Desolation Ghosts is a 65,000-word adult literary fiction novel in the vein of The Human Stain. It is set in North Cascades National Park and is about a missing traumatized female veteran with alcohol and relationship addictions who changes her mind about killing herself, but then falls off a mountain and must survive in the wilderness while park rangers battle over how much effort should be spent to locate her. The story takes place during the Covid-19 pandemic and the beginning of law enforcement reforms following the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. This book will appeal to readers who are interested in national parks, outdoor recreation, the Pacific Northwest, and the controversial issue of how emergency services treat people with mental health challenges. It includes exciting stories, based on real-life events, about using rock climbing and short-haul helicopter techniques to rescue a pack string mule who fell off a trail and a mountain climber who fell off a crag, a shoot-out and its impact on park rangers, a couple drownings, an aquatic body recovery and other sad outdoor tragedies, and funny and scary encounters with bears and other wildlife. If you like Jack Kerouac, Nevada Barr, Bree Loewen, Jon Krakauer, Michael Connelly, James Dickey's Deliverance, Matthew Quick's The Silver Linings Playbook or Scott Heim's Mysterious Skin, you may enjoy Desolation Ghosts.

Tuesday, October 26, 2021

Beautiful and the Damned

Just burned through Fitzgerald's The Beautiful and the Damned. Who knew the battle of an alcoholic against fate to remain idle in the leisure class while his money runs out could be so suspenseful? May be my favorite ending ever. Now I get to reward myself for getting through his three harder novels by basking in Gatsby for the next day. Trying to cram in as much leisure pleasure as I can before MY idle time runs out (but still sending out query letters to agents to represent Desolation Ghosts). It's a true luxury to read a book all the way through in big chunks instead of small pieces.

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