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One Gun
How much havoc can one gun wreak?
When Vivi and Ben Russo startle a burglar in their home, the young man flees. Ben gives chase. The thief pulls a weapon, aims it at his heart, and threatens to kill him. He doesn’t squeeze the trigger.
The burglar is later arrested, but not before he hides the gun. Facing a possible weapons charge that could add ten years to his sentence, he enlists outside cohorts to pick up his stash. His plan comes at a price that escalates toward personal tragedy.
Vivi and Ben, intent on seeing the thief prosecuted for armed robbery rather than a non-violent burglary, search for the weapon, putting themselves on a collision course with the burglar’s accomplices.
But two tweeners stumble upon the gun first.
When Vivi and Ben Russo startle a burglar in their home, the young man flees. Ben gives chase. The thief pulls a weapon, aims it at his heart, and threatens to kill him. He doesn’t squeeze the trigger.
The burglar is later arrested, but not before he hides the gun. Facing a possible weapons charge that could add ten years to his sentence, he enlists outside cohorts to pick up his stash. His plan comes at a price that escalates toward personal tragedy.
Vivi and Ben, intent on seeing the thief prosecuted for armed robbery rather than a non-violent burglary, search for the weapon, putting themselves on a collision course with the burglar’s accomplices.
But two tweeners stumble upon the gun first.
- GenresFiction
264 pages, Paperback
Published October 22, 2024
5 people are currently reading
4879 people want to read
About the author
Vinnie Hansen
33 books151 followersTwo-time Claymore Award Finalist Vinnie Hansen is the author of the Carol Sabala mystery series (misterio press) as well as literary works and over 40 short stories, appearing in such diverse collections as Fault Lines, Fishy Business, Santa Cruz Noir, Catamaran Literary Reader, Destination: Mystery!, Fish or Cut Bait, Lake Region Review, Porter Gulch Review, Mystery Weekly, Transfer Literary Magazine, Mysterical-E, Crime & Suspense, and Web Mystery Magazine. She won the Golden Donut Award from the Writers' Police Academy, and a B.R.A.G. Medallion for her mystery, Black Beans & Venom. Award-winning crime writer Allen Eskens says of Black Beans & Venom: "It is the mark of true talent for a writer to be able to deliver her readers completely and believablyto another world, and in Black Beans and Venom Vinnie Hansen has done just that. Set in the vibrant and gritty back streets of Cuba, this cat-and-mouse hunt for a missing woman is full of intrigue, suspense and authenticity."
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
November 1, 2024
I enjoyed reading the book “One Gun”. It is a thought provoking mystery novel. As the story unfolds it had me considering the impact that one gun can have on a community. The book reinforces the fact that all our lives are interwoven even if we view ourselves as separate individuals.
June 3, 2022
When Ben Russo catches Dwayne in the act of robbing his home and chases him down the street, Dwayne pulls a gun on him and threatens his life. As he realizes he's going to be caught, he ditches the gun--if he's caught with it, that's evidence of a more serious offense that will send him to jail for many, many years. From inside jail, Dwayne sends his girlfriend to find the gun before the police do. However, it's gone by the time she and the police get to it. One Gun is the story of what happens to that gun, and to all the people who end up looking for it.
From a crime-fiction perspective, this is an unconventional entry--and I love it all the more for that. Hansen is immensely skilled at weaving together the story of several different groups of people in the same community, and telling the stories of their hopes, dreams, problems and histories through the search for this gun. She's masterful at representing people from across social strata, and her characters leap off the page.
One Gun is one of the most interesting and unique books I've read in quite a while. Highly recommend.
From a crime-fiction perspective, this is an unconventional entry--and I love it all the more for that. Hansen is immensely skilled at weaving together the story of several different groups of people in the same community, and telling the stories of their hopes, dreams, problems and histories through the search for this gun. She's masterful at representing people from across social strata, and her characters leap off the page.
One Gun is one of the most interesting and unique books I've read in quite a while. Highly recommend.
May 4, 2022
Kept you guessing. Caught my attention right away - and kept me reading as quickly as I could to discover where the story was going to take me. I liked the characters and the setting. A great story.
October 23, 2024
4.5
One Gun, by Vinnie Hansen
In Playa Maria, a laid-back coastal California town, a gun makes its way through the lives of three disparate pairs, wreaking havoc in all their lives. Hansen draws memorable portraits of each pair: Vivi and Ben, whose house has been robbed; Dwayne—the thief—and his girlfriend; Marshall and James, the teen and pre-teen brothers who find Dwayne’s gun.
