by Paul Kohler
“Well? What do you have to say for yourself? Why were you late? Again, I might add.”
“There was–”
“I don’t want to hear your excuses!”
Jack Duffy awakes on a bus with no memory of the previous day. As he struggles with this loss he is greeted by a Mr. Wilson, who seems to know a great deal about what happened in the last day and is willing to help Jack remember with the assistance of a magic coin. As Jack is slowly brought up to speed with what he missed he learns more about the enigmatic Mr. Wilson and is offered a choice.
Horror, thriller and mystery mashed into a 92 page novella, this is a lightning read combining a very short length and a very quick pace. It has a little bit of humor, a bit of tension and plenty of conflict. There’s some betrayal and some revenge, and it’s easy to like an underdog like Jack.
The tale doesn’t really break any new ground, but it is perfect fodder for that hour that you need to kill somewhere and does a great job of keeping a reader interested.
3 stars
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