Arnold M. Pine

The Cruise Arnold M. Pine

A cruise on the luxury liner Norway, for a Mutt and Jeff couple turned into a romance between George Swensen, from Wisconsin and Julia Robins, from Brooklyn. George, a National Collegiate Wrestling Champion at 135 pounds, now the owner of a very successful farm consulting business, was only 5'3" tall. Julia, a pathologist for New York City, was almost 6' tall, was divorced from a wealthy Philadelphia lawyer. She vowed never to marry out of her religion again. While at sea in a bar, George and Julia were accosted by a very large handsome gigolo, who bullied George to get Julia. In a very short time, George overpowered Vinny Costa, the bully, and stripped him naked, then threw his clothes overboard. Later, they became fast friends, and George hired Vinny as a chauffeur. After the cruise, George went home with Julia to meet her family, to see if he could convert to her religion. While there, George, Vinny, and Julia walked into the Robins home and observed two armed Russian Mafia men, threatening to kill Arthur, Julia's addict brother, a pusher for the mob, for skimming a large amount of money. George wrote a check for the amount then roughed up the Mafia boss. After they left, George had to devise a plan to hide Arthur immediately to avoid instant retaliation from the mob and its nationwide Mafia connections. He hid Arthur on his father's farm, where Arthur kicked the dope addiction and became a gifted farmer. Months later, two assassins from the Mafia caught up George, Julia, and Arthur, but the surprise ending will hold you to the last page of the book.