“What happened on that tiny island off the coast of Cuba called Flowering Cay at times seems like a half-remembered dream, one of those groggy remembrances that you’re never quite certain you didn’t just imagine. Other times I can recall it with such clarity it is as if it happened yesterday. Sitting in front of my typewriter as the palms sway gently at the urging of the trade winds, I almost wish I could forget everything. But then I think of Faith.”

So begins this fantastic narrative written by Private Dick, Mike Reynolds. Author Bobby Underwood is definitely in his element here, producing a present day tale that could have been perfectly at home in the Weird Menace or Spicy Detective magazines of the 1930s. For those familiar with those pulp stories of old, you’re in for a treat here. This tale is written better than most of those. Underwood’s story-telling ability is right up there with the best, and includes the best dialogue you’ll find anywhere. Even in a short work like this (29 pages in the Kindle edition), there’s a lot of detail that really adds to the atmosphere. Speaking of atmosphere and description, it reminds me a lot of Chandler’s THE BIG SLEEP.

“Seeing Faith Ellison up close I realized the photos of her in newspapers and magazines didn’t really do her justice. She was small but lush, bordering on voluptuous. Her hair was bright blonde and it looked real, as did her million dollar smile -- in her case, millions.”

“Her voice was like silk being dragged across smoldering hot coals -- husky, but undeniably feminine.”

“Flowering Cay’s airport had been carved out in the middle of the jungle and could not have seemed more out of place than had Wilt Chamberlain attempted to jockey a triple-crown prospect to victory.”

“The run-down hotel would have been more at home in a doom-laden Cornell Woolrich story than a tourist spot in the Caribbean. My room smelled of stale cigarettes and fresh sex, as though someone had recently had a smoke after a good romp with one of the island’s prostitutes. It could have been worse, I suppose; it might have smelled of stale sex and fresh cigarettes.”

Something else I love about this story is that it contains a nice taste of the supernatural. The perfect way Underwood presents it makes it seem completely natural.

HAVANA is a bonus story included in the fantastic paperback novel, RUNNING HOT. It’s also available on its own as a Kindle edition. ( )