Tomorrow City by Kirk Kjeldsen

"Brendan Lavin woke up with a start to the metallic crash of an empty trash dumspter being slammed to the ground. He looked over at the radio alarm clock, which was blaring some grating Matchbox Twenty song. The time was 6:17 AM, which meant that The alarm had been going off for almost three hours. The bed next to him was empty. Maureen was still at the hospital, working another shift."

Title: Tomorrow City

Author: Kirk Kjeldsen

ISBN: 9789881554215
Publisher: Signal 8 Press/2013

Pages: 197

Brendan Lavin, an ex-con, tries to be straight person doing what he has learnt in prison--baking. However much he tries, he is unable make ends meet. He goes back to his cohorts for a last job. The robbery goes horribly wrong with four fatalities. Now he is a murderer. He has to escape New York City. He steals his cousin's passport and escapes to Shanghai.

Twelve years later, we see him having a flourishing bakery, married to a local woman and has a two year old daughter.  He keeps a low profile as he does not want his conman friends to find him. Somehow without his knowledge, his photograph is published in the public domain and when he learns about it, he is very afraid. Before he can plan to run from Shanghai, his robber friends find him and want payback. They think he turned them in before escaping to Shanghai. They want him to join them for a diamond heist. He is reluctant but he knows that his family will be harmed if he does not go along with them.

The action is full of tension and fast paced. It is an sitting read and very riveting. The action seems to hit hard and streets  of Shanghai come alive. Even with a criminal past, Brendan knows right from wrong. The characters come out vivid. Brendan gains the sympathy of the reader and we want him to go back to his family and his bakery. Those who love dark literature, it is a must read. It is one of the best crime fiction I read in a long time.