Review: Short story compilation includes local author Morely Swingle

Morley Swingle, the prosecuting attorney for Cape Girardeau County, will be included in a short story compilation called "The Prosecution Rests: New Stories About Courtrooms, Criminals and the Law" by members of Mystery Writers of America. Swingle's short story "Hard Blows" will be one of 22 stories included in the collection, published Tuesday by Little Brown in New York. Each story pertains to the law and lead characters range from judges on a Salem witch trial to a Michigan parole board member.

"Hard Blows" is a one-scene short story that tells the story through a conversation between two men, a prosecuting attorney and a man he sent to prison.

Given Swingle's day job as the Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney, the subject matter does not surprise. Writers often write what they know. The worry and fear that surface in his star character, however, reveal a bit of a job hazard commonly forgotten -- revenge.

While the reader follows the calm interchange between the two men, one question floats on the surface: What's about to happen?

You end up speed-reading the last three pages to find out the answer.

Swingle lays out the action in a quick play-by-play. If for some reason you don't realize the magnitude of the event, Swingle wraps up exactly what just happened to the duo in a paragraph at the end. This end recap comes across slightly insulting to the reader, but not harsh enough to ruin the story.

Swingle will have a book signing from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 25, at Barnes & Noble where 15 percent of each purchase will go to the Safe House for Women when a customers mentions the safe house.