Firecracker Hardcover - 2004

by Ray Shannon; Gar Anthony Haywood

An action-packed tale of murder, greed, and girl power set on the Las Vegas strip.

A beautiful and resourceful pregnant lady only weeks from her due date; the charming but disingenuous Dallas Cowboy who fathered the baby; a white sadist who thinks he's black; and a Superbowl betting slip worth a potential $1.25 million come together in a roller-coaster ride of dark humor and suspense.

Reece Germaine is a successful PR professional entirely capable of supporting the baby fathered by football superstar Raygene Price during one wild Las Vegas weekend. But Raygene's reluctance to provide his fair share of child support ticks her off-until she remembers the betting slip he bankrolled for her during this same weekend. If it pays off, Reece will have plenty of reasons to forgive and forget Raygene for good. But he's in a bind himself, as an old homeboy is blackmailing him to the tune of $200,000.

Throw in Raygene's penny-pinching mama, his coddling agent, and a professional troubleshooter hired to keep Raygene from shooting himself in the foot, and you have a comic noir of the highest order.

Teeming with an electric, off-kilter energy, Firecracker is a lean and brutally funny thriller.