Title: Resolution: Huck Finn's Greatest Adventure
Author: Andrew Joyce
Genre: Adult
Publication date: April 7th 2016
Pages: 370 (paperback)
Buy links: Amazon | Smashwords | B&N | iTunes | Kobo
It
is 1896 in the Yukon Territory, Canada. The largest gold strike in the annals
of human history has just been made; however, word of the discovery will not
reach the outside world for another year.
By
happenstance, a fifty-nine-year-old Huck Finn and his lady friend, Molly Lee,
are on hand, but they are not interested in gold. They have come to that neck
of the woods seeking adventure.
Someone
should have warned them, “Be careful what you wish for.”
When
disaster strikes, they volunteer to save the day by making an arduous six
hundred mile journey by dog sled in the depths of a Yukon winter. They race
against time, nature, and man. With the temperature hovering around seventy
degrees below zero, they must fight every day if they are to live to see the
next.
On
the frozen trail, they are put upon by murderers, hungry wolves, and hostile
Indians, but those adversaries have nothing over the weather. At seventy below,
your spit freezes a foot from your face. Your cheeks burn—your skin turns
purple and black as it dies from the cold. You are in constant danger of losing
fingers and toes to frostbite.
It
is into this world that Huck and Molly race.
They
cannot stop. They cannot turn back. They can only go on. Lives hang in the
balance—including theirs.
Guestpost
My name is Andrew Joyce and I write books
for a living. Elien has been kind enough to allow me a little space on her blog
to promote my new novel RESOLUTION: Huck Finn’s Greatest Adventure.
I think it’s a good book, but what do I know? Anyway, I’m kinda shy about
tooting my own horn. So I think I’ll turn things over to my dog, Danny. Usually
when he writes about me, it’s to tell the world what an idiot I am (his take on
me, not mine). But today he’s feeling a little sentimental. So without further
ado, here’s, Danny the Dog.
Andrew
interrupted my very busy life to help him out here. For a person that works
with words for a living, he has very little to say in real life. He wants me to
tout his book for him, but I don’t think I will. Instead, I think I’ll tell you
about how we met.
I found him thirteen years ago down in
Miami. Nowadays we live on a boat in Fort Lauderdale, but I’m originally from
Miami. Andrew, as far as I know, has always lived in Fort Lauderdale.
I was six months old and I wanted to go
out and see the world. I wasn’t getting any younger and the lure of the road
was calling to me. So, one day when no one was looking, I just took off. At
first, I had a grand time. I’d sniff my way up one street and then down the
next. I met up with a few other dogs, chased a few cars, and thought to myself,
This is the life. But after a day or so,
I started to get hungry and, unlike the home I had left, the humans I ran into
had no desire to feed me. I did get into a few garbage cans, but the pickings
were kinda slim.
On my third day of freedom, I’m running
down the street and a white pickup truck stops and this guy gets out and talks
to me. I forget exactly what he said, but it was something along the line of
buying me a hamburger. Naturally, I jumped into the truck and off we went.
Right about now, you are all thinking that the human was Andrew. Well you are
all wrong. The guy’s name was Don.
He took me to a McDonalds and bought me
two hamburgers. Then we went to his house and I stayed with him. I had tired of
being on the road. It was nice to be fed every day, and to be loved wasn’t bad
either. The only down side was that Don kept calling me George.
Now this is where Andrew comes into the
picture. About three times a week, Andrew would drive down to Miami to do some
business. Don was a friend of his, and they’d get together for lunch whenever
they could. A week after I found Don, he took me to breakfast where we met up
with Andrew. Andrew and I were introduced and the three of us had drive-thru
McMuffins. Whatever they are, but they were good.
While we were eating, Don said, “I can’t
take care of George anymore. I’m going to take him to the Humane Society this
morning.” He was? That came as news
to me! I thought he liked me. But as you will shortly see, there were bigger
things happening here—cosmic things.
Andrew spoke up. “Look, I live almost
across the street from the Fort Lauderdale Humane Society. I’ll take the dog in
for you and save you a trip.” So I was put in Andrew’s car and away we went.
It’s about a twenty-minute ride from
where we left Don to the Humane Society.
As we exited the highway, Andrew turned
to me and said, “It looks like I’m stuck with you. I just can’t drop you off to
be put in a cage.” I figured that’s what he would do because I gave him a few
licks during the ride up, and I tried to look both pitiful and cute at the same
time. That ain’t easy, you try it sometime.
When we got to the boat, Andrew told me
that he once had a dog named George, so I would need a new name. Hey, I don’t care what you call me; just
don’t call me late for dinner! At first, he said he was going to name me
Don, but then he changed it to Danny. My full name is Daniel J. Daniels.
Now here is where things get a little
weird. A week later, Don was dead. I don’t know if he knew he was going to die,
or if some cosmic force had him turn me over to Andrew because he was destined
to die. Whatever it was, here I am living on a boat with my human. He’s not
really a bad sort, although it was a chore to get him trained just right. But
it’s been worth it. Every morning after I take him for a walk, he gives me a
treat. What dog could ask for anything more?
That’s
about it for now. If I hurry, I might be able to get home in time to catch
Sesame Street—my favorite.
Oh
yeah, I almost forgot—go out and buy Andrew’s new book and
make the old guy happy.
This is Andrew again. On behalf of Danny
and myself, I would like to thank Elien for having us over. It’s been a real
pleasure.
Author bio
Andrew Joyce left
high school at seventeen to hitchhike throughout the US, Canada, and Mexico. He
wouldn’t return from his journey until decades later when he decided to become
a writer. Joyce has written four books, including a two-volume collection of one
hundred and forty short stories comprised of his hitching adventures called
BEDTIME STORIES FOR GROWN-UPS (as yet unpublished), and his latest novel,
RESOLUTION. He now lives aboard a boat in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with his
dog, Danny, where he is busy working on his next book, YELLOW HAIR.
Elien
