Daily News from New York, New York • 122

i Kkiw Do' UDd CSddoM If duDddo Fright writer's latest is Internet exclusive A i By RACHEL SCHEIER DAILY NEWS BUSINESS WRITER The newest frightfest from prolific pop novelist Stephen King is set to be released today and the plot twist has nothing to do with King's ghost story. Instead, King wants fans to curl up with their favorite electronic devices to read his E-book, "Riding the Bullet," available only on the Internet. King fans can download the ghost story for $2.50 from sites selling his latest, which readers can link to through Simon Schuster's Web site. Other booksellers will also offer it for sale on their sites. A company called GlassBook is offering free software to enable customers to read the book electronically.

An online edition will also be available to work with special hand-held electronic reading devices such as the Rocket eBook and Softbook. However, the software is also designed to prevent readers from printing out the novella. "Riding the Bullet," which King describes as a "ghost story in the grand manner," is his first published work since he was hit by a minivan and seriously injured last summer in Maine. After the accident, King said he was suffering from severe writer's block and was unsure he would ever publish another novel. But soon after, King, through an agent, presented the idea to publish his latest story online.

"I'm curious to see what sort of response there is and whether or not this is the future," King said in a statement. The author was said to be on vacation and couldn't be reached yesterday. In what some have called a crafty marketing move, Barnesandnoble.com today only will offer customers a chance to download the story free. Writers have been publishing works online for some years now, and some technologically savvy readers have been purchasing titles to read using special electronic reading devices. But "Riding the Bullet" marks the first time a big name like King has offered a new title exclusively in electronic form.

"The thinking here is that this is coming," said Simon Schuster spokesman Adam Roth-berg. "It's in its infancy, but we believe more and more people are going to want to read this way." MIKE ALBANS DAILY NEWS Stephen King's book. "Riding the Bullet," will be available exclusively online. The author, who was seriously injured in an accident last summer, is curious to see the response. Feds start work on African Burial Ground memorial i fc i 4 i By MICHAEL FINNEGAN DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Nine years after the African Burial Ground was found in lower Manhattan, the federal government yesterday took its first major step toward building a memorial.

A 1 .6 million interpretive center recalling the lives of some 20,000 African-Americans buried there in the 18th century will be built in the lobby of the federal office tower at 290 Broadway. The center, expected to open by early next year, will feature African artifacts, maps, video displays and an altar overlooking an outdoor memorial to be built at Duane and Elk Sts. Replicas of cowrie shells, beads, African coins and other items buried in the graves also will be exhibited. The U.S. General Services Administration named IDI Construction of Manhattan to design and build the center.

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Harlem) called the center an important monument to African-Americans forced into slavery. "Unlike the Pope, saying you're sorry doesn't really make the difference," he said. Archeologists discovered the cemetery in 1991 during preconstruction surveys for the 30-story federal office building. The tower was finished in 1994.

Howard Dodson, director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, criticized the administration for the delays. He called the agency "obstructionist or the most incompetent bureaucracy in history." "All that stems from fundamental disrespect, specifically for the African-American ancestors that are here, but then for this whole process" of building a memorial, he said. Ron Law, administration associate regional administrator, conceded the project took too long. "We can acknowledge that there has been an inordinate amount of delay," he said. "The best we can do now is to bring it to its completion." 5 a CM L.

Fort Lauderdale police officer checks on Haitians rounded up on state park beach yesterday. They were part of group of about 30 who came ashore from small boat (possibly stolen) and immediately fled, police said. Most were caught. Cops think maybe somebody was trying to smuggle them into U.S..