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Cisco
In mid-1980’s San Francisco, a repulsive criminal mastermind and a talented female detective face off, each hampered by their inept sidekicks.
Cisco is a frightening visage of towering strength topped with a face covered in hideous prison tattoos. A cleft palate emphasizes his monstrosity as he spits out garbled words. Cisco has had a long string of successful payoff for child abductions in his past, but this one is not looking good. His new protégé, Jacob, has returned with a too-young kidnapping victim. To top it off, Jacob has left evidence behind. “Weeers hees shoo?” demands an enraged Cisco, when three-year old Henry Peterson is presented to him shoeless on one of his little feet. Both innocent Henry and blundering Jacob are in for a world of hurt very soon.
Cisco orchestrates an unusual method for collecting the ransom in broad daylight and right under the noses of the cops. He leaves Henry behind, but takes Jacob and a vehicle full of hostages with him. McCurda and Bishop find themselves in pursuit blocks away from each other, baffled as to the whereabouts of both Henry and the car with Cisco and his hostages. Danger, threats, gunfire and death conclude the day in the Mission district.
Meanwhile, little Henry Peterson rests on a city bus heading away from the raging battle and into the arms of a well-meaning, but clueless young stranger.
Cisco is a frightening visage of towering strength topped with a face covered in hideous prison tattoos. A cleft palate emphasizes his monstrosity as he spits out garbled words. Cisco has had a long string of successful payoff for child abductions in his past, but this one is not looking good. His new protégé, Jacob, has returned with a too-young kidnapping victim. To top it off, Jacob has left evidence behind. “Weeers hees shoo?” demands an enraged Cisco, when three-year old Henry Peterson is presented to him shoeless on one of his little feet. Both innocent Henry and blundering Jacob are in for a world of hurt very soon.
Cisco orchestrates an unusual method for collecting the ransom in broad daylight and right under the noses of the cops. He leaves Henry behind, but takes Jacob and a vehicle full of hostages with him. McCurda and Bishop find themselves in pursuit blocks away from each other, baffled as to the whereabouts of both Henry and the car with Cisco and his hostages. Danger, threats, gunfire and death conclude the day in the Mission district.
Meanwhile, little Henry Peterson rests on a city bus heading away from the raging battle and into the arms of a well-meaning, but clueless young stranger.
88 pages, Unknown Binding
Published August 1, 2019
About the author
James W. White
6 books7 followersJim is a California-based writer of historical and science fiction. He earned an MA in U.S. History. His professional career has included military service, teaching, research librarian and technical writing. Jim's stories have appeared in Datura Literary Journal, Chronoscope Magazine, The Wapshott Press, Scarlet Leaf Review and Adelaide Books.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 20, 2019
Cisco is a dark crime novella (what did you expect from a publisher called Dark Passages Publishing) about a kidnapping. The setting is the San Francisco Bay area.
Typical of the novella, there are no words wasted, there’s no wading into the story carefully, no dipping in your toe, it’s diving in at the deep end with a Tarzan yell. Right from the start you get an excellent feel for who you’re dealing with, and I can tell you right now: it’s the stuff of nightmares! Move over Freddy Krueger, here’s Cisco! Cisco has a cleft palate, rotting teeth and gums and only half a tongue (don’t ask) and to boot his face is covered with prison tattoos, because well why not. He gives the impression of a disturbed mind, and I’m not saying he’s quite right in the head, but he’s not stupid, he’s actually very intelligent, and that actually makes matters worse, because the only thing worse than a criminal is a smart criminal.
Countering Cisco’s violent nature is Detective Helen McCurda. When the newest member of Cisco’s merry band of associates kidnaps young Henry, McCurda is the leading detective. She’s been selected over other, more seasoned, possibly more qualified officers so she feels a sharp need to prove her worth and she’s going above and beyond, and then some, to do so. Helen is a fab character, well-rounded, despite the few pages James White had to create her, he even managed to squeeze in a bit of a love interest.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novella. The search for Henry is a wild one, and the whole thing packs quite a lot of punch, seriously, it felt like a punch in the stomach (but, you know, in a good way 😁). Some very harrowing scenes and a finale that is so closed and so open at the same time that it left me utterly flabbergasted.
