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