Blue Valentine

By: Thomas Cummings

Narrated by: Sara Jo Elice

It was supposed to be a night to get drunk, a night to get stoned, a night to get laid. But at an after-hours party in a house on the rich side of town, an old acquaintance has walked out of the darkness, dragging the past with him. The meeting is no chance affair, and it can only mean that someone is gunning for Nicki Valentine, someone who's used to getting what he wants and who has the means to take it, whatever the cost.

In a town where few things are secret and nothing is forgotten, the truth is a game whose rules are exploited by the majority and rewritten by the powerful. Down and out, down and dirty, Nicki's going to have to figure out the game before she's the one who's played.

She's got brains and fight and unhealed rage on her side. She's got her half brother, Quinn Halliday, at her back. And she's got a wickedly sharp straight razor in her hand. She knows the deck is stacked against her and that she may have only one option left: cut and run.

©2019 Thomas Cummings (P)2019 Thomas James Cummings

She nailed the performance!

The character, Nicki Valentine, was compelling as written when I read the print version but Sara Jo's performance lent an even greater depth and scope to Mr. Cummings novel. As an avid reader of Mr. Cummings works for many years, I am overjoyed to finally hear this story voiced by such an amazing performer.

The story has a gritty reality and the subject matter is more relevant today in the era of the #metoo movement. Nicki's traumitic experiences are, sadly, not unique and the raw style Mr. Cummings uses to tell her story lends a frightening realism to the story.
I hope this is the first of many stories from Mr. Cummings in this format.