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Painless

Bill Poje
Xlibris (2008)
ISBN 9781436370486
Reviewed by Sandie Kirkland for RebeccasReads (4/09)

Augustus Valentine has a huge problem.  Involved in a smuggling ring through his import-export business, he has agreed to smuggle in jewels and precious metals.  But before they can be delivered to his client, Augustus is attacked at the business and all the smuggled merchandise is stolen.  That's bad for Augustus, and not with the insurance company or even the police.  No, Aug's problem is with the Mob and the various men he has dealt with for years and that he believed were his partners.  Now everyone is after Aug and expects him to deliver the goods.  If he can't, death is a real possibility.

Fast-paced, Bill Poje's Painless follows Aug in the days after the robbery as he delves into the intricate relationships between the various partners.  Everyone is out for themselves, and betrayal and double-crossing is the name of the game.  As Valentine moves from gangster to gangster, uses of flashbacks reveal that this crime has its genesis in events that happened decades ago.  Valentine must figure out the past and the way it affects the present before he can hope to work his way out of the problems he faces.  He learns that he can't trust anyone, even those he considered his closest friends.

This book is recommended for fans of furious action and a look at crime and criminals from the inside.  The reader is swept along on waves of action and violence.  As one might expect in this setting, there is a lot of sex, violence and adult language.  The plot twists like a sidewinder and the flashbacks help the reader piece together the puzzle of the various relationships.  Bill Poje has created a realistic view of a world most readers will never experience.

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