Return From Avalon (And Points West)

Road trips can go off road, but they should NEVER go into parallel worlds. Fueled by discontent and odd dreams, middle-aged Arnie Penders sells his used bookstore and goes on a road trip. He’s driven-literally-toward something . . . but what? Unsure of his destination or his destiny he journals his trip in a group of letters to his ex-wife. This mild mannered bookseller with self-deprecating wit transforms into a man of action with a length of rebar during a mugging. A series of encounters with ghosts and offbeat women mark the ongoing road trip-including a potty-mouthed-waitress-turned-Baja-racecar-driver, and a new age enthusiast who takes him to a tarot card reading. A deck has only one of each card in it, and yet the King of Swords turns up twice. Haunting dreams, a guiding apparition, and a 200-year-old book of bad poetry herald the reincarnation of King Arthur in the 17th century. Driven to find the fictitious King Arthur in the poem, Arnie makes his way to Wales, reputed to be the location of Arthur’s return. Can Arnie decipher-and survive-what the legendary King Arthur, the ghostly apparition, and the King of Swords want from him?

from the Author: The ancient Arthurian legend tells that Arthur was gravely wounded by the hand of Mordred at the battle of Camlann. Bedivere cast Excalibur back into the lake while the king was taken in a barge to Avalon by four queens including his half-sister Morgan le Fay and Nimue, the Lady of the Lake. Some say he died, but others know that he is only resting and healing England once again has need of heroes.

So what form would the return of Arthur take? Surely not a leathery, timeworn swordsman tottering onto the modern battlefield. Bursting into the stock exchange to confront greedy hedge fund managers, perhaps? Or instead, perhaps his heroic spirit is reborn into another who is driven to take up the mantle of greatness.

Book categories: Rusty's Books