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Rita
Joe Duncan has $100,000 in his suitcase, and he's fleeing from the man he stole it from. He decides to hole up in an out-of-the-way fishing village in Washington state. But the chief of police and his sadistic brother get word of the money, and they want it for themselves.
154 pages, Paperback
Published July 12, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 12, 2026
The tagline on the original Zenith cover does not exactly encapsulate the actual story, but it probably worked as a come-on for the eager reader. There’s almost always a suitcase full of money or a bus station locker or a plain wrapped package waiting at General Delivery.
Joe Duncan is the poor sap who stars in this tale, thinking he has made a clean getaway with $100,000 from a Reno casino in an ordinary-looking suitcase. He’s still bitter that his wife and his old buddy conned him out of $25,000 and cuckolded him to boot, but he figures the $100,000 he got out of the safe puts him ahead. Joe is nervous and shaking, not sure if he dot away or 9f they were somehow on his tail. He figures to hide out in a small Washington state fishing town he remembers from childhood, figuring he’d be safe in nowheresville.
But sometimes there’s no safety anywhere. He picks Rita up hitchhiking: “She was wearing a yellow blouse and a cheap black skirt, too short and too tight, but her face wasn’t bad. Black hair and green eyes, eyes that had seen a lot of living. No lines in her face, yet. Wait another five years, he thought.”
Rita’s vicious brothers ran the small town of Salmona, one being the sheriff, one being the town bully no one could touch. Pretty soon his car is rendered inoperable and Joe is all alone a stranger in a strange town with barely no one to help him when the brothers get wind he fits the description of the all points bulletin on the casino thief. The worst is that Brice and his brother have no interest in extradition. They want that $100,000 for themselves and they’ll do whatever it takes to get it out of him.
Gaulden puts the reader directly in Joe’s head and you can feel viscerally how he feels trapped and desperate and backed into a corner with no way out.
Joe Duncan is the poor sap who stars in this tale, thinking he has made a clean getaway with $100,000 from a Reno casino in an ordinary-looking suitcase. He’s still bitter that his wife and his old buddy conned him out of $25,000 and cuckolded him to boot, but he figures the $100,000 he got out of the safe puts him ahead. Joe is nervous and shaking, not sure if he dot away or 9f they were somehow on his tail. He figures to hide out in a small Washington state fishing town he remembers from childhood, figuring he’d be safe in nowheresville.
But sometimes there’s no safety anywhere. He picks Rita up hitchhiking: “She was wearing a yellow blouse and a cheap black skirt, too short and too tight, but her face wasn’t bad. Black hair and green eyes, eyes that had seen a lot of living. No lines in her face, yet. Wait another five years, he thought.”
Rita’s vicious brothers ran the small town of Salmona, one being the sheriff, one being the town bully no one could touch. Pretty soon his car is rendered inoperable and Joe is all alone a stranger in a strange town with barely no one to help him when the brothers get wind he fits the description of the all points bulletin on the casino thief. The worst is that Brice and his brother have no interest in extradition. They want that $100,000 for themselves and they’ll do whatever it takes to get it out of him.
Gaulden puts the reader directly in Joe’s head and you can feel viscerally how he feels trapped and desperate and backed into a corner with no way out.
December 17, 2022
Joe Duncan is caught in a trap. He's on the run, having stolen $100,000 from his unfaithful wife and her lover. He decides to hide out in a small fishing village on the Pacific coast, but he runs into Rita Gale and her two sadistic brothers who want the money for themselves. They run the town, and the only person who will stand up to them is Dr. Howard - but he's dying. They all come together to fight for the soul of the town. Oh, and the $100,000...
The cover (and blurb) make this look like an exploitation novel, but it's actually a fairly decent crime story, well-written and entertaining. With just a little sleaze....
The cover (and blurb) make this look like an exploitation novel, but it's actually a fairly decent crime story, well-written and entertaining. With just a little sleaze....
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews