Asphalt Warrior

Asphalt Warrior (Literary Fiction)

By Gary Reilly

ISBN #978-0984786008

Running Meter Press publisher@runningmeterpress.com

Price $14.95

168 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“An Artist With Words”

Brandon Murphy struggled through seven years of college, and ended up driving a taxi in Denver. With a BA in English, he dreams of writing a great American novel, but so far has nothing to show for it but unpublished manuscripts. Cab drivers have certain rules they follow, one of which is never get involved with passengers. Murph had a tendency to break that rule sometimes, which can lead to disastrous results. One such gentleman is Tony Bombalini, a barber in Denver. Fearing that his wife is having an affair, Tony offers to pay Murph three hundred dollars just to trail her in the taxi for one day. That’s more than he can make on a normal shift, so Murph falls into the scheme. The plot thickens from this point on.

This is a literary story with very little mystery, however we get plenty of philosophical views from Murph as he tells the story in first person narrative. He eats hamburgers three times a day, and watches reruns of Gilligan’s Island on TV. Single, he lives in the Crow’s Nest apartment, which he reaches from the metal fire escape. A simple man, he knows he will never be rich, and all he wants is to make his daily requirement to pay for the lease on the taxi, and enough to pay rent and eat. It’s an easy life, and should be uncomplicated – except for his inclination to break that one rule now and then.

The author shows us that a writer with imagination and a grasp of the English language can tell a yarn without sex and four-letter gutter language. What language is used is very mild, and the reader doesn’t want to put the book down until the last page. Story telling is an art, and Gary Reilly is an artist with words.

Tom Johnson

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