Rico Stays

Author Ed Duncan provided a print copy of Rico Stays the third book in the Pigeon-Blood Red series.

Having read and thoroughly enjoyed the first two books in this series; Pigeon-Blood Red and The Last Straw, I was glad to get to check out this new chapter in the story of Richard aka "Rico" Sanders, the hit man with his owns set of morals.

Rico is definitely not the man to mess with, as we learn again. This time he is protecting his girlfriend from the idiot son of a local mob boss. Even the boss knows better than to cross Rico. Of course if he left Rico alone we wouldn't have much of a story would we?

Lots of mafia-style action and violence. We meet up with characters from the previous books. There is a romantic story line (actually two). Basically a story of right versus wrong within a setting of organized crime. I had more than a little of a noir feel to me.

Author Duncan does an excellent job of fleshing out his characters and if not necessarily endearing them to us, at least engaging us to root for them. Some of the characters' machismo overrules their intelligence. Kind of like the old Bugs Bunny cartoons where Bugs would say, "If I do it, I get a whipping, ...I do it" These characters say "If I mess with Rico I die... I mess with him." You can guess the outcome. But a good twist at the end keeps us on our toes. 

All around, a good example of mafia noir crime action. Enjoy!

Mike