If noir is your bag, and you’re at all into novellas, I recommend you check out Cisco!
Many thanks to Ariana for the kind invitation, I was honoured to read this ahead of publication. All opinions are of course my own and I was not paid to give them.
Typical of the novella, there are no words wasted, there’s no wading into the story carefully, no dipping in your toe, it’s diving in at the deep end with a Tarzan yell. Right from the start you get an excellent feel for who you’re dealing with, and I can tell you right now: it’s the stuff of nightmares! Move over Freddy Krueger, here’s Cisco! Cisco has a cleft palate, rotting teeth and gums and only half a tongue (don’t ask) and to boot his face is covered with prison tattoos, because well why not. He gives the impression of a disturbed mind, and I’m not saying he’s quite right in the head, but he’s not stupid, he’s actually very intelligent, and that actually makes matters worse, because the only thing worse than a criminal is a smart criminal.
Countering Cisco’s violent nature is Detective Helen McCurda. When the newest member of Cisco’s merry band of associates kidnaps young Henry, McCurda is the leading detective. She’s been selected over other, more seasoned, possibly more qualified officers so she feels a sharp need to prove her worth and she’s going above and beyond, and then some, to do so. Helen is a fab character, well-rounded, despite the few pages James White had to create her, he even managed to squeeze in a bit of a love interest.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novella. The search for Henry is a wild one, and the whole thing packs quite a lot of punch, seriously, it felt like a punch in the stomach (but, you know, in a good way 😁). Some very harrowing scenes and a finale that is so closed and so open at the same time that it left me utterly flabbergasted.
If noir is your bag, and you’re at all into novellas, I recommend you check out Cisco!
Many thanks to Ariana for the kind invitation, I was honoured to read this ahead of publication. All opinions are of course my own and I was not paid to give them.
March 17, 2021
Ransoms Are For Amateurs, by James W White is a dark, crime-suspense novella that begins with the frighteningly hideous appearance of Cisco, a criminal mastermind who, together with a team of crooked protégé’s, abducts children with the intent of demanding a handsome price from their parents anxious for their release .
His gang bungle an abduction, leaving Cisco enraged at their inept handling of, what was supposed to be a regular kidnapping. He now had to deal with Henry, a crying, kicking, nose running young child who got on his nerves with his continuous bellowing.
But what irritated him most, was that he would now have to deal with McCurda a detective, as ruthless in her pursue of Cisco, as Cisco was in his chosen field of abduction.
This well-crafted novella, in barely under 100 pages, affords the reader a bumpy, frightening, breath-taking ride as you follow the villains in their attempt to avoid capture and appease Cisco at the same time for their bundling of, what should have been, a run-of-the-mill kidnapping. This is my first horror story. If they are all as well-crafted and frightening as this one, it shall not be my last. Ransoms Are For Amateurs has converted me
His gang bungle an abduction, leaving Cisco enraged at their inept handling of, what was supposed to be a regular kidnapping. He now had to deal with Henry, a crying, kicking, nose running young child who got on his nerves with his continuous bellowing.
But what irritated him most, was that he would now have to deal with McCurda a detective, as ruthless in her pursue of Cisco, as Cisco was in his chosen field of abduction.
This well-crafted novella, in barely under 100 pages, affords the reader a bumpy, frightening, breath-taking ride as you follow the villains in their attempt to avoid capture and appease Cisco at the same time for their bundling of, what should have been, a run-of-the-mill kidnapping. This is my first horror story. If they are all as well-crafted and frightening as this one, it shall not be my last. Ransoms Are For Amateurs has converted me
June 22, 2019
I immediately knew that the main protagonist Cisco was not the run of the mill bad guy, he was pure evil who was desperately in need of a Jeremy Cricket. We are introduced to the sadistic psychopath in the first chapter, where he is keeping a small child captive for no other reason but greedy exploitation. Cisco isn't just a run of your mill literary character, he's every parent and child's worst nightmare. With his undesirably monstrous looks that match his attitude Cisco could be compared to the bogeyman who lurks on the outskirts of society waiting to pounce.... or send his associates to. What sent shivers up my spine, is that these kind of creatures are true to life - James W White quickly engaged me with his valid portrayal of evil.
