“Ashley gives you a nod, so you pull out of the driveway as the sky turns from navy blue to black. Then again, it’s never truly black in LA—more like a charcoal haze dusted with the orange glow of streetlamps.”

 
Introducing THE LOOKOUT AND OTHER STORIES, the debut collection of previously published and premiere shorts by Daniel Gardina. Ranging from the humorous to the dramatic, these five narratives include an absurd trip to the dentist’s office, a girl’s chance encounter with a man who knows her story all too well, and a couple whose lives will permanently change by the time they reach their favorite spot in the city: the lookout.

As a bonus, also added is an excerpt from the novel THE LAST NIGHT.

★★★★★  Excellent stories to read over and over again!

The Lookout and Other Stories is an excellent read full of imaginative, funny, and sometimes pensive short stories. I like the format of a short story collection since you can read them in between activities when you have a small amount of time and pick it back up later to read a completely different story. I read this collection twice the first week I got it and I pick up on more descriptive details that enrich the stories each time I go back to read it again. I give it my highest recommendation as a book no reader should be without! 

– Becki, Amazon.com 

★★★★★  Keep your eye on Gardina

Grab a copy of this book if you want to see the progression of skill and observational awareness in a young man that will, no doubt, sell millions of copies one day very soon. When you open the page to the very first short story — “Gone Fishing” — you are introduced to a humorous take on going in for dental care, then you literally smash the ground, heart first, by the end of his final story, “The Lookout.” And, for me it was a great feeling to actually, well, feel something from a fresh writer for once. Then, Daniel goes and does something wrong, he teases you with the first chapter of his novel — The Last Night. Why do I say wrong? Because, not only does he take you from his view as a child, to adolescence, to a young man throughout his stories — growing up gracefully in front of your eyes for the first 50 pages, making you feel like kin — he goes and hits you in the face as a full-blown man with his novel’s first chapter, leaving you with a taste reminiscent of Brett Easton Ellis’s early work, if it bedded T.C. Boyle’ s raw view of the human being. I use wrong sarcastically, of course, as in a prom night kiss at the door, and nothing more type of wrong. So, Daniel, come out with The Last Night already. I need to know what happens next!

– TheBrokeWriter, Amazon.com

★★★★★  New writer hits a home run

These are a well written short stories. We hope the writer’s new novel is published fairly soon. I can’t wait. It will be the start of a great career.

– ramcdonald, Amazon.com

Now available in Kindle, paperback, and large-print editions!

Want to know more? Read the first story →