Then she's back nudging Barry to bring him round. It's not easy. He's far, far away, but finally he rolls over and looks at a very tired woman wearing diamond studs and nothing else. "Emma?" he says as if he doesn't recognize her. He's coming back. "What time is it? What's wrong?"
"Nothing, promise me one thing. Okay?" he nods. "I'm serious. You have to promise."
"I promise." He reaches out to try to encircle her waist, but she's too far back now.
"After work tomorrow, promise that you'll take me to that little Italian place on Westheimer and order Compari and soda for two. You promise?"
"Si, signorina, I do."
Epilogue
Lenny writes a strange letter to Barry and Emma. To receive your free copy of the Epilogue and occasional updates about other novels, please send me your email address and I'll send you a PDF. I'd also love to hear what you think about The Nano-Thief. Please send your request to [email protected].
A Second Lenny D. Novel:
My Name is Lenny D.
It takes a long time for an immigrant kid from Slovenia to emerge and muster the ballsy audacity to confront and subdue Sammy, the nano-thief, and save Michael Bessnager and secret government research at the end of The Nano-Thief.
My Name is Lenny D. tells of that unfolding. Lenny starts as a cocky securities trader who hangs out afterhours at Ferndale's, just off the interstate in Houston. One evening he gathers an improbable group of women at his table, and along with Snorri, the Icelandic bartender, they entertain each other with their tales, much the way Chaucer's characters did. Amy's a programmer headed east to visit family. Portia's a local trying to lose her boyfriend Ethan, and Agnes is a neuroscientist from Boston in town with her grandmother Abigail.
Lenny is confident he can guide the evening, but events spin out of control as the group tries to pry his true identity from him. They riff on each other's tales and continue the next night at Bar Antofagasta, where they are joined by others with stories of their own. Lenny finds he is not the only one who has been less than forthcoming about his past. The evening ends in a mind-bending melee that leaves individual facades in tatters and Lenny to reflect on his own inventions.
My Name is Lenny D. is prelude to the fast-paced thriller you have just read. It is an exploration of where our hero comes from and how he grew into his role in The Nano-Thief. How he moved from fantasy to action.
Here are the first few paragraphs from chapter one of My Name is Lenny D. I hope they excite you to read on.
He sat, back against the oiled teak bar, surveying the room, ignoring Snorri, the Icelandic bartender, and the ship's maidenhead above the mirror. What interested Lenny was not what was, but what might be. And for Lenny that meant people. Not Snorri and his endless retelling of how he dropped out of an electrical engineering program in Reykjavik or his fellow barflies, who could be uncompromisingly critical if he gave free reign to his imagination and spoke his mind. Besides, what they really wanted were commodity tips or info on hot Silicon Valley stocks.
Tonight, as he did many nights, Lenny was watching the parade of damsels, mademoiselles he liked to think, and turned-out matrons as they made their way from their tables to the ladies' room and back—tables where they gathered to drink and then eat after work or where they joined their men. It was the most venal of sins—one we must forgive him if we are to go on. What astounded Lenny this particular evening was how many real beauties there were among the strollers. But then that was Ferndale's, that was the crowd it attracted, the wealthy from Memorial and young women on the make who lived further out I-10 and stopped by on their way home.
Now, remembering again that there was nothing to eat in the fridge, he asked for a table, and Snorri himself abandoned his post to carry his drink over. "Well, Mr. D., enjoy the evening." Almost imperceptibly he paused, signaling Lenny to reach for his money clip and part with a fiver. Lenny resumed his vigil.
At Ferndale's in Chapter 1, Lenny and Portia meet for the very first time. To receive your free PDF of the entirety of Chapter one of My Name is Lenny D. and occasional updates, please send an email address to [email protected]
The Nano-Thief: A Lenny D. Novel (Lenny. D. Novels Book 1) Page 23