Rico says: Ed Duncan

Freelance means you work for yourself and the clients that hire you to do a job expect it done to their satisfaction. Richard Sanders/ Rico is a freelance contract killer hired by mob bosses to rid the world of anything and anyone that stands in their way of getting what they want. Mistakes are not allowed, double crossing is a death sentence but when Rico becomes the punching bag of three thugs and becomes their victim, what happens next will alert readers why you never mess with him. The catalyst for this attack was the nephew of a mobster named Gus no one dared to cross.

Rico is tough, brash and does not hold back when he speaks but his girlfriend Jean, seems to be the only one that keeps him centered at least for now. Hie prides himself being an independent contractor and does not blink an eye when asked to eliminate or irradiate a person.

His moral code of ethics if you consider them moral and justified is that he’s riding the world of people that are superfluous, unwanted and a criminal element that the police won’t have to deal with any longer. Language skills are unique, and he loves using large ones trying to stump anyone that dares to defy him. Carrying a gun in his holster which is lightweight and blue he feels lost and not fully dressed without it.

Certain incidents he won’t allow especially when it involves an innocent elderly man who is pushed down by a kid, on his knees and might have been left for dead for whatever reason he was their mark, until Rick steps in, takes these men out but he’s seriously wounded and winds up in the hospital.

Rico is a strong character and multifaceted and has the knack for taking care of business and yet never arrested. Paul and Rico have a history way back as Evelyn and Paul had two people related to them in a different way as targets for Rico or a hit he was supposed to do and things got tense and the end result Rico took these two people out and Paul become indebted to him.

Rico was injured when attacked by Larry and his cronies and spent three days in the hospital asleep and would stop at nothing until his brand of justice was enacted. Gus’s nephew Larry want to take Rico out but when Gus visits him in the hospital, he tries to convince him to create a truce and that Larry would be under control. Unfortunately for Gus he was not quite as perspicacious as Rico. Lack of insight and not as shrew as he thinks he is, Larry turns out to be more than a loose cannon.

Cleveland Russell just got out of prison and his parole officer gave him three weeks before reporting to take care of his brother, Sam’s funeral. Life was starting to come together for him until he befriended Larry a big mistake. But Cleveland rekindled his relationship with Sadie and met her two daughters and things changed for him, but Larry wanted him in the next kill. The man that was beaten up could identify him and he wanted Cleveland to help take him out. Lies, deceptions and hoping to convince his uncle Gus that when the dead was done, Cleveland did it, little does he realize that Rico knows the truth.

Jean and Rico have their own relationship and she must deal with what he does. Evelyn as decided to take Paul back into her life even though she learns about a one-time deal with Valerie Wallace. Everyone makes mistakes but can she and Jean deal with both Paul and Rico and their pasts and what seems like a fragile future?
Frank Litvak, was the mob boss that insisted on having Rico kill both Paul and Evelyn. Rico refused to do that, and Litvak had threatened to kill Jean. With the threat at hand, he was unsure about what to do and at the last minute a strange twist in the events happened and Paul saved Rico’s life and Rico told Litvak under no circumstances would he ever go after Paul and Evelyn and a true friendship came about.

Gus is tenacious but losing his grip and when he meets Cleveland, he thinks he can bring him into the fold and have him as one of his men. Cleveland meets with him but an undercurrent seems to be there and you get the impression that although he and Larry might attempt to become friends, do some jobs, he really wants to never go back to prison again so what will his choices be?

Gus wanted to chance another meeting with Rico hoping to get Larry off his mind and thinking he was under control. His sister had him wrapped tight and Larry would skate for most of his mistakes, but will he take Cleveland with him? But, Sadie just might make all the difference in the world could she change Cleveland into the person that would make her and her children a family?
Jean and the elderly man that was beaten up by Larry and his men, Koblentz would be his next target. The scene is graphic, and the author takes us inside the mind of someone who is delusional and thinks he’s above the law because of who is uncle is and that fact that no one can tough him, so he thinks. Things get dangerous and they find out that Rico is staying at Paul’s cabin and lives are at stake, Larry is a loose cannon and the end result will place Rico, Jean, Evelyn and Paul in the crosshairs of some dangerous people. Jean and Evelyn meet and at first they are standoffish but when they begin to open up you wonder why Jean is with Rico, how she copes with his work and she admits that her family is practically disowned her yet Evelyn encourages her to call one more time and the conversation is strikingly hard, her mother is cold but will she try and connect with her sisters?
Evelyn has to deal with Paul’s friendship with Rico and the final scenes will either destroy them all, take out those that are trying to kill them or create a cavity that won’t be filled if not successful.

Author Ed Duncan takes us inside the mind of a freelance killer who justifies his actions and yet you almost condone what he does. Rico is tough, has his own flaws, deals with his injuries but is loyal to a fault to both Jean and Paul and now Evelyn. The last scenes are tense when push comes to more than shove, Gus and Larry take on Rico, Paul and then Jean and Evelyn. Jean is in danger and Rico finds himself in Buster’s café having to figure out how to take out the hit man sent to kill Jean. As the final scenes unfold the violence gets more graphic, lives are at stake but in the end which side will be on and whose side is right or is there one?

The ending might be a new beginning but in what direction for those that survive and will the police believe their statements as Paul tells them to tell the truth. A twist at the end that you will not expect and someone higher up that seems loyal to Rico. Author Ed Duncan keeps us in suspense until the very last page and we all understand the meaning of what RICO SAYS!

Strong characters that blend well together and loyalties that might seem odd yet bonds that will not be broken.

Fran Lewis: Just reviews