Debut

“It’s a life.” This is a phrase that 43-year-old Gerry Sass, a mob hitman who masquerades as a successful radio station owner in Mystic, Iowa, often repeats to himself, and he does it again on the morning of November 26, 1986, to stem his growing sense of dread. He’s under criminal investigation for money laundering, and there are rumors in the underworld that Gerry is going to flip. Unfortunately, his fear becomes reality when two masked men run Gerry off the road, march him into the woods, and shoot him in the head. While the newly deceased Gerry plunges into purgatory to ruminate on his late life, his friend, a timorous Catholic priest named Father Dan, hides unseen in a hunting blind, witnessing the killing but doing nothing to stop it. Instead, he drives to Gerry’s farm to tell Early, Gerry’s college dropout daughter, about her father’s death. Grief-stricken and enraged, Early hops into Gerry’s prized Mustang and embarks on an intense quest to avenge his killing. Along the way, the determined young woman discovers that she is more like Gerry than she had ever imagined. Alternating the high-speed narrative among her three well-drawn protagonists, WNYC on-air host Hanssen makes a kickass debut with this darkly funny, beautifully written, and highly original tale of murder, revenge, and family ties. Most importantly, she has written a moving story about the love between a father and a daughter that abides even after death.—Willy Williams