“A Close Shave”

My story “A Close Shave”—with more than one tip of the razor toward Ring Lardner’s “Haircut”—is the final story in the new novel in stories The Swamp Killers, edited by Sarah M. Chen and E.A. Aymar and published by Down & Out Books.

The book cover copy provides the background on the story:

Here’s what we know is true.

Timmy Milici, a low-level hitter with the infamous Atlanta-based Duplass crime family, ran off with Melody Duplass to Jacksonville, Florida. Olivia Duplass, her mother and head of the Duplass family, was incensed, and put a price on Timmy—a hundred thousand for his corpse, but with explicit instructions that her daughter not be harmed.

We know that’s true.

Or, at least, we think we do.

Sixteen writers tell their versions of what happened those fateful days in this gripping novel-in-stories, brought to you from the team behind The Night of the Flood.

“A Close Shave” builds on news stories, rumors, speculation, and real-life mob history to reveal what happened to Timmy and Olivia—and in the process tries to comment on the nature of truth, how slippery it can be.

In addition to Sarah and Ed’s work, the book also features a great groups of additional contributors, including Hilary Davidson, Alex Dolan, Rebecca Drake, Gwen Florio, Elizabeth Heiter, J.J. Hensley, Susi Holliday, Shannon Kirk, Tara Laskowski, Jenny Milchman, Alan Orloff, Tom Sweterlitsch, and Wendy Tyson.

So pleased to be part of this project!

Book categories: Anthologies