While most of the us thought Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were killed in an ambush by Texas Rangers on May 23, 1934, Clark Hays and Kathleen McFall throw a double twist into the story. In Resurrection Road, Bonnie and Clyde, aided by unidentified secret agents, escape death on May 23 and are given a second chance to not only continue their torrid love affair but to also do something good for the beatdown folks of depression era America–prevent a cabal of capitalists from offing President Roosevelt.

The story begins with Bonnie, now well past eighty, burying Clyde five decades after his supposed death. In a classically sardonic opening scene, a reporter, who Bonnie has requested to be at the burial, helps her load a stash of guns into the grave, as some might place flowers before a headstone. In the process, Bonnie reveals the long-kept secret of her identity and whose corpse is in the coffin.

Hays and McFall tell their tale in two threads: the reporter trying to prove what he basically can't believe–that this woman is, in fact, Bonnie Parker–and the elderly Bonnie detailing the adventure that took place after her resurrection. The result is a hoot, nothing less than a wild ride down Resurrection Road with tommy guns blazing and the gangsters wearing the white hats.

Bonnie and Clyde steal the show. I have no idea what process the duo of Hays and McFall use to write, but their interplay of snappy dialogue, fiery action, and heated lovemaking is superb--and had to be a kick to write. Throw in a good measure of trust-busting social justice, and Resurrection Road–the first in a trilogy—is just plain fun to read. Though this was the first book I've read from Pumpjack Press, I know I'm going back for more, thinking the Hays and McFall chemistry has got to be bloody dynamite in their The Cowboy and the Vampire Collection.