FROM BARRY FITZSIMMONS, AUTHOR OF "LIFE ASKEW..". It's the summer of 2000, the twilight of television's analog era, and Promo Cowboy is one of New York's most dependable TV-promo writer/producers. Freelance to the core, in his Stetson and heavy drawl, "Cowboy" enjoys a solid reputation as a consummate pro to networks, stations, and "whoever pays the rate." But a serial strangler - whose weapon of choice is old videotape - is targeting colleagues and competitors, and Promo Cowboy must act fast, keep cool, and face his greatest fears in order to try and save his friends, his career, and maybe his life. Thriller, satire, TV-industry expose', "Promo Cowboy" is populated with hard-drinking, neurotic and brilliant personalities, the unsung creative heroes from cable-TV's explosion on the American scene. Fellow producers, editors, art directors, musicians, marketing and station executives - any of these desperate characters might be the killer, even Promo Cowboy himself. BARRY FITZSIMMONS surprised readers with his debut, "Life Askew," a colorful urban fable that hilariously foretold the age of megastore marketing gone amok. Now, the 20-year veteran of TV-writing (NBC, ESPN, HBO) returns with a McCarthyesque narrative that's closer to home. With "Promo Cowboy," Fitzsimmons again leverages his unique perspective and fertile imagination, bringing to life a humorous, original, and very American literary work.