Monday, October 6, 2025

Review: Body in a Barrel by Aaron Mead


 

Genre: Novella/Crime Fiction

Description:

“A body in a barrel just appeared on the shore of Lake Mead, and Lenny Battaglia is worried.

Forty years ago, when Lenny was a henchman in the Las Vegas mafia, his partner, Frank, whacked the victim, and Lenny helped dump the body. But there’s another victim in another barrel somewhere in the lake, and it’s got Lenny’s name on it. For now, that barrel’s underwater, but the drought-ravaged lake keeps dropping, and Frank is talking to the cops.

Lenny tows his fishing boat to the lake to haul his barrel farther from shore, but his boat’s too small, the barrel’s too heavy, and he’s too old. Lenny needs a new plan. Can he cover the horror of his crooked past before it catches up to him in the present?”

Author:

“Aaron Mead is the author of Body in a Barrel, a Las Vegas mafia crime novella. His other work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and has been covered by NPR. In his Substack publication, sub·plot, he posts serial fiction and short essays on faith, philosophy, books, and the writing life.”

Appraisal:

This was a quick, fun, and intense read. How things are going to work out for the main character Lenny weren’t obvious at any point right up to the very end. (How I wanted it to end was up in the air too.) The story, while well out of my life experience, felt real. At the end we find out that while not a true story, it is based on a few real life people and events which I think helped keep it feeling real.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Has some adult language.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues

Rating: **** Four Stars

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