Inspired by the classic short stories of Raymond Chandler, Graham Greene, Patricia Highsmith, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Carver, Coetzee, and more, these stories take you into dark places and tight spaces. Yes, there is mayhem, even murder from time to time. There are also unfortunate decisions that can't be unmade, honest mistakes that lead to dishonesty, realizations that come too late, and dues to be paid that come too soon. Throughout, the human comedy that we call life is painted with the colors of love, hate, success, failure, jubilation, sorrow, and the lint in all our pockets, regret.As you read you'll meet assassins, adulterers, artists, gigolos, go-betweens, pretty women and petty criminals, a woman who walks her cat, a man who can't walk at all, an elderly man who just might be Satan, a bartender, a hangman, doomed denizens, and one very lucky fellow. They and more are waiting to share their stories with you, including some memorable supporting players who quite often steal the show.