Paradise Divide

By: R.S. Curtis

Narrated by: David Shipp

A young ranger recon sergeant major, Danny McCarty, returns home following the apparent suicide death of his father. Five years ago, feeling that he had to get away, Danny joined the army, leaving his dad, his older brother, his dad’s old maid school teacher aunt (has flunked half the valley), and his strong willed girlfriend (has no plans to forgive him) behind.

What Danny doesn’t know is that he’s being recruited by his aunt’s Forty Two club (the aunt, the town sheriff, his deputy, and the local high school chemistry teacher) for his military (recon abilities) and his outdoorsman skills (bowhunter, tracker) to root out his dad’s real killer and bring them to justice.

The chief suspect of the domino players is the owner of the newly reopened Molybdenum mine above the town that now employs Danny’s brother and his old girlfriend. At the family ranch, recently purchased by the mine’s owner, Danny finds a water quality report suggesting that the mine is poisoning the town’s aquifer, but is immediately set upon by the mine owner’s thugs, an oddly matched threesome. They try first to kill him and then end up burning down the house and barn and blaming it on Danny.

A series of encounters follows wherein Danny goes to jail, breaks out, goes back in, and breaks out again. In between escapes, he wins a football game, blows up the mine with a homemade bomb, and has several confrontations with his brother, his girlfriend, and the three persistent thugs—in the process, he solves the crime, wins back the loyalty of his brother, and the love of his girlfriend—and ends up in a running bow-and-arrow battle with the mine owner and eventually discovers that when you’re lost—the best place to find yourself is home.

©2022 R.S. Curtis (P)2022 R.S. Curtis