The Second Meanest Man in the World

Book excerpt: Something's wrong in the Emerald City.People are acting very un-Seattle-ish. They jaywalk, don't recycle, or use umbrellas. And perhaps most troubling of all, they're making eye-contact with strangers.And it's not going unnoticed.Seattle newspaper columnist Stewart Street smells a story, and is cozying up with every Northwest mover and shaker to get to the bottom of it.Gertrude, Ketchikan the Animal Man, Officer Paddy Wagon, Leroy Frump, Mr. X.R. Cize, Charlie Can Do, The Swami of Pastrami, Dingbatman, Zenobia (gasp), Miss Smith, Ggoorrsstt, Sturdly the Bookworm, the Clown himself, and of course, Boris S. Wort, the second meanest man in the world--they all play a part in the greatest crisis the city has ever known. Right up there with the Mercer Mess reconfiguration, which didn't do a damn thing.The clock is ticking, and Street hits the pavement, in a race against time. Can he crack this baffling case before the situation reaches critical mass, and rips the city apart, like a floral print romper caught between two Walmart shoppers at a Black Friday sale?Will Seattle become New York west?