The Middle of the World

THE MIDDLE OF THE WORLD is a literary, noir, non-violent crime short novel. (Yes, noir and non-violent make for an oxymoron). The time and place—Pasco, Alabama, 1978.

Twenty-three year old Paul Malone, son of a bootlegger and merchant, lives alone in an apartment above the railroad tracks. He has no family left in Pasco and knows his destiny lies elsewhere. His desire is to leave and start a new life.

The trouble is: An unscrupulous estate attorney used the opportunity of Paul spending ninety days in the county jail for an offense Paul did not commit to steal a quarter million dollars from Paul’s inheritance.

So, two main things hold him to his hometown: An affair with an older married woman. And his money that Edmund G. McCormick stole from him. He wants not only his money back but revenge upon McCormick. And without risking jail.

He uses McCormick to set in motion, and take the fall if there is one, one of the most successful chain letters ever devised.

Sometimes, life gives you the short end of the stick. And sometimes, if you’re clever enough, the good guy gets to win.