Best Offer — Jerrold Mundis

THOU SHALT NOT AUCTION THY NEIGHBOR'S WIFE. EXCEPT FOR A GOOD CAUSE . . .

Or her husband either.

It was a crazy idea for a fund raiser, but it was the only way to save the school. Garage sales, carnivals, flea markets . . . all had failed. Now the parents of the students at the Port Williams Academy were ready to turn their most intimate fantasies into a sensual reality, and auction off an unforgettable night of love that would change all their lives forever!

Meet:

Chrissy and Charles. It was Chrissy's idea, born out of watching Charles's poker game. Charles wanted the school to stay open for their kids, too, as much as she did. And both of them -- while more content in their marriage than not -- felt the uneventful flatness into which it had fallen.

Olivia and Gil. Olivia was a bright sprit who loved all things great and small and never met a day she didn't like. Gil was a funloving bighearted guy who thought she and Chrissy were both crazy, but who took to the idea anyway.

Danielle and Warren. Danielle didn't want this, afraid it might awaken who she had once been. Warren did. He wanted just once in this life to hit a home run. And because he was a good man, a devoted father and loving husband, and because he been badly used by life and had never really gotten a break, and because she loved him, Danielle said yes.

Judy and Palmer: They were a perfect match, patrician in their manners and bearing, Judy a great if distant beauty, Palmer a man of easy genteel masculinity. But within Judy raged a deeply suppressed passion that was about erupt, triggered by a growing fear for the safety of her son. She would do anything to protect him. Palmer, who had organized his life and personality into an orderly and serene neatness over the years, was startled by the idea -- but found it winsome and not without a certain charm.

Each of these husbands and wives will stand up on the auction block before a gathering of selected Academy parents offering herself and himself for a night to the highest bidder.

And around this all are others, too:

Christian Hughes, the intellectual, internalized headmaster of the Academy who has dedicated his life to it; Father Douglas, empty of faith but who loves his flock and takes upon himself their pain and suffering; Ida, a matter-of-fact, huge-breasted widow who's raised three kids alone and just wants a night of love and fun with an appealing man as a birthday present for herself.

And the young wounded warrior Dennis, a dog trainer now, quiet, sensitive, with a deep yearning; Nguyen Cao Thang, rumored to have brought out a satchelful of heroin when he'd been evacuated from Vietnam, as Saigon was falling; and Eileen, whose husband wants to bid in the auction but sure as hell doesn't want her to, and who is not happy when she does, and even less when she wins.

In the lead up to the auction, at the auction itself, and a week later on the night when the winners collect, all these and others will discover things about themselves they never knew existed or had long forgotten.

And none will ever be the same.

It is a story of great poignance and appeal. It is a dramatic story. It is a humorous story. It is story of sensuality.

It is Best Offer.

(And on top of that, it's all for a good cause.)

~~

Praise for Jerrold Mundis

Gerhardt's Children: “A superb novelist presents a book difficult to overpraise.”
-- Publishers Weekly

The Bite: “Unusually taut, full of interesting types and well-plotted . A nice piece of work.”
-- The New York Times

The Dogs: “A finely crafted and indignant tale. This superb novel by a supremely gifted naturalist is uncompromising.”
-- Business Week

Slave Ship: “The dramatic actions snap along with sea battles, slave rebellions, and moral conflicts, all played out by thoroughly believable characters and building to a shattering climax.”
-- Library Journal

OVER 4 MILLION JERROLD MUNDIS PRINT-BOOKS SOLD!