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Cons
An ex-con tries to go straight but felony follows him wherever he goes
Frank Cullen—everyone calls him Cully—has just gotten released from Raiford State Prison in Florida and he’s on his way north to his home in Pennsylvania. "When Cully got out he headed north. He stopped for a weekend to work the field for a guy that never paid him and then got on a bus again. He wanted to put as much distance between himself and Florida as possible. He figured what he’d do was, he’d go back to Pennsylvania—see how his sister was doing. But halfway there he thought, Fuck it, and hopped off the bus in Beaufort, North Carolina.
"He should have known better." After getting busted for assault on his new employer in Beaufort, another one that refused to pay him wages, Cully lands in jail. However, just when he felt like he was on his way back to prison, Herb Dorrance, a wealthy farmer, hires Cully to do odd jobs at his farm. Cully learns quickly that Dorrance has a very attractive wife, Michelle, who happens to be the ex-wife of Benny Marsh, a newly release ex-con also returning to Beaufort. Benny was doing time for trying to rob the bank in which his wife Michelle worked. Now, Benny is back to take what belongs to him.
Dorrance is not the upstanding citizen he first appears to be. He has a penchant for kinky sex and takes great delight in trying to manipulate people including Benny, Cully, and his wife. Cully is Dorrance’s protection against Benny, but Benny has waited a long time to get what’s his. He’s willing to wait a bit longer until he figures a way to rid himself of Cully. Benny is a man accustomed to getting what he wants.
In a bar, Benny sees a pair of cowboy books that he like. The boots happen to be on someone, however, but that doesn’t bother Benny. He asks the guy what size they are and the guy reluctantly responds, "eleven," Benny’s size. "He did the guy in an alley, walking up to him when the guy was pissing, getting rid of all those pina coladas or whatever they were. Not even seeing Benny until he hit him, smashing him in the kidneys as hard as he could and then hitting him in the head a couple of times, letting him go down and then pulling the boots off and trying them on, smiling because they fit."
Cons is a book with a taut, suspenseful plot, in which the characters are driven to their ultimate ends by their very nature. Cully is a sympathetic character that only wants to stay out of jail, but longs for the one score that will put him far enough ahead that he can stay away from the law and live above the poverty level. Dorrance, who takes great pleasure in controlling people, meets his match in Benny; the loose cannon that will not be denied what’s his.
The plot takes a number of quick turns, especially toward the end, but each change in directions is completely in keeping with the character of the players. This book will keep you guessing right till the end, which has an amusing twist that will leave you chuckling.
Read this book. You will be entertained.
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