Old ways and new clash in head-on confrontation: When journeyman hit man Ray Dylan agrees to look in on Sami Bloom, former mistress of a deceased Canadian crime financier, he realizes he must keep his profession a secret. What he doesn’t realize is how difficult that is now that he has fallen for this warm-hearted beauty.

While he struggles with the idea of confiding to her about his secret past, Dylan learns that Sami Bloom has some secrets of her own - and her secrets reach into the upper echelons of the very organization he works for. Add to that a greedy young criminal, who along with his thug-like bodyguard, poses a threat to Sami’s life, and secrets or no secrets, Dylan knows it’s time for bullets to fly.

In Friend of a Friend, Cotton paints a stark unapologetic portrait of modern American crime, both at its ruthless struggling-for-power street level, and at its more discreet, tight-lipped, yet equally deadly seats of authority. Cotton has a unique way of weaving the reader’s senses into the story. Known for fast-paced narrative and wry dark humor, Cotton takes inspiration for his stories from TV news and headlines. He creates a raw and colorful, almost desperate atmosphere around modern American culture, yet at some point, unexpectedly, leaves the reader with cause for hope.

Performed by Colleen Delany; Michael John Casey; Zeke Alton; Nora Achrati; James Konicek; Bradley Smith; Bill Gillett; Marni Penning; Christopher Graybill; Eric Messner; Christopher Walker; Jeff Baker; James Lewis; Richard Rohan; James J. Johnson; Steve Wannall; Steven Carpenter; Shayna Small; Megan Poppy; Emlyn McFarland; Henry Kramer; Scott McCormick; Alejandro Ruiz; Stephon Walker; Lydia Kraniotis; Alana Casey.