A long-suffering husband contracts a hit man to take out his wife-but the deadly endgame is not what he's bargained for...The stress of corporate politics leads a middle manager to consult a friend with a closeted Third World armory at his disposal-and a horrific plan evolves about how to get even with the office... ...In "Hamlin's Wood," a reclusive one-legged amputee watches his life unravel after his wife leaves him and he hires a devious handyman who wants to exchange wages for the privilege of hunting in his pristine woodlot... ...The double entendre titled story "Pawn" pits a man slowly going insane against his wife, a thankless step-daughter, a Hindi neurologist, and a sympathetic loan shark... ...A crime noir spoof shows just how life-altering a big lottery win can be...And in the title story, a dialysis patient kidnaps his comatose elderly mother from a nursing home for a wild ride south to Florida to locate a feckless brother who wants nothing to do with either one. Alternating between humor and pathos, these are stories of ordinary people who react to everyday misery and disappointment in such reckless ways that just one more thing can't possibly seem to go wrong. But it always does.