John Rector, The Cold Kiss

The Cold Kiss

John Rector

Forge, Jul 6 2010, $24.99

ISBN: 9780765326430

Nate and his pregnant fianc e Sara are driving from Minnesota to Reno, Nevada to get married. . In Nebraska, as snow begins, they pull off the highway into the Red Oak Tavern. There they hear a man coughing badly that reminds Sara of her grandfather who had a similar sounding cough just before he died. Sara sympathizes with the sick person Syl White, who is coughing up blood and has car trouble. She convinces Nate to give Syl a ride, but the man is bellicose towards his Good Samaritan refusing the ride at first. Seeing the snow piling up, Syl changes his mind and gives them five hundred to take him to Omaha.

A blizzard forces the couple and their ailing passenger to pull over at an isolated motel. Both are stunned and appalled to realize Syl died in their back seat. The engaged couple is even more shocked to find the deceased carried nearly one million dollars. They agree to take the loot, but must dispose of the corpse. The plan is simple toss Syl into the large snow drifts. Neither Nate nor Sara realize how much danger they wrought on to themselves when they chose to take the cash.

This is an exhilarating Noir thriller as the young lead couple learns life lessons about values such as avariciousness that makes them lose sight of why they offered a ride to Syl in the first place. The story line is fast-paced from the moment a coughing blood Syl tells Nate to tell his do-gooder girlfriend to F off and never slows down until the final roll of the ball kissing the roulette wheel. Fans will enjoy John Rector's fast-paced tale as some nasties go after the innocent lost sheep who have lost their way once dollar signs replaced hearts entirely.

Harriet Klausner