An Expensive Habit

Tommy Baker is a gambler. If only he had been better at it, he wouldn't have a loan shark about to kill him over five thousand dollars. In desperation, he makes a deal with a strange old man, who offers to give him the money in exchange for Tommy's cigarette habit. All Tommy has to do is never smoke again. It's a crazy deal, made by a crazy man. How could Tommy lose?

Smoke by Christopher Minori had quite an unexpected ending. The story appeared to be predictable -- I even had flash to the 1985 film, Cat's Eye, but the author took this tale of suspense and twisted Tommy's life into something very supernatural.

While Smoke is a fantastic short story, the twist at the end is so damn good, I wish Minori would consider writing a novel based on Dietrich...maybe call it "The Dealer."

As always,
AstraDaemon