The gun’s trajectory starts when Vivi and Ben return home to find Dwayne robbing their house. As Hansen weaves her story among these pairs, we learn that Vivi is fearful that the thief may uncover her secret past life, a secret not revealed until the denouement. Dwayne flees and ditches his backpack with the gun. He’s caught, thrown in jail, and we learn about his troubled life and Espie, his baby mama, little more than a girl herself. Finding the backpack with its deadly prize, Marshall and Ben, his picked-on little brother, spur the tragic conclusion of this One Gun. And the importance of Vivi’s yoga master? A luminous sentence scrolling out a picture of life and consequence near the end of the story.
One Gun, by Vinnie Hansen
In Playa Maria, a laid-back coastal California town, a gun makes its way through the lives of three disparate pairs, wreaking havoc in all their lives. Hansen draws memorable portraits of each pair: Vivi and Ben, whose house has been robbed; Dwayne—the thief—and his girlfriend; Marshall and James, the teen and pre-teen brothers who find Dwayne’s gun.
The gun’s trajectory starts when Vivi and Ben return home to find Dwayne robbing their house. As Hansen weaves her story among these pairs, we learn that Vivi is fearful that the thief may uncover her secret past life, a secret not revealed until the denouement. Dwayne flees and ditches his backpack with the gun. He’s caught, thrown in jail, and we learn about his troubled life and Espie, his baby mama, little more than a girl herself. Finding the backpack with its deadly prize, Marshall and Ben, his picked-on little brother, spur the tragic conclusion of this One Gun. And the importance of Vivi’s yoga master? A luminous sentence scrolling out a picture of life and consequence near the end of the story.
July 6, 2022
A very thrilling, unique and riveting storyline!!
A robbery, chasing the robber, a gun appears
then the robber discards it so when the robber
is captured he does not possess a gun which
means a lesser charge and sentence.
The gun is found by two youngsters who decide
to take it home from there the younger brother
of one of the boys takes the one gun leading to
disaster.
Read to meet the course one gun takes with a
variety of interesting, well defined characters
seeking to find it. You will meet various members
existing together in a community unaware of each
other until the robbery and search for the gun.
The author was able to weave together a read
that will take the reader on a fast paced, well
written adventure into many lives.
I volunteered to read One Gun. Thanks to the
author via Book Funnel for the opportunity
My opinion is voluntary and my own.
A Highly Recommend Read!!
A robbery, chasing the robber, a gun appears
then the robber discards it so when the robber
is captured he does not possess a gun which
means a lesser charge and sentence.
The gun is found by two youngsters who decide
to take it home from there the younger brother
of one of the boys takes the one gun leading to
disaster.
Read to meet the course one gun takes with a
variety of interesting, well defined characters
seeking to find it. You will meet various members
existing together in a community unaware of each
other until the robbery and search for the gun.
The author was able to weave together a read
that will take the reader on a fast paced, well
written adventure into many lives.
I volunteered to read One Gun. Thanks to the
author via Book Funnel for the opportunity
My opinion is voluntary and my own.
A Highly Recommend Read!!
December 30, 2024
The authenticity of this book continually struck me, which feels to me an appropriate reader reaction considering its title, One Gun. Vinnie Hansen tells a close to the bone story about the far reaching, tragic effects one gun wields on a small coastal neighborhood after an armed hoodlum burglarizes the home of Ben and Vivi, the story's main character. The gun, stashed by the burglar during his getaway, creates trauma in Hansen's entire gallery of diverse characters, from a bullied adolescent boy to Vivi, the story's main character, who now must face a trauma from her past.
The writing is impeccable, the details of criminal justice spot on, and the desperate workings of young criminal minds so insightful and so sad. The ending rises to a pinnacle of artistry. You'll see what I mean when you get there. And Hansen never directly states that guns in this country are our undoing. She doesn't have to. Superb.
The writing is impeccable, the details of criminal justice spot on, and the desperate workings of young criminal minds so insightful and so sad. The ending rises to a pinnacle of artistry. You'll see what I mean when you get there. And Hansen never directly states that guns in this country are our undoing. She doesn't have to. Superb.
May 30, 2022
How much havoc can one gun wreak? That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it? The answer is simple: a lot. And in ways that could never have been imagined.
The story starts out simple enough: Vivi and Ben Russo startle a young burglar in their home. When the thief rushes out of the house, Ben’s amygdala fight or flight response kicks in and it’s fight. Or at least give chase. He’s in pretty good shape for a man his age and keeps better pace than the young man would have expected. Until finally the thief turns around and points a gun at Ben and threatens to kill him. He doesn’t fire and runs away.
