"The Advantages of Floating in the Middle of the Sea," by David Spencer, in Every Day A Little Death: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Song of Stephen Sondheim, edited by Josh Pachter, Level Best Books, 2025.
Last week John Floyd wrote an excellent piece at SleuthSayers about some plotting tricks. One was plot reversal: "Everyone talks about twist endings, but this kind of thing is effective anywhere in the storyline."
Indeed it can be, and in this story, it is
Teaser is a master thief and he has scuba dived to a private island to steal an ancient Japanese artifact. His backup team, Pran and Gadge, are following him on radio. In a story like this the reader usually contemplates one question: Will the gang triumph or will things fall apart at the last moment?
But in this case, halfway through the story: plot reversal. And suddenly the action is quite different and so are the stakes. It makes sense and holds together beautifully. I would do a disservice if I said more. But the writing sparkles and the dialog is as good as the plot.