Brief

Davenport is a skilled hitman who is used to getting things his way – but this is about to change as he is out to hunt Brindle. Even not being successful in his task, Davenport’s aunt is killed by the revengeful Black Phantom – and that’s when Davenport summons the Portable Nine to help him get his justice and finish the job he started.

What We Liked

What we liked the most about this story is that we can consider The Portable Nine as this big character comprised by nine individuals that wouldn’t be interesting enough if separated as we’re talking about criminals with crooked morals - but they somehow are charismatic as a group and due to that narrative becomes even more addictive

Film: It would be a great film adaptation because storyline of this particular book is well constructed and, beyond that, a franchise would be expected – as the Portable Nine members are individually interesting and spin offs would easily become a hit.

TV: It would be a great adaptation for TV because of the unique richness of the Portable Nine characters, each one bringing along a universe of individualities and visuals enough to enable surprising and varied episodes, keeping the audience hooked.

Key points: Well-constructed and dubious characters; Dynamic Plot; Solid storyline; Well-written character-arcs; Open ending.

Synopsis

We are transported to Florence, Italy, where Davenport, a charming and deadly hit man is on a mission: ending up Max Brindle’s life. Surprisingly to him, he fails on his mission, but apparently the feared Black Phantom is not aware that Brindle is still alive and gets hungry for revenge.

When Black Phantom destroys Davenport’s aunt house and kills her, Davenport decides to gather the Portable Nine, a group of criminals that haven’t worked together for a long time. He tracks each one of them, all unique, deadly and somehow ethical around the world to help him in this battle.
The Portable Nine reunite in a plot of revenge and nothing will stop them until they get justice in their own terms.

Davenport finally tracks the Black Phantom and locks him in the same place the story began: the cell in which his father spent time years before, and finishes killing Max Brindle.

About The Author

Pete Mesling has published poetry and fiction widely, including several horror collections, a book of poetry, a collection of crime stories, an assassination novel, and a children’s fantasy novel. Other publishing highlights include having stories in All-American Horror of the 21st Century, the First Decade: 2000 - 2010 (Independent Legions Publishing) and Shallow Waters, Vol. 3 (Crystal Lake Publishing). Mesling also had the pleasure of working directly with the late Richard Matheson on an online retrospective of his career in film and television and is the official Clive Barker proofreader for Gauntlet Press.