Got Your Back - A Novelette

When Ricky Briggs wakes up unable to move, he knows something’s not right. When his wife Melanie notices that his spine is missing, Ricky knows his troubles are just beginning.
Medically unfeasible and physically impossible, there are no answers, only questions. Spines don’t simply disappear, yet Ricky’s did.
In the hospital, bedridden and immobile, there is little else for Ricky to do except think and sleep. But, when a mysterious late-night visitor appears, Ricky has to face some truths about his condition, about his life forward and his life past, and the reality that all he has left is his wife and a very dark secret that would be devastating to reveal, but pure hell to keep.
Got Your Back is a modern parable written in John McIlveen’s trademark styling, blending darkness, humor, humanity, and a big dose of heart. Don’t fear…McIlveen’s got your back.


"John McIlveen's GOT YOUR BACK is a fun, retro-pulpy twist on the classic revenge and comeuppance tale. Watch your back." --Paul Tremblay, author of A HEAD FULL OF GHOSTS

"Summoning shades of Kafka and Cronenberg, GOT YOUR BACK, is a darkly wry and unsettling tale of a debt coming due that adds up to much more than a pound of flesh. John McIlveen’s trademark fusion of wit and foreboding is as strong as a Harrington rod, and while Ricky Briggs might not have a spine, McIlveen’s guts and heart are on display in every word he writes."
--Bracken MacLeod, author of STRANDED