One of the most hopeless tales I've ever read. ( )

" Coincidence only carries so far, and then you just have to figure that the universe wants to fuck you up as much as possible."
What a great opening line!

This is more like a short story than a novella, but it was good just the same. A straight up brutal revenge tale with no punches pulled. Recommended! ( )

Wow! This is an extremely fast paced, hard hitting story. It's actually more of a novella than a novel but either way it kicks ass. Exactly what you would expect from a story titled like this one. The story is part Punisher (the comic book), part detective movie, and part revenge.

Clay is a detective investigating the mob and he's doing a good job of it. He starts to get too close, so the mob orders a hit on him and his family. Wounded but not down, Clay tracks down those responsible and gets justice.

For a story that is pretty simplistic, Piccirilli does a great job of making you care for the characters. You wish for Clay to do the smart thing and get them later but at the same time you see his pain and know he can't do anything else. It took me a little while to track down a copy of this book but I'm super glad that I did. Do the right thing and find your own copy soon. ( )

This is a short, angry novella about a man who wills himself to survive truly gruesome injuries long enough to avenge the murder of his family. If you are a fan of Reservoir Dogs, you might like this book. Piccirilli has the rare ability to find the situations that truly scare us, dig into those moments like a lunatic doctor performing an autopsy with a broken Coke bottle. This is a nice introduction to his work and well worth the read. The images will stay with you. ( )