Reviewed by Tori (Vicki)
TITLE: Linchpin 
AUTHOR: Jodi Payne
PUBLISHER: Pride Publishing
LENGTH: 73 pages
RELEASE DATE: May 2nd, 2017
BLURB:
A cleaner for the mob should know better than to make his own mess.
Randall Quinn has been a cleaner for the mob for over ten years, but a particularly violent scene sets him to drinking alone and contemplating his options. At thirty-nine, it’s possible this is just a mid-life crisis so he tries buying himself a flashy car to satisfy the itch, and agrees to take another job to test his conviction. He’s expecting easy money when he arrives at a seedy motel to clean up after what the Boss told him was supposed to have been a simple execution. But what he discovers in that motel room is anything but simple, and from that moment on, every decision he makes for himself makes his life more and more complicated.
REVIEW:
This is a short, fast paced little story!
Quinn, gets called by his boss to go clean up a motel room, after a man has been killed by the hitmen. He shows up, and is rather surprised to find the dead guy alive! Quinn calls the boss to find out what’s up, and is told to take care of it himself. Now Quinn is quite clear that he is a cleaner and not a killer, so they agree that Quinn will take the guy, and the hitmen will meet up with him later to kill the man. This is not the ideal situation by any means but the not-dead guy has managed to call the cops! So off they go in Quinn’s brand new, much loved, bright red, BMW. Quinn takes the guy to his house in the woods, and…. that’s all I’ll tell you!
At 73 pages, this is a short story, but lots gets crammed in there. This story takes place over just a couple of days, and I personally find it hard to get to know characters and bond with them in such a short amount of time. I was intrigued by Quinn certainly, we get a little of his background, or at least his personality, and I liked what I saw. The not-dead guy’s name is Tony, and he’s more of a mystery. I wanted to know more, but the story is from Quinn’s perspective, so we know what Quinn knows. I liked the concept of the story, and I liked the unexpected thing that happens, I was surprised! I liked that we got an epilogue, with a glimpse of where these two guys end up.
I’ve read several of Jodi’s co-authored books, but I think this might be the first I’ve read that was just written by her. It was very well written, which is no surprise, as I’ve enjoyed other books she’s been a part of. I liked how much she was able to get in to a short story, and it all moved along quickly. No time was wasted, the story just rolled right along! There are a couple of sex scenes that were toasty hot, I liked the dynamic in the power struggle between Quinn and Tony. I did feel a bit of a bond develop between the two of them, although I do like to see a deeper emotional bond between main characters. Sure, I would have liked a little more background, a little more time for emotions to develop, things like that. It’s pretty much an insta-lust story, and that’s ok. It’s what it was meant to be, short, fast and fun!
RATING: 
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