Rasputin's Revenge: Crying Body Series, No. 3

In the year 2322 Nona Clark, University of Colorado department director, is unexpectedly offered the position as Secretary of the Interior.by President Dominic. Her grant reports held insights regarding the year 2222 -known as The Terrible Twos- with west-coast earthquakes, major volcanoes, and ensuing tsunamis destroying land west of the Rockies. After 100 years of isolation her directive was to reunify the land. The president first directed work on the Dakota Territory -lost statehood by abandoned population.Traveling to the territory with her husband David -the real expert of the western (Etiwandan) territory- she found the politically motivated project is run by nefarious people in the president’s inner circle.The mayor of the Dakota company town, Rasputin Ratsiloff, a sadist, questions Nona’s involvement. Reporting to the alien Elders -that run the impoverished plazas in the western territory- Rasputin has carte blanche to continue his cruelty. Rasputin’s deadly actions are ultimately driven by vengeful acts at David, set for a gruesome death because he destroyed Rasputin’s women’s sex trade in the southwest.Nona discovers Rasputin is point-person with the underbelly of Washington D.C. With so many distractions thrown at her are the Elders or the president Nona’s friends or foes? And the angel-like creatures known as Crying Bodies: Are they there to protect Nona and David?

From the Inside Flap

This novel is a follow up to the first book, Crying Body. After completing the first novel I couldn't stop thinking of Etiwanda. What would happen next? Beus' transformation moving to the east side of the Rockies was intense and at times difficult, but the resultant life was dynamically better and he loved living with his wife, Nona, who was stimulating and loving.So I considered, what would happen if someone from Etiwanda, the land mass west of the mountains to the Pacific Ocean. Beus, aka David, acclimated to his new life in Cripple Creek, Colorado, married to a professor at the University. His background and profile was easy to flesh out a little more since he was in a new environment and still not completely comfortable.Then I realized if the people running Etiwanda wouldn't want any more people fleeing to the east, they could send an old 'friend' to pursued him to return but it didn't work out. So the mystery begins: how to get Beus to come back to Etiwanda where he would be tempted to continue on his 'new' life or be arrested for flagrantly disobeying the Etiwanda laws concerning travel.Another theme to develop was: Would he have access to a crying body, or specifically with Goggle Eyes, his crying body? Would their unusual relationship change? And, in particular, would Rasputin, the manager of the Plaza David came from, find David's presence disrupting? With these questions to answer I was off on my next novel in the series.

From the Back Cover

Three years after escaping Etiwanda, on the west side of the Rockies, Dave Clark was accosted by a visitor from his hometown Plaza, an old mate named Beut. "Rasputin wants you to return. Come home. Now." The jarring threat brought back nightmarish memories from Dave's Etiwandan life. Existentially he grasped Beut was there to harm his family in Cripple Creek, Colorado if he did not return. At that moment the President of the University, with a sizable grant, expecting Nona, Dave's wife, to work on an Etiwandian study. "Otherwise your staff may be trimmed." Why did the president demand a study on the toxic environment and infrastructure? Are the two connected? The old friend's calling and the president's threat weighed heavy on Dave spurring him on to the dangerous journey. As expected Dave encountered the menacing Rasputin managing ZooCoo's sinister governance over Etiwanda.Help from his ex-wife, Causs the prophetess, convinced him to take a safer path home, traveling south where Dave found another outpost, Tierra Sagrada, that successfully fought off ZooCoo. Reunited with his crying body Goggle Eyes and her new mission giving sanctuary to the women that were being trafficked by Rasputin's thugs, brought another layer of complexity to understanding the origins of ZooCoo and Crying Bodies. What new truths does Dave uncover in Tierra Sagrada? More importantly, can he and Nona survive these calculated misadventures?

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