Dead Reckoning

If you like action and edge-of-your-cockpit-seat suspense, this story by Jim Wilsky is just the ticket. Great characters and snappy dialogue helps, but the driving force in this tale is the storyline, from the attention-grabbing opening paragraphs to the satisfying conclusion. Buckle your lap-strap before you read this one. Great job!

"Dead Reckoning" is like a great episode of the Twilight Zone. Wilsky's voice puts you right into the story. The tension throughout is palpable and the twist at the end at first seems contrived and then you see the beauty of it.

I give this 4-stars because I'm comparing to Wilsky's own body of work, not the rest of the world. Four stars to me means, "This is pretty damn good...excellent, in fact...and yet, I have actually read an even better work from this same guy..."

Four stars. Because I've always graded hard (Just ask the poor probationers who have ridden in my patrol car, or the recruits in my academy classes).

Four stars. Because you WILL enjoy this piece, and recommend it.

Jim Wilsky's stories are earnest and heart-felt and leave no doubt as to the passion felt by the writer for his subjects. In this one, the author's uncanny ability to conjure a time and place and evoke a feeling of longing is as evident as ever. "Dead Reckoning" is a compelling read.

I really enjoyed the "Dead Reckoning" and I can't believe it was 22 pages. It flowed so well, I was done before I knew it. Highly recommend! Linda B.

There are stories that are ponderous and meaningful. There are stories that are light and carefree. There are stories that are tedious and depressing.

Then there are stories that you whip through (it's so easy to read), and at the end of it you nod, smile and say, "That was a neat story. That was a good story."

Dead Reckoning IS the latter. It's a good, neat story. It is deft in its handling of the tale, deft to the point of being a really slick presentation. If I didn't know Jim Wilsky had written it, I would guess someone along the lines of Theodore Sturgeon, or maybe Ray Bradbury. But that wouldn't be quite right. A contemporary O. Henry? Serling? Maybe a combination of all of them. No matter.

With his impeccable phrasing and cadence, Wilsky's timing in the unfolding of events is spot on. I kept thinking as I read this, that it would make a great movie. But when I finished, I realized that Wilsky was able to do something that no visual media could ever do - and that is make the reader a participant in the story rather than just an observer.

I highly recommend Dead Reckoning to anyone. It's a good, neat story.