If these stripped-down vignettes have anything in common, it's fading tattoos, excessive drinking and smoking, hopeless attempts at communication, unexpected violence, and untimely death-not to mention coffee, steak, and eggs. Crammed with atmosphere, quirky characters and page-turning plot, Coffee, Steak, and Eggs: 101 Stories from the Wrong Side of Nowhere is perfect for fans of deftly-written fiction with a bit of criminal activity thrown in for good measure. Some examples: . An unknown narrator delivers a bittersweet eulogy for a woman he hasn't seen in forty years . An unexpected meeting reveals the soul of Thanksgiving . A bucolic picnic erupts in lethal violence as unhinged strangers intrude . Police roughly interrogate a young man concerning his father's disappearance . A group of toughs demands that an elderly man surrender his truck . A man's shoes provoke derision from everyone he meets . A high school girl embarks, uncertain and alone, on a new life . A loser with an anger problem clashes with a rent-a-cop in a jewelry store