Great Novels Of The 21st Century That Will Never Be Finished: "Dead Man In The Cockpit"

"Great Novels Of The 21st Century That Will Never Be Finished" is a continuing series in a new genre that promises to kill dead the Western literary tradition.

One of the advantages of being a writer is that you can go to work drunk," reflected Austen Pillory as he stumbled into his den/office, tripped over Fiddlesticks, his ancient cocker spaniel, and banged his head against the edge of his vintage, 1950's Army surplus desk.

When he awoke groggily the next morning, head pounding, eyelids glued together, dry mouth tasting of sewer, Pillory didn't immediately see the man slumped in the ergonomic swivel chair with a knife protruding from his back, face down on the computer keyboard of Pillory's writing work station, which he thought of proprietorially as "the cockpit" as if, instead of a humble writer, he was the valiant pilot of a World War II Spitfire weaving through an enemy squadron, creating a bold new literary genre for the 21st Century.

Copyright © 2009 by S. Ridgway Thornton