AKEDAH: The Binding
 – a novel of promises broken or kept 

A casual barstool conversation with a mystery man-perhaps a Las Vegas bigwig, perhaps a sociopath-hooks chronic loser Vern McGurren on the deal of a lifetime, spurring a road trip from Chico CA, across Yosemite and Death Valley to the monumental stone outcrop of New Mexico’s Shiprock. It’s a shot at bridging the gap between a desperate father, a suicidal son, and an exiled firstborn who know each other only too well, while leaving the gritty mother behind to grapple with dread. But they veer into an hallucinatory replay of the mythic Abram/Isaac sacrifice.

(226 pp., paperbound, $14.95 + $4.00 shipping)  Buy Now