One Sore Rib

An American Marine finds himself a spectator in an unwinnable battle, watching his wife slowly consumed by cancer. Fulfilling her dying wish, they travel to Venice to wait for the end in a foreign city. Living in a decaying palazzo carved up into modern apartments, husband and wife find a bit of joy in a neighbor named Sophie, who is happy to bring the couple into her solitary existence. It isn't long, though, before they realize that Sophie is trapped in an unspoken relationship with the local crime lord, a sphinx of a man, who at best seems unhappy about his mistress' newfound friendships. The resulting tug-of-war drags the expatriate couple into Venetian lives, politics, and power struggles, revealing the American's violent past. One Sore Rib is a 21st century story set against a backdrop of the 14th, where an American blunders into a situation he doesn't understand.

Matthew C. McLean is a native of Kansas City who has since lived all across the United States. He currently resides with his wife in North Carolina.