Brunch With the Jackals

"Turf War" begins the collection with a plunge to the bottom of an elevator shaft where gang leader Milan Kobek contemplates mutiny in his ranks and the racism, violence, and greed that has led to his downfall.

"Rapture" follows Lonnie, who recently ran away from his group home and has taken to life in the streets, and his junkie friends as they wait impatiently for the delivery of a new drug called "rapture" from a drug dealer who seems to have forgotten their existence.

"Angels Passing" interweaves the story of the friendship formed between Brother Michael, a young missionary in Vietnam, and Trang, his driver/interpreter, with the romantic tale Trang tells of Choi and Akia - a young wrestler and a woman with a physical deformity who go against tradition for love.

In "Alice Bird" a retired accountant reveals his obsession with the murder of a neighbour girl while attempting to write a short story for a creative writing class.

"Toy Soldiers" tells of a rebel militia group on the run from the government army and their dogs, while young Kevin plots an eerily similar game with his toy soldiers and awaits his Da's return home.

"Invisible" begins with the interrogation of illegal Korean workers by an immigration panel and a reporter who are investigating mysterious deaths at a shellfish farm. As they reveal their employers' secrets, Diane Ng and Ling Wa also uncover the abuse, racism, and exploitation they have faced.
In "The Robin's Egg" Henry's struggle to come to terms with death as cancer ravages his body is further complicated with the discovery of a new drug designed to end it all painlessly.

"Green Honda" follows Archie as he betrays his employer - who then mysteriously disappears - and develops an obsession with listening to a police scanner. Archie's paranoia slowly takes over his life, but are his fears imagined or is the green Honda outside following him?

Bugs, 8-Ball, and Pete are the "Mothas," a gang of adolescent misfits intent on causing mischief, who attempt to escape from their mundane middle class existence by hopping onto a train.

In "East Side Rules" a union dispute is settled with a cut-throat game of softball.

"Brunch with the Jackals" is a neo-noir novella set in the fictional lakefront town of Rail Spur. With a diverse cast of characters ranging from disfigured socialites to escaped convicts and dissatisfied newspaper reporters to ruthless maintenance workers, this is a story of murder, stolen identity, and intrigue that reveals the grotesque result of greed driving someone over the edge.