Somewhere West of Roads

On the same day John Barstow lost his girlfriend and his job, he got a letter from a lawyer in Anchorage, Alaska, summoning him to that frozen place. John doesn’t really care that his uncle, Hank Grant, has died. He didn’t really know the man. Hank had been the black sheep of the family, spending his life in remote reaches of Alaska, far from his Southern California family. The letter must be nothing more than a legal formality. Still, the letter is intriguing, particularly when a check for two-thousand bucks falls out of it. Broke and out of work, John quickly decides he has nothing to lose by making the trip. In Anchorage, John learns that as Hank Grant’s only legal heir he must make a decision: sign onto an agreement to take over his uncle’s business, or walk away with a trailer house and twenty-five grand. Born and raised in Los Angeles, John is sure a trailer house in Nikiski, Alaska, is no temptation. The business? Well, it’s also out of a city boy’s comfort zone. Last Chance Adventures is a pay-to-mine tourist operation on the west side of the Cook Inlet; fly in only, as remote as it gets. There’s a catch, however. If John can’t make Last Chance Adventures show a profit in one season, it goes to a secondary, unnamed beneficiary. But hey, he’ll still get the trailer house! Fortunately, there’s good news. John’s uncle had an assistant, Harley Pepperdine, who is knowledgeable, helpful and reliable – when he’s sober. His uncle also had plenty of other helpful friends – all of them quirky Alaskan characters shaped by the country John will have to survive. And too, there’s a woman, Maggie Peters, who is smart, attractive and friendly – whenever she’s not pissed at Harley and John. The story is written with realistic dialogue, and therefore contains some profanity which some readers may find offensive.