But Ben’s fight response is fully aroused. The police capture the thief in a very short time – but there’s no gun. For Ben, however, catching the thief isn’t enough. His life was threatened and he wants that young man prosecuted for armed robbery, and Ben won’t let up until he proves there was a gun.
There is a lot going on under the surface in this book. We learn just enough to be intrigued but not enough to fully understand the relationships or what has occurred in the past. But Ben’s quest to find that gun almost becomes a vendetta. In addition to “you can’t do this to me” there is some “he’s a rotten kid, just like all the rest.” Is this because of Ben’s rocky relationship with his son? Whatever the reasons, he is not giving up the quest to find that gun. As for Vivi, at first she thinks Ben is crazy for pursuing the thief and putting his life in danger. It’s just stuff, after all, that can be replaced. She has some very bad moments wondering if Ben is going to make it back, and when the police car pulls up, before she sees Ben step out, she thinks they are there to tell her Ben has been killed.
Then Vivi decides that it’s now just the thing for her and Ben to become amateur sleuths and find that gun. They try to put themselves in the mind of the thief, retrace what they think was his escape path in searching for the gun. Vivi’s reasons are a little less clear than Ben’s but she is every bit as committed – and reckless – to continue the search.
One Gun is riveting. Vivi and Ben’s community is not so much close-knit as a tangled web, where good and bad, law-abiding and criminal connect and converge and overlap through school and business and youth at risk and just happenstance meetings. It’s like a six degrees of separation thing: the home repair man has an employee who knows someone who has a brother who has an ex-girlfriend who has a baby . . . it goes on and on, unknown to the players themselves how closely they are tied to the others, with some very tragic consequences.
One Gun is complex and fast-moving, with secrets and relationships not being what they seem, and running throughout is the suspense of the hunt and the fear that more and more people are going to be pulled in and more and more bad things are going to happen. It’s an exciting story of how one event can cause a dangerous ripple, of the impact one gun can have.
Thanks to author Vinnie Hansen for providing an advance copy of One Gun in exchange for my honest review. I enjoyed the action and the motives and manipulation between and among characters, including Vivi and Ben, gave the story satisfying depth. I recommend One Gun without hesitation. It’s true, you won’t be able to look away. All opinions are my own.
The story starts out simple enough: Vivi and Ben Russo startle a young burglar in their home. When the thief rushes out of the house, Ben’s amygdala fight or flight response kicks in and it’s fight. Or at least give chase. He’s in pretty good shape for a man his age and keeps better pace than the young man would have expected. Until finally the thief turns around and points a gun at Ben and threatens to kill him. He doesn’t fire and runs away.
But Ben’s fight response is fully aroused. The police capture the thief in a very short time – but there’s no gun. For Ben, however, catching the thief isn’t enough. His life was threatened and he wants that young man prosecuted for armed robbery, and Ben won’t let up until he proves there was a gun.
There is a lot going on under the surface in this book. We learn just enough to be intrigued but not enough to fully understand the relationships or what has occurred in the past. But Ben’s quest to find that gun almost becomes a vendetta. In addition to “you can’t do this to me” there is some “he’s a rotten kid, just like all the rest.” Is this because of Ben’s rocky relationship with his son? Whatever the reasons, he is not giving up the quest to find that gun. As for Vivi, at first she thinks Ben is crazy for pursuing the thief and putting his life in danger. It’s just stuff, after all, that can be replaced. She has some very bad moments wondering if Ben is going to make it back, and when the police car pulls up, before she sees Ben step out, she thinks they are there to tell her Ben has been killed.
Then Vivi decides that it’s now just the thing for her and Ben to become amateur sleuths and find that gun. They try to put themselves in the mind of the thief, retrace what they think was his escape path in searching for the gun. Vivi’s reasons are a little less clear than Ben’s but she is every bit as committed – and reckless – to continue the search.
One Gun is riveting. Vivi and Ben’s community is not so much close-knit as a tangled web, where good and bad, law-abiding and criminal connect and converge and overlap through school and business and youth at risk and just happenstance meetings. It’s like a six degrees of separation thing: the home repair man has an employee who knows someone who has a brother who has an ex-girlfriend who has a baby . . . it goes on and on, unknown to the players themselves how closely they are tied to the others, with some very tragic consequences.
One Gun is complex and fast-moving, with secrets and relationships not being what they seem, and running throughout is the suspense of the hunt and the fear that more and more people are going to be pulled in and more and more bad things are going to happen. It’s an exciting story of how one event can cause a dangerous ripple, of the impact one gun can have.
Thanks to author Vinnie Hansen for providing an advance copy of One Gun in exchange for my honest review. I enjoyed the action and the motives and manipulation between and among characters, including Vivi and Ben, gave the story satisfying depth. I recommend One Gun without hesitation. It’s true, you won’t be able to look away. All opinions are my own.
