Life on the road has long been a source of fascination for writers, poets, and musicians. A new book of short stories by John Bendel, a former driver who now heads the transportation marketing firm Bendel & Bendel, tells trucking tales from an insider's perspective. According to the author, the book, Crazy Dan, The Demon Truck and Other Stories of the American Highway: 13 Trucker Tales as Told by Luke Underwood, "reveals the romance, mayhem, terror, humor, and many other facets of life behind the wheel of a big rig." (Luke Underwood is an invented character who narrates the stories.)

"Driving a truck is part adventure, part plight," says the author, who is editor at large forLand Line Magazine and spent 11 years driving trucks for different companies before becoming a professional writer and photographer.

The stories in the collection were selected from a series Bendel originally wrote for Truckers News and Roadstar magazines. The book is available for download to any Kindle device and can also be read on most smartphones, tablets, and computers by using the "Free Reading Apps" at the Kindle store.