Bait & Switch

In the middle of the night, Cary Mitchell flees Charleston to obtain help from his twin brother Grant better known as "Mitch". Cary owes bookie Flash Gorman twenty grand that if he does not pay now will lead to broken kneecaps. Cary also mentions that he has stolen from the till of a bar filled with dirty money to pay off some of the debt. What he fails to tell his sibling, an Atlanta cop, is that the reason he fled town is that Flash expects Cary to pay his tab by breaking the kneecaps of other clients behind in their remittance.Mitch decides that the best course of action is to hand Flash over to the police so when Cary refuses to play, Mitch offers to go undercover as Cary in a BAIT AND SWITCH operation. The first problem surfaces when Cary's girlfriend Peyton McDowell, daughter of a DA, arrives yelling at the switched Mitch. Others surface, but as he tries to solve his brother's problems, nothing goes right especially when it comes to Peyton because he begins falling in love with his sibling's girlfriend.Siblings switching places is a theme that is as old as the Old Testament yet Darlene Gardner keeps her story line fresh by enabling the readers to distinguish between the twins because their personalities remain in tact. This especially occurs with Peyton confused by Mitch's change in behavior and attitude. Thus amusing situations arise, as nothing is smooth as expected with a long-term identity exchange. The BAIT AND SWITCH of Mitch and Cary leads to a fun frolic for readers.Harriet Klausner

When Twin Cary arrives on his doorstep, Mitch quickly realizes his brother is in trouble again. In debt to his bookie, Cary has devised a plan to extricate himself from trouble at Mitch's expense. These mirror image twins will simply set the bait, and then switch places. Mitch will make the arrest and Cary will be off the hook with minimum fuss. Even Peyton, Cary's lady friend, cannot tell them apart.Cary does not appreciate Mitch's risk to his career or his kneecaps, since criminals notoriously break bones in reprisal for nonpayment of debts. Worse, Mitch's ethics do not allow romantic attachments to any woman currently or previously involved with his brother. In addition, Peyton's capricious nature ensures rather unpredictable results with one sure conclusion: she inspires wicked desires and wild fantasies. Too bad Mitch cannot be quite sure if she is falling for him, or his mirror image.The author of THE MISCONCEPTION is back with a lively twin switch that brings sparkling hilarity in BAIT & SWITCH. The zany plot keeps the pace quick even as the characters come vividly to life. While the unifying plot is quite serious, the tone remains light and snappy. Indeed, Mitch must be the only hero in history to be sent on errand to collect on debt for a bookie, and lend the subject money rather than breaking bones! The dominate theme of identity and being true to one's self keeps the readers amused right down to the secondary plot with its playful twists. With strong characters, funny dialogue, and a strong element of sensual tease, BAIT & SWITCH earns the WordWeaving Award for Excellence.