July 3, 2022
After a home invasion, Ben chases the burglar through the city streets and is confronted by him at the point of a gun. He works with the local police and the suspect is ultimately jailed, but the gun disappears.
The prosecutors feel that they would have a better chance of success if the gun can be found, but it is retrieved by two boys, and is the focus of several others in the community.
Dwayne is not unfamiliar with jail time, and he is confronted by the usual bullies and abusers. He tries to get his baby momma to find the gun, but when she does she is another victim of it.
Ben and Vivi are unsetttled by the second attempt at burglary, this time by one of the females who is also looking for the gun and from there no good can happen in the community. Vivi seeks escape in yoga. Others head to the local gun club.
I received a free copy through Book Funnel.
The prosecutors feel that they would have a better chance of success if the gun can be found, but it is retrieved by two boys, and is the focus of several others in the community.
Dwayne is not unfamiliar with jail time, and he is confronted by the usual bullies and abusers. He tries to get his baby momma to find the gun, but when she does she is another victim of it.
Ben and Vivi are unsetttled by the second attempt at burglary, this time by one of the females who is also looking for the gun and from there no good can happen in the community. Vivi seeks escape in yoga. Others head to the local gun club.
I received a free copy through Book Funnel.
April 24, 2022
Reads like a true crime story.
Has a multi-aged cast with well-crafted, believable characters from every people-group. All of them have authentic voices. You may feel, as I did, that you “know” at least one of the characters.
Even though there is no dead body on page one, this book is a page-turning crime thriller that gives the persistent sense of impending doom.
Scenes are well-crafted with just the right amount of description. I felt as if I was there as the story unfolds.
Has a multi-aged cast with well-crafted, believable characters from every people-group. All of them have authentic voices. You may feel, as I did, that you “know” at least one of the characters.
Even though there is no dead body on page one, this book is a page-turning crime thriller that gives the persistent sense of impending doom.
Scenes are well-crafted with just the right amount of description. I felt as if I was there as the story unfolds.
July 3, 2022
I loved this book for so many reasons. It seems like a simple robbery in the beginning, but there’s so much going on beneath the surface that you can’t wait to uncover all the details. A well-crafted story and crime drama with many meaningful moments. Highly recommended!
January 1, 2025
I won the Kindle version of this book from a Goodreads giveaway. Thank you to the giveaway sponsor!
Woah, this book sucked me in right from the start. I just had to keep reading to find out what happened.
The different points of view were well done. I liked the short chapters - for my own personal preference, it allows me to pause reading in a good spot and pick it up again with a new scene.
I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what was going to happen. I was trying to figure it out and connect all the characters as I read. I couldn't put this book down!
Woah, this book sucked me in right from the start. I just had to keep reading to find out what happened.
The different points of view were well done. I liked the short chapters - for my own personal preference, it allows me to pause reading in a good spot and pick it up again with a new scene.
I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what was going to happen. I was trying to figure it out and connect all the characters as I read. I couldn't put this book down!
May 7, 2022
One Gun by Vinnie Hansen was an exciting read. I found it very thought-provoking. Addressed the pros and cons of owning a gun. I would definitely recommend this book.
December 29, 2024
page turner
The domino effect that set off a sad set of events. It reminded me of the saying of “what goes around comes around”.
The domino effect that set off a sad set of events. It reminded me of the saying of “what goes around comes around”.
March 19, 2022
This is a fascinating complex narrative about how a gun -- who has it at any given time, what it's used for -- affects the lives of a number of people in a community. It’s almost a Rashomon story using the perspectives of different characters to follow the journey of a gun. The gun is significant, not just because it could injure or kill different people depending on who gets ahold of it, but also because its presence would enhance prison sentences. The prose is terse and punchy. The setting in California contrasts the perspectives of hipsters and oldsters, poor and middle class, counter culture and suburban staid, skateboarders and yoga aficionados. The tone is somewhat gritty and the pacing hurtles, starting with a crime and building to a resonant conclusion. I recommend it!
January 10, 2023
My Grandmother sent me this book as a Christmas gift, Vinnie is her sister, my great aunt. I want sure what to expect as it isn’t my typical style but I found myself anxious to be able to read it on my lunch break and after work. I couldn’t seem to put it down. Vinnie if you read this the picture you describe of your mother, my great grandmother, who was such an incredible woman I could instantly picture the picture you were describing. It is one of the first images that comes to mind when I think of her. It was so nice to have her remembered in your book and brought back a lot of found memories of her from my childhood. Thank you for that!
