“Your pulp is silly fun, but this latest series installment is really bad.” The reader was a round faced, roly-poly kind of guy in Hawaiian shirt and shorts with sandals, sporting three days beard growth, complete with condescending smile. He had straggly brown hair sticking out from under a Harley-Davidson ball cap. At six feet tall, he seemed to be as wide as he was tall.
Nick nodded through the comment, signing the book the man brought with him. He saw it was ‘Caribbean Contract’ rather than his latest, ‘Assassin’s Folly’. Nick handed it to the man with a smile. “There you go, Sir. Thank you.”
“Did you hear what I said? I couldn’t get even 17% through the damned thing on my Kindle. There’s no discernible plot, no character development, leaving just a bunch of ridiculous dialogue.”
“Thanks for the review.”
The man grinned. “Thin skinned, huh?”
Nick bit down on all the cheap shots he could have launched with the word thin as part of the phrasing. Instead, he kept smiling. He could hear Gus and John stirring to get closer and hear every word. “You’re welcome to your opinion. I would only point out if you had read the ‘Look Inside’ feature preview, you could have avoided buying a book not to your taste. Next time I would suggest reading the preview.”
“I paid the money. I gave you a one star blast to try and get you back on track.”
This time Nick laughed as did a few other people within hearing.
“What’s so funny?” The man’s face had turned beet red – not a good look as he glanced around him accusingly. “Can’t you handle a little honest criticism?”
Another man of equal girth behind him and a full beard, answered before Nick could. “He’s already handled your criticism, dodo. You didn’t read the book, but yet you know there’s no plot, character development, or decent dialogue. You only read 17% of the book, nearly less than what they give you free as a preview. I read the whole book. It’s the best of the series so far. Maybe you don’t know how to read with comprehension. Take your signed book and take a walk.”
The man raking him over the coals whipped around to march toward the man who had addressed him. “Best if you shut the fuck up!”
The man next in line laughed and waved off the one star reviewer. “I was in the Marines, big mouth. Come at me, I’ll bitch slap you right into the floor. Move on. You give us big guys a bad image.”
Security rushed in although the confidence on the Marine’s face had stopped the one star reviewer in his tracks. He was escorted out. A smattering of laughter and applause followed him. The Marine stepped to the table next with a big smile. He held out a hand and Nick shook it. After setting a hardbound copy of ‘Assassin’s Folly’ in front of Nick, the big guy sat down.
“That was a long wait, Nick. My name’s Jerry Collier. I want to talk weapons. You had Diego using an old Jennings 9mm in ‘Assassin’s Folly’. I loved the book, but that is the worst choice of weapons ever. The damn thing jams regularly.”
“Thanks for the feedback and support, Jer. Ah… remember now, Diego uses the Jennings as a third backup. I owned a Jennings. I still have it. I can blow the middle out of a target at fifty feet with it. I noted the same thing as you though. I found the Jennings won’t do well with reloads. When I fired only brand new ammo, I didn’t have any more jams. I did have to lower my hand hold on the grip because the slide would shave a little skin off my thumb knuckle because I’ve fractured the thumb knuckles on both my hands a few times. They stick up a little and the Jennings shaves them.”
Nick watched Jerry’s facial features brighten. He flexed his work worn hands in front of Nick with protruding thumb knuckle joints.
“Damn… I’ve turned wrenches all my life and did in my thumb knuckles a time or two. That goofy Jennings would give them a skin shave every time I forgot to lower my hold a fraction.” Jerry stood with book in hand. “Good to meet you, Nick. I saw in your face you had to hold off the one liners about that idiot’s weight when he called you ‘thin skinned’. You should have blasted him.”
“That would be politically incorrect to point out such a thing, my friend,” Nick replied with a big grin.
Jerry nodded. “Yeah… I guess. It’s annoying as hell having to watch every damn word spoken. I’ve always been big, even in the Marines. The damn D.I.’s would insult my weight in ways only other Marines can imagine. They were so funny, I’d crackup and get extra of everything tacked on. Anyway, it was a pleasure. Thanks for the Jennings insight.”
“Great meeting you, Jer. Thanks again for your support.”
After Jerry left, John whispered to Nick, “I wish we could have seen him bitch slap the BK.”
“That’s not very civilized of you, John,” Nick whispered back. “We’ve been lucky so far today. Only one BK and no Grammar Nazi’s.”