The Deal

Book 0: A Mulholland / Strand Magazine Short

by Michael Palmer

Genres: Thrillers; Suspense

Synopsis

Michael Palmer and Matthew Palmer join forces to pen the story of John, a low-level criminal looking for the next big score in the in the factory town of Logan.
A small-time criminal joins a gang, he does a year in prison, and he swears he's better than all of it. That's when he decides he will rob the home of the Harpy, an ancient women living out her last days in a moldering mansion above town. But things don't go as John expects, and Harpy is given a reward that may well be a curse. With this information, John swears he's invincible...but has he thought of every angle?

"The Deal" by Michael Palmer and Matthew Palmer is one of 20 short stories within Mulholland Books's Strand Originals series, featuring thrilling stories by the most legendary authors in the Strand Magazine archives. View the full series list at mulhollandbooks.com and listen to them all!

Release date: June 7, 2016

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Print pages: 48

Sample

There is a defining moment in every life—only one—that changes the course of that life forever. For me, that moment came the day I decided to rob the Harpy.

Knowing what I know now, of course, I wish I could wind the tape back and do it differently. I suppose everyone feels that way sometimes. Knowledge can be a powerful thing, for good or bad. But you have to get the balance just right. Either a little too much, or not quite enough, can be a real problem. I’ve had a lot of time to think about what went wrong, where I made my mistake. Why is it that you learn the really important lessons when it’s too late?

The Harpy had a real name. Maybe it was Harper, something like that. But from when I was born until I finally left that god-forsaken town at the age of twenty-four, she had . . .