Nicholas Kaufmann's short tale of gold and thieves, of the paranormal and the supernatural, is a fine example of the sort of hardboiled horror one might expect from the pulps of the past. However, in addition to being a story of crime and come-uppance, this novella utilizes a canny sense of history and detail to bring the uncanny to a small island in Manhattan Bay.

A majority of this story is taken from the first person perspective of a thief. Sackett has only recently been released from Rikers, but by the time we encounter him, the protagonist is already hip deep in trouble and plunging deeper. In possession of a map to the eponymous fortune, he plays the key role in the gold's reclamation. As he and his fellow crew of crooks escape the worldly concerns of fellow criminals to pursue the treasure, they soon discover that it is guarded. But by whom or what?

While the characters are in the dark about the gold's origins, the reader gets a first hand explanation. In addition to Sackett's presentation of events, the story weaves several third person accounts of both the gold's legacy and its guardians (from nineteenth century Germany to twentieth century America). These fragments are presented as transitions between the larger scenes of Sackett's tale.

This story is, ultimately, a plot based piece, which utilizes a couple of strongly developed characters and several well-developed caricatures (at only 36 pages, we probably should not expect even this many well developed characters). However, General Slocum's Gold has more to say than the events of its plot. Through the piece's secondary storyline, the reader begins to discover parallel threads to this gold's continuing story. An object of crime throughout the ages, the gold is a fine MacGuffin by which characters can discover their identities. As such, the gold offers quite a different sort of fortune for would be hunters like Sackett.

Kaufmann tells this tale with authority. The prose is a fair attempt at the hardboiled style, and tells the story in a clean and compelling voice. When the supernatural guardians arrive, they are delightfully chilling. Though death is no stranger in this work, the many murders permeating this tiny tale are intriguing in that they often splash different fluids than the typical sanguine.

With so much going for it, this reader was disappointed to reach the conclusion, but not for the reasons you might suspect. While I will not dare to spoil the events of the ending, I will state that the choice of the first person narrative culminates in a conclusion that struck me less with a chill than the more mundane concerns about "Why am I 'hearing' this story? How is it being 'related'?" While the narration choice may have been an effort to incorporate the reader into the continuing saga of Sackett and the General Slocum's Gold, this reader felt no such unity. Unfortunate.

Burning Effigy Press, the publisher for this chapbook, has only recently branched into horror fiction. If this volume is any indication, we can expect some fine quality output in the future. General Slocum's Gold is certainly nice to hold and read. Its thick stock cover is adorned with the suggestive, black and white photograph of steps ascending into darkness. The chapbook features gray end sheets and nice paper, held together by a pair of staples.

Fans of fiction that blends crime and the supernatural (found in the works of such writers as Ed Gorman or Tom Piccirilli or venues such as Tales from the Crypt or ShockSuspense Stories) will find Sackett's story to be a delightful foray in that vein. While the ending did not work for me, the piece remains a fun, horror yarn. This reader certainly looks forward to more of Kaufmann's fiction as well as future releases from Burning Effigy Press.

General Slocum's Gold by Nicholas Kaufmann
36 pages
Burning Effigy Press
Released 2007

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