Stinson Beach, CA -- (SBWire) -- 07/11/2014 --Most men and women trudging through the tumultuous waters of the midlife crisis cannot resist the urge to wear clothes they last wore thirty years ago, or replace their Osmonds CD collection with Arcade Fire and Kasabian. The flawed and corruptible protagonist in Jeb Stewart Harrison’s latest novel also struggles with these urges but as anyone would do, of course, also adds faking his own death to the list…..
It’s all a ploy to win back his childhood sweetheart and plays out with gripping aplomb in ‘Hack’. Every reader in their 40s, 50s and 60s will find themselves in this curious character; but Harrison asks that they hold off on their fake death plans until they first see just how Hack grapples with this bold decision.
Synopsis:
When a film producer arrives at the California Heritage Gallery to view Hack's paintings, he's accompanied by the artist's childhood sweetheart, a woman he hasn't seen in twenty years except in dreams, where she appears almost nightly, a heavenly image of beauty and light. Now Hack is overwhelmed with desire and despair, for she's the trophy wife of a rich man. What could she possibly see in a downtrodden, besotted artist? So, in a state of love struck dementia, he hatches an outlandish scheme to win her back: fake his own death, thereby driving up the value of his portfolio, and then under cover, continue to produce "undiscovered" work, get rich, and one day return to claim his true love, when they'll ride "Fat Boys" together into the sunset to live happily ever after. Even a loser can get lucky sometimes.
“The narrative may be farfetched but it is intentional – this book is just good, honest and unapologetic fun,” admits Harrison. “It’s an endearing romp through the midlife crisis that we all face and it travels to the extremes of convention through four archetypal characters. From our starving artist and Rick Morgan the talented sell-out to Hadley Scofield who craves solitude and finally Herte Nyhus, the selfless giver- readers will unravel their own personalities and realize they are not alone in their struggles.”
Continuing, “It also throws a dilemma out there – do we need to drastically reinvent ourselves in order to see the world anew? And, after our midlife crisis has passed, will we put the entire thing down to just being a ‘phase’? Only readers can answer that, but they’ll have a whole load of rip-roaring fun along the way.”
Reviews have been extremely positive. Doug Green comments, “This book has it all -- innumerable twists and turns that will keep you more than fully engaged. But I especially love the style -- laugh out loud funny at parts even as you get hit right in the gut. I've already shared it with my wife and had to write a review when I heard her chuckling from the other room. I am clearly not alone! A great read!”
Bill was equally as impressed, adding, “A fun read. Contemporary and easy to relate for any child of the 60's & 70's. Everybody knows Hack. Humor and fond memories is my best attempt at summarizing.”
‘Hack’, published by Harper Davis Publishing, is available now: http://amzn.to/TUJWAl.
About Jeb Harrison
Jeb Harrison has had a long career in business and the arts where he has written everything from commercials to eulogies to consumer interactive CD-ROMs, played music at the legendary Fillmore Auditorium, and sold hundreds of paintings of his beautiful Marin County, California home. Several novels, including the hilarious satire "Learning to Limbo" are expected to follow "Hack", his debut novel with Harper Davis Publishers. His blog, "Adventures in Limboland", chronicles a rogue's gallery of colorful characters both real and imagined as they engage in a cornucopia of wild and nefarious exploits. His blog post "Melanie Mills: The Agent Who Lived The Plot Of My Novel" is one of his many posts as a Huffington Post blogger.