As we venture deeper into the novella, we become to know Cisco quite well, he comes across as intelligent, yet unstable, cruel and full of rage. As I've said, he kidnaps children then he pens ransom notes to the parents, I begun to see a more unstable side of Cisco, he's filled with rage that's partnered with a tormented mind. Page by page I could feel the narrative getting increasingly unsettling, at one point I felt that this questionably instable protagonist also possessed feelings of grandeur as he begun to repeat gospel - did he feel like the hand of God in this situation, is that where his power came from? Or was it an ego where he thought he ran the show and was untouchable by God and law? You'll have to read it and let me know what you think.
The dialogue flicks between Cisco and Detective Helen McCurda, who is the lead detective on the case of a missing child. She is a force to be reckoned with, after fighting sexual prejudice in the police, she doesn't take a case lying down. DC McCurda is both intelligent and extremely kick ass who is completely driven with a no bullshit attitude. I found like Helen and Cisco were the good and evil sides of the same coin in terms of their wrath and drive - if they had been on the same side of the coin, I think the duo would have been hugely complimentary. I appreciate the lengths that James has gone to, to create believable characters, as well as an adrenaline increasing, twisted read. I could even imagine their voices, Cisco's echoed as a low predatory growl in my mind that shook me up completely.
I was put through the ringer with this read, emotionally it's a bloody rollercoaster. I gasped with shock, it pulled at my heart strings, sent waves of chills up my spine and had me glued to my seat. James W White has created a novella of 88 pages that packs a solarplex punch! Cisco has everything a disquieting novella should have, crime, murder, cat - and - mouse chase with fireworks. I am in need of a whiskey on the rocks and a dark room to recover - this is the very first time that I've been introduced to the work of James W White and Dark Passages Publishing, but I can safety say that I'm hooked! I can not wait to see what other literary surprises are tucked up the sleeves of the team around this novella.
As we venture deeper into the novella, we become to know Cisco quite well, he comes across as intelligent, yet unstable, cruel and full of rage. As I've said, he kidnaps children then he pens ransom notes to the parents, I begun to see a more unstable side of Cisco, he's filled with rage that's partnered with a tormented mind. Page by page I could feel the narrative getting increasingly unsettling, at one point I felt that this questionably instable protagonist also possessed feelings of grandeur as he begun to repeat gospel - did he feel like the hand of God in this situation, is that where his power came from? Or was it an ego where he thought he ran the show and was untouchable by God and law? You'll have to read it and let me know what you think.
The dialogue flicks between Cisco and Detective Helen McCurda, who is the lead detective on the case of a missing child. She is a force to be reckoned with, after fighting sexual prejudice in the police, she doesn't take a case lying down. DC McCurda is both intelligent and extremely kick ass who is completely driven with a no bullshit attitude. I found like Helen and Cisco were the good and evil sides of the same coin in terms of their wrath and drive - if they had been on the same side of the coin, I think the duo would have been hugely complimentary. I appreciate the lengths that James has gone to, to create believable characters, as well as an adrenaline increasing, twisted read. I could even imagine their voices, Cisco's echoed as a low predatory growl in my mind that shook me up completely.
I was put through the ringer with this read, emotionally it's a bloody rollercoaster. I gasped with shock, it pulled at my heart strings, sent waves of chills up my spine and had me glued to my seat. James W White has created a novella of 88 pages that packs a solarplex punch! Cisco has everything a disquieting novella should have, crime, murder, cat - and - mouse chase with fireworks. I am in need of a whiskey on the rocks and a dark room to recover - this is the very first time that I've been introduced to the work of James W White and Dark Passages Publishing, but I can safety say that I'm hooked! I can not wait to see what other literary surprises are tucked up the sleeves of the team around this novella.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews