NOVEL THRILL

Move over, Stephen King. Here comes Runamok, a novel about small business due out in May. The plot: A $3 million computer-parts maker is on the brink. Can it be saved? Sure, if the CEO gets control of payables and inventory-return rates and writes down operating procedures. ``Those are the most important things,'' says author Tom Park, an ex-CEO. ``I wanted to illustrate this covertly. By day's end, people don't want to pick up a tome on business.''

EDITED BY I. JEANNE DUGAN