Framed by James Scott Bell

This one-hundred-and-thirty-page novella hits all the key themes. Justice, vengeance, and redemption. About three quarters into the story the reader discovers the complex vengeance plot. This is a stand-alone thriller and definitely worth the read. If this was my first James Scott Bell, I’d want to read more of his stuff. It’s not and I will continue to read more of his books.

Jonathan Curtis is a recently released convict trying to get his life back together. He responds to an ad to fix up a classic car. He’s offered the job, but asked to come back later that night, where the man he’s going to work with asks him to kill someone. Things go south from there. One thing Mr. Bell does extremely well is raising the stakes on Jonathan. Just when we think he’s about to turn the corner and things will work out, something else happens to him.

This is a well-written thriller. The characters are interesting and deep. The novella serves as a good introduction to the writing of James Scott Bell. I picked this one up for free from his website for signing up for his newsletter. Definitely worth that small bit of effort. It’s also worth the minimal price to get on Amazon.

This is a clean thriller. No profanity. No sex. And the violence is necessary for the story. If you’ve never read any of Mr. Bell’s work, I recommend picking this up for a sample. I’ll rank this one number four mainly because it’s a novella and not a longer work. So far 80% of the works I’ve read this year have been better than good.

1. The Last Exchange by Charles Martin
2. Weapons of Remorse by Chevron Ross
3. Relentless by Ed Gorman
4. Framed by James Scott Bell
5. After Her Deceit by Steve Rush
6. Water Grave by Mitchell S. Karnes
7. The Book of Answers by Darrow Woods
8. Deadly Silence by Erik Carter
9. Neon Prey by John Sandford
10. Perfect Daughter by Ion Esimai

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