It's Christmas 1979 in Wichita, KS, but Charlie Arglist has other reasons for blowing town, A man of parts, he's mobster, a club owner, and a lawyer--not necessarily in order of culpability. It's not easy saying goodbye when you're a gangster, though, so before he can leave town, Charlie needs to drop off a photograph of a local official in a compromising position and steal some drug money. Before it's all over, he leaves a trail of broken fingers, several empty liquor bottles, and a pile of dead bodies in his wake. Most of his time is spent circling the city, driving uncertainly from one sleazy bar/strip club to another, wishing "Merry Christmas" to the denizens and awaiting his chance. What could be as empty as one of Charlie's cast-aside whiskey bottles turns out to be a pitch-perfect foray into pulp fiction, witty and bitter, with an ironic conclusion that makes a neat package. Slap a bow on this one, and it's the ideal stocking stuffer for all those Scrooges on your Christmas (or hit) list. Purchase wherever hardboiled or noirish fiction has proven popular.