For those lucky enough to have received a Kindle, Nook, iPad, or other reading device during the holidays, I humbly submit my e-book for your consideration. At just $2.99, it’s about the cost of a grande latte. Here’s an excerpt from . . .

SKELETON: A BARE BONES MYSTERY

Wolf sat quietly at his dining room table, contemplating the superheated microwave dinner steaming in its black plastic tray in front of him, bits of chicken and preternaturally green green-beans in a bubbling cream sauce. Hunger compelled him to eat, but the smell made him slightly nauseated, so he pushed the tray to the side and took another sip of “Bob White,” an inexpensive sauvignon blanc by Robert “Bob” Mondavi.

“Looks like it’s just you and me again, Bob,” he said to the bottle.

Bob said nothing but pointed to the empty chair opposite Wolf.

“Yes, it would be nice to have her here. Ah, I see by your expression you don’t know who her is.”

Bob shrugged his cork and offered Wolf another drink.

“Thank you, my friend, but just this one. I’m on a case; have to be sharp.”

Bob accepted this, tugging at his cork to seal out as much air as possible. He needed to stay fresh, too, at least for a day or so.

“By her, of course, I mean Kate, Kate of the bobbing ponytail and comely body.”

Bob expressed dismay.

“Yes, yes, I know there’s a big age difference, but I’m still a vital man, some would even say handsome.”

Bob chuckled softly, despite himself.

“Oh, you think that’s funny, do you?”  Wolf grabbed Bob by his neck, took him to the kitchen, and slid him onto the top shelf of the refrigerator. “Chill.”

Bob was about to protest, but the door closed and the light went out, leaving him alone with a package of moldy bologna. What was I thinking when I left the vineyard for the big city, he thought. This is not what I expected an uncorked life to be.

Wolf went back to the table, picked up a fork, and began eating the chicken. “What do you think, my dear?” he said, raising his glass to the woman sitting opposite him in the empty chair. She had let her hair down, and the spaghetti straps on her low-cut red dress had slipped off both shoulders, the dress now barely able to contain her heaving breasts.

“I think we should fuck,” she said, standing, letting the dress fall to the floor.

“Yes,” he said, but the phone was ringing with the authority of cathedral bells.

FOR KINDLE: http://tinyurl.com/2dbstrg 

FOR NOOK: http://tinyurl.com/3x2r494

FOR iPad: Go to the iBookstore.

COMING SOON ON SONY READER