Ernst Doud is a middle-aged 154-year-oldnonhuman painter living quietly in LosAngeles when he receives a cryptic letter froma lover he last saw in 1913, precisely at themoment he killed him-or so he had alwaysthought. So begins M. Christian's debut novel,as unlike any book you have read as Doud isunlike any hero who has ever graced the pagesof a novel. Set in contemporary Los Angeles,with excursions into the surreal outback ofSouthern California's high desert, Running Dryis a stunningly realized story of vengeance,loyalty, and the inescapable humanity of theinhuman.M. Christian's short stories have been collectedin the books Dirty Words, Speaking Parts, andThe Bachelor Machine.