Matt Mielnick

Thin Costumes Matt Mielnick

This is the story of men who hide behind costumes of propriety, but creep out from behind their shadows of deceit to commit their dark deeds - in the name of God. Nonnino, an austere religious man from a small Italian village, claims to have been visited by the Mother of God. She has instructed him to train his nephew Joey to dispense divine justice when man's laws fall short. Joey's first efforts result in him being expelled from his home, prompting him to emigrate to a city in Upstate New York. It isn't long before Joey interprets several pleas for help as his next heavenly calls to service, with death dealing results. In an ironic twist, Joey takes a job that comes with a uniform, the perfect facade to cloak his dark secrets. This is also the story of Charley Budlong, a young family man from a rural community just outside of that city. Charley comes to believe that his young son is being victimized by the parish priest from his wife's old neighborhood. Their stories cross paths when the priest asks Joey for protection from Budlong. Like a classic black and white movie you saw on the Late Show, this is a spellbinding tale told by a narrator whose edgy attitude echoes the noir voices of Raymond Chandler, Humphrey Bogart, and Dick Powell. It is a story in which the scales of justice are slowly tipped by the weight of personal sacrifices and small gifts of redemption.