13 Comments
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daisy cashin's avatar

Fuck yes ray. G dang fuck yes.

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Saint-Lazare's avatar

I didn't know I needed mob horror, philosophy, and dark comedy all in one in my life. Thank you for the great read!

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Ray Downs's avatar

🙏

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Hyun Woo Kim's avatar

Hilarious.

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Shoni's avatar

Got a chuckle out of me. Holy shit.

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Ray Downs's avatar

Mission accomplished. 🙏

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Michael Arturo's avatar

Love the character, Ray. Tough genre, it’s so overdone, but that can work in your favor as well. Think Elmore Leonard.

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Ray Downs's avatar

I don't write anything without thinking WWED (what would Elmore do) at least a couple times.

And I think the genre used to be overdone in fiction (and still is in film/TV), but is it still overdone?

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Michael Arturo's avatar

I thought the Bill Hader sitcom “Barry” took a fresh look at a hitman running away from “the life.” A collection of oddball Hollywood wannabe characters made the hitman look like the sanest person in the room. I think you’ve got some of that going on. I don’t think that irony ever goes out of style. If you can imagine putting your character into a situation antithetical to the mob life, the possibilities are endless. Then, of course, he gets slowly dragged back in.

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Logan the Lobotomizer's avatar

Should've made Frank eat the rat!

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Parker McCoy's avatar

Man, the rat pissing on his face. You did a good job there. I felt like it was happening to me. I think he's right. He should go into a different field. Good luck doing that after offing a connected guy, though. He's got some serious work to do now. Great story.

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Zone of Sulphur's avatar

Phenomenal short fiction (or maybe nonfiction). Thanks!

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Sean Thomas McDonnell's avatar

Rat piss! It's like you wrote this for me.

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