November 11, 2022
Vinnie Hansen's latest novel, the stand-alone One Gun, began when I first saw the eBook cover. The cover drew me into the muted background, which will become almost a character as I travelled through the story. Next, the title is in strong contrast to the outdoorsy environment. This was followed as my eyes dropped to an open backpack. I had to concentrate to see the pistol. The title and the cover provide a great deal about the story that follows while not giving away anything. This may sound contradictory, but that is what I felt at the ending.
I can't say the title hooked me, but it certainly got my attention. Hansen did an excellent job braiding the environment, the gun, and her characters into three different dramas. In these dramas, the characters are well defined. All are flawed but have at least a speck of decency, drawing the reader to the person.
Vivi is a victim and searches for the gun while carrying guilt of her own and fear of violating one of the seven deadly sins herself.
Hansen's construction of settings using precise and straightforward wording is strengthened by her obtuse use of quotes from Shakespeare's works. Hansen was an English teacher. Vivi is a retired teacher, and when her husband hands her a note with a small error, she can't stop herself from correcting him. These touches add to the realism of her characters.
The views seen by the criminal, the victim, and the prosecutor, give the reader an honest look at the many flaws within the criminal justice system.
The story is sometimes funny, sad, dreadful, but always interesting.
I can't say the title hooked me, but it certainly got my attention. Hansen did an excellent job braiding the environment, the gun, and her characters into three different dramas. In these dramas, the characters are well defined. All are flawed but have at least a speck of decency, drawing the reader to the person.
Vivi is a victim and searches for the gun while carrying guilt of her own and fear of violating one of the seven deadly sins herself.
Hansen's construction of settings using precise and straightforward wording is strengthened by her obtuse use of quotes from Shakespeare's works. Hansen was an English teacher. Vivi is a retired teacher, and when her husband hands her a note with a small error, she can't stop herself from correcting him. These touches add to the realism of her characters.
The views seen by the criminal, the victim, and the prosecutor, give the reader an honest look at the many flaws within the criminal justice system.
The story is sometimes funny, sad, dreadful, but always interesting.
April 2, 2024
Here's one!
This book is a bit darker than Hansen's previous books, touching on some serious issues.
How do pieces of lives intersect, what do events do to the people involved? Can we truly recover from things that happen, and what breaks trust? What can one mistake by one person ultimately do to (how many?) people?
It took a bit to get into this book - it's not a simple book. It is told from several viewpoints, some of them quite tragic, none of them comic.
I recommend it.
This book is a bit darker than Hansen's previous books, touching on some serious issues.
How do pieces of lives intersect, what do events do to the people involved? Can we truly recover from things that happen, and what breaks trust? What can one mistake by one person ultimately do to (how many?) people?
It took a bit to get into this book - it's not a simple book. It is told from several viewpoints, some of them quite tragic, none of them comic.
I recommend it.
February 11, 2024
Compelling and haunting
I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway
This is a compelling and passionate response to the damage that one gun can do. Many lives inextricably altered forever by one gun in a community.
I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway
This is a compelling and passionate response to the damage that one gun can do. Many lives inextricably altered forever by one gun in a community.
August 22, 2023
Skillfully written, One Gun is the fascinating story about the upheaval caused in the lives of a community by a single weapon.
May 1, 2023
Guns do not protect their owners
This novel was, apparently, written to demonstrate that gun ownership does not protect their owners. The bought for protection benefits the criminal for a time. But even the low lifes do not. Read the book for the ironic ending.
This book would benefit from editing. As short as it is, it is too long. There are too many characters and it would help to know less. Somethings do not contribute to the story. I hope the next offering will be a little tighter to better maintain the interest of the reader.
This novel was, apparently, written to demonstrate that gun ownership does not protect their owners. The bought for protection benefits the criminal for a time. But even the low lifes do not. Read the book for the ironic ending.
This book would benefit from editing. As short as it is, it is too long. There are too many characters and it would help to know less. Somethings do not contribute to the story. I hope the next offering will be a little tighter to better maintain the interest of the reader.
May 22, 2023
This was a very interesting story. The characters were interesting and ended up connected even though they didn't realize that they were. It was interesting following the gun throughout the story and how everyone wanted it for their own various reasons. Sad storyline for James.
Thanks for the free book.
Thanks for the free book.
July 13, 2022
Vinnie Hansen’s One Gun unspools a long, exquisite crescendo of foreboding and dread as clouds gather for a chilling, unexpected climax. Top-notch writing, sensitive touch, and heart-wrenching choices. Hansen is an author to watch.
October 18, 2023
3.25 stars
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews