Lately I’ve enjoyed sharing in the work of fellow indie authors, and my latest exploration brought me to Julia Proud‘s A Good Car.

In this story, we meet Ed Valenti over a card table. There, half-drunk, mostly uninterested with the game and life as he’s living it, he wins an old Model T Ford from a kid with too little sense to know when to fold them. In the midst of a winter that may well reflect the state of his rudderless soul, that Model T takes him on a journey—and not because it runs terribly well—that will turn him into the character of Julia Proud’s novella, A Dead Man.

As such, I recommend you read this substantive short story as a character study. Read it for insight into Ed Valenti the person. If, as I mistakenly did at first, you go in expecting a bit of an investigative romp with some underworld moodiness thrown in, you will come away disappointed. And you will lose a lot of what Ms. Proud offers us in this story, as I almost did. I’m glad after resetting my expectations and catching on to the author’s deeper intent, I dove into a rich noir ethos—not the sort that harks back to James Cagney or Humphrey Bogart with over-the-top gumshoeing—and a well-drawn character that carries this tale from beginning to end.

My one reservation, and why I don’t award a full five stars, comes from a rather sudden ending and somewhat abrupt turn-about by the character. I won’t spoil it, but for me, having come to this point with a real character, a real change of life requires a more gradual transition. Aside from that, yes, I would have preferred a more action-based showing of Valenti’s character–maybe he could have solved a mystery!–and being a writer, I see some ways in which I would and could have executed such a story. But on that count I won’t penalize Ms. Proud. She’s after all, the expert on her own story, and on her own terms, she provides us with a compelling read. I look forward to seeing how well it sets up and fits with A Dead Man, which comes next in my reading list.

[Rating: 4/5 stars]