DEADLY GUESTS

Troubled men and women invade each other’s spaces in Fortunato’s short story collection.

Most of the 10 stories in this volume center around interlopers who insinuate themselves into established relationships and either wreak havoc or inspire acts of vigilante justice. In the engrossing opener, “The Boot Scraper,” a married couple turn 60 and yearn for the “ability to glow with vitality once again.” A reinvigorating vacation turns deadly when the husband meets a married temptress with a horrific plan to free herself from her unhappy union. Familial strife also informs “Straight Shooter,” in which a mother, estranged from her own marriage, takes it upon herself to violently rid her troubled daughter of the ex-boyfriend who is now relentlessly stalking her. When the small-town Rhode Island reporter in “I’ve Come for the Cash” loses his job, his desperation to escape the misery of a pointless life manifests in a plot to skip town after robbing a local cafe. The narrative tips upside down and spins in a direction no reader will see coming—that’s the allure of this collection. The same holds true for the title story, which concerns a married couple who host a fond acquaintance with her sketchy boyfriend in tow for one night; the situation turns deadly after he confesses to be running from the law. His comeuppance comes swiftly, as does that of the kleptomaniac in “Everyone a Thief” who winds up embroiled in the histrionics of a group of friends, conniving her way into their unhinged antics. While the dynamic characters don’t always behave plausibly, readers won’t mind, since their actions cause twists in each story that throw preconceived notions about them to the wind. Gaslighting, deception, and cold-blooded murder pervade this book, and the result is uniformly fascinating and devilishly entertaining.

A gritty, impressive collection of dark tales.