The Sound the Sun Makes (Ballads of Paradise #2)

Literary Americana with humor, heart, and a whole lot of twists to keep readers guessing Detective Early Pines loves his southern Arizona desert, often thinking he could stare at it all day long. But now that he's forced to do just that, the truth is the view from his back porch is getting old. He's on mandatory leave from the police department, simply for punching a wife beater who had it coming. Early is in dire need of a distraction from his own loud thoughts. So when an old friend invites him to tag along to a rodeo down in Old Mex, it seems like just the ticket. But if there's one constant in the world, it's that life always throws a guy curveballs. With a flat tire, a roadside bar, and a beautiful woman with trouble on her hands, Early's distraction takes a hard right turn—straight to Los Angeles, six hundred miles west. Hammott Lamont is waiting there in his own personal hunting ground. The reclusive filmmaker is a veritable cult leader to Hollywood stars—and he's sure his latest project will redefine art history in his image. He's got a plan for a brutal, modernized version of the Christ story, and he's ready to trample anyone who stands in the way of his colossal vision. That is, until big, loud Early Pines hits the coast for a clash of two titans who never saw each other coming. Quirky, lyrical, and unexpected, The Sound the Sun Makes offers a warm and sunny side trip for fans of Jimmy Buffett, Carl Hiaasen, and Barbara Kingsolver who long for more of a Christian worldview in their fiction. "Early Pines is a man at loose ends. On temporary leave from his job as a detective with the Paradise Police Department, he's a man with too much time on his hands. And, at just over three years sober, empty time isn't easy time. When his old friend, cowboy ex-priest, Jake Morales, invites him to tag along to a Tucson rodeo, he jumps at the distraction. Maybe the interstate would have been a better idea. A blown pickup tire, a flat spare, a hundred and six degrees - not good. No choice but to thumb a ride to the nearest town. If you can call it a town. One Horse, Arizona, is exactly what it sounds. A gas station-garage that hasn't seen paint since the fifties, a few scattered adobes, centered by a sun bleached and sagging tavern called Bob's Place. The woman behind the bar is definitely not Bob. Tall, dark, and desert beautiful, Cleo Lane inherited the place from her deceased father. She loves One Horse, but she's up to her ears in problems. The bar barely makes ends meet, and on top of it, she has a sister, Cali, out on the coast that seems to have dropped off the face of the earth. Early's got the time - a road trip would do him good. And, besides, the lady is definitely not a Bob. A long drive with a lady like Cleo? Just what the doctor ordered"-- Provided by publisher