Parallax: Crime Tales

A change in the apparent position of an object relative to more distant objects, caused by a change in the observer’s line of sight toward the object is what a parallax is defined as. Author Lance J. LoRusso engages readers in a way that is unique and different as we hear the voices of police detectives, officers and criminals from their own perspective or their line of sight.

A bank robbery is terrifying for the tellers, clients and managers working as a lone masked robber enters a bank taking many as hostages. The robber seemed nervous and his actions were unplanned and yet in sync with his goal to get as much money from the vault or the tellers and taking a life did not even bother him The Five Star Bank on State street was the mark or the bank in question and the hostages were lying face down on the ground. But one was smart and somehow the police outside realized that they had to identify the cars in the lot, figure out who was in there and a harsh realization when the daughter of one Sniper officer was a hostage. How to deflect him and not let on while he did his job that she was in there too? Observation on the part of the manager was the key as she took in the robber’s appearance, his stance, how he moved and predicting how she might use that information to send a signal to the team outside.

What happens when you move into the cross hairs from a target and it moves based on your eye movement. You shift your eye the cross haisr shifts position. In this first story the manager must focus on different places and hopefully even though the robber is hurting her, pushing her around she realizes that she must do something to safe the others but what? Her quick thinking and her two second movement enabled the team outside to learn it was one man and one gun. She let a note slip between the desk and the glass called the Black Hole, and the events that follow will give you the chills as this coldhearted robber the women were crying on the floor and the team must prepare them to be rescued. The final ending is somewhat tragic and Rose who stood tall, kept her perspective and did not panic and the ending will endear you to not only the officers and the team that ran the operation but Rose who managed to save so many. Author Lance LoRusso takes us inside the mind of a desperate man who wanted money, did not care how he got it and you prayed hard that the police and the help of one hostage who was smart enough to enter the right numbers and alert the outside that something awful was going down. The Swat team arrives, the ending is well crafted as we hear the voices of officers, the hostages and the Sharon and Rose who are caught in the cross hairs of the Parallax.

In the Last Set the setting is the Blue Note Café and it is a cafe is for those who will pay whatever the price to listen to the Last Set and their music. Among the listeners is a Detective that is hoping to take down the lead singer, the band and his undercover waiting for the search warrants to be issued and hopefully taking them down without anyone getting killed or hurt. Things seem to be under control and Detective Pete Ragsdale is on the inside and is biding his time, realizes that the band leader is a dangerous child killer, and he wants him stopped. But, not everything goes as planned and this killer is not only aware after a while of what is about to go down but thinks he will get away with it. The scene in the bathroom is heart wrenching and the ending is unexpected as someone pays a heavy price for saving the lives of so many others. Just what happens and who lives to hear another set you will have to learn when you read this strong and vividly depicted short story that will enlighten you the reader to the risks taken by the men in blue.

Hear the voice of a man running from the law and who shot and killed a police officer that pulled him over. You hear his innermost thoughts, how he plans to escape and what he thinks is the methodical paths to take to avoid detection. When to eat, sleep, take a bathroom break, where to park his car, whether to get a new tag on the back or rob another one you hear the thought process of a man who thinks he is never going to get taken. After traveling for so many hours and days the killer feels almost euphoric thinking he is getting away with it. But the author introduces a Swat team that is smart, experienced and the ending will allow readers to hopefully understand to what lengths these brave men in blue go to protect all of us. What is the fate of the killer? Read Running and find out if he gets caught? Just how fast can someone run until ?

The fourth story is titled the Nasty Habit and the homicide detective that is involved is looking for a man who killed four women. The clues are there, and a man named Billy offers to help the police, answer their questions and looks them straight in the eyes as if he is playing a part in a play hoping to escape what one detective seems to feel the guilty man. When the officer that makes has the man in the police car calls his boss, Shipp shows up and you can hear the wheels turning in his brain, the though processes and the questions he asks as the author uses his own interrogation skills to help the detective hopefully reveal the truth about a man named Billy. Strange viewpoint and a strange mode of speech as this man insists on being handcuffed stating he wants everyone to be safe but why? That alone is a red flag and as it gets colder and the need to bring him to the station is paramount the ride with the officer must be carefully carried out, the placement in a room secured and the questions asked to make sure that this detective has the right man. A simple observation will take this investigation in a direction that will hopefully take this man out of circulation and one comment might solidify it. Just how this end is the creative work of the author once again using his skills as a detective and lawyer to hopefully take down a man who has a Nasty Habit of killing women.

The final entry is heartwarming as we enter the Watchman a bed and breakfast where our main character has come to stay and deal with the past and hopefully find a new future. Hear the voice of this retired detective and understand his trials and what he endured as the author describes what happened to him and how he had to deal with some emotional and mental issues. When on the job you face many adversaries but what happens when you are the only survivor, and your team is killed? How do you deal with survivor’s guilt? Many like him drown their sorrows in alcohol and cannot function without the bottle Meet Anna the owner and their stories blend, she reveals her past and the final ending will make you wonder where he will go next, but will he remain here because as the last sentence says: There is so much to see!

These stories will hopefully wake up the public to understanding the risks and dangerous the men in blue take every day to protect all of us. Hard boiled stories, true to life and told from several points of views which direction to you go in when you read these stories and define what you think is you own Parallax?
Fran Lewis: Just reviews