Paper: A Driftwood Mystery

Driftwood Mysteries #5

by William J. Cook

The short story "Paper" was originally published in the collection Before Our House Fell into the Stories of Love and Death . It is the epilogue to the novel Dungeness and Dragons and the prologue to the forthcoming novel Gallery of Gangsters.

When two foul-mouthed street punks come upon the bombed-out wreckage of Paul Drake's car and find his satchel of hundred-dollar bills, they think they've just won a criminal's lottery. They flee Wyoming and begin a lavish lifestyle in Portland, Oregon.

But all is not well. The thugs are under surveillance by shadowy authorities who believe they have stumbled upon the most impossible counterfeiting ring ever.

Humorous and violent, "Paper" paves the way for Russian crime czar Vasily Volkov's latest depredations in Gallery of Gangsters . A bonus preview of that novel is included in this volume.

45 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 30, 2022

About the author

William Cook is a Connecticut native transplanted to Oregon in 1989. He is a graduate of the State University of New York at Albany, where he received his Master's Degree in Social Work. He spent 37 years as a mental health therapist, and he is now enjoying his retirement with his artist wife.

Reviews

[Twila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Right place, right time, wrong decision.... Oh so wrong. This is a crisp little story that will have you reaching for the series from which it is a taster. If you've read its predecessor Dungeness and Dragons (OK, I'm reading it now) then the setting and the setup will doubtless mean more to you, but actually I love being thrown in at the deep end and working out the world without clues. (It's a life time thing. I would never have read the Narnia series if I hadn't read Prince Caspian before The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and got hooked on the mystery of what the hell was going on...) The world and the characters here are beautifully realised. And the ending, a definite ending here, actually quite moved me, and I can be a hard nut with crime stories. Wot? There's a sequel? Yes - guess I may have to read that too... Gallery of Gangsters: A Driftwood Mystery

[Carly Rheilan · Rating 5 out of 5]

William J Cook nails it with this very perfect little story. (At 45 pages, it's just a bit long for a commuter read, so you may have to go on reading it when you pretend to read your emails after you get to the office.) It's actually a little shoe-in story between two other books which I haven't read, but it works brilliantly as a standalone - just enough detail to let you guess at the backstory, but it doesn't matter: this is an episode captured perfectly.

Haven't we all daydreamed this one? Coming across a haul of money, origin uncertain, ownership void... A pot of gold at the end of a rainbow... But life is never that simple. And however clean it looks, money is always dirty. And the devil always gets the last laugh.

[Tricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short novel links Dungeness and Dragons to the next mystery in the series, Gallery of Gangsters, by Cook. It’s an exciting ride with twists and turns of events.