Clever concept for an anthology: crime stories without guns. Profits will go to States United to Prevent Gun Violence.
As for Mr. Hart, making his second appearance in this space, while his story features a violent crime, it feels more mainstream than genre. It's a sort of character study or slice-of-life (slice-of-death?) piece about the titular character.
The big man they call Creampuff has a job that could only exist in a city as big and crazy as New York. He is a bouncer in a bakery. You see, the chef has come up with a baked treat so popular that people line up before opening to buy one, and they are all gone before nine A.M. And since they are so trendy, a whole of Important People feel they should be able to cut in line to get theirs.
Creampuff disagrees. And he can make it stick because "[h]e was huge, like a recurring childhood nightmare."
Here is our hero at work:
There were the Richie Riches who would stride up to him and wave a bill under his nose. Usually a twenty, sometimes a hundred. Creampuff would take it, stick it in a pouch on his belt that read "donations for charity," and cross his arms.
No one ever asked for their money back.
An enjoyable and well-written piece.
