When I finished this short story, it reminded me of a Tales From The Crypt story. The story delivered and did it quickly. With little fanfare, we're immediately pulled into the setup for the main event. Bernard Huston is playing cards and gambling with a mobster. And even worse, he's borrowed a large sum of money to do so. Of course, Huston loses and must pay back his debt. That is when Huston and the mobster come to The Agreement. Just like a Tales From The Crypt episode, The Agreement is the crux of the story; why the prelude was written in the first place. This is what we've been waiting for. At the beginning of the short story, Konrath says that he was not able to sell the story because it was too violent. Personally I would have qualified it as gruesome or intense instead of violent. Something that will make you cringe in sympathetic pain! Then at the end, the mobster throws out his final line that would sound perfect coming from The Cryptkeeper and followed by his maniacal laugh. ( )