The old detective had a point, thinks Eliot. I made a great mistake taking on a journey such as this. But just as nature’s mutations spawn new branches of life better able to adapt to changes in a dynamic world, so too may new life spring from this flawed union and find a foothold in the sands of Avernus. What new myths will we create to replace the ones that no longer apply?
“Eliot, I need you,” she calls sharply from the cabin.
“All right,” he tells her, looking back now that they’re almost out of the harbor. “I’m coming.”
Acknowledgments
A couple of years ago, I was incapacitated by a painful injury in my lower back. Thankfully, my mother was kind enough to fly out to Los Angeles and look after me for the months it would take to recover. While bedridden, when I was unable even to pick up my head and see the screen on my laptop as it rested on my stomach, I somehow, through a fog of painkillers, typed out the first few drafts of this story. Without my mother’s help, I never would have been able to manage the ordeal of my injury let alone write a novel during that time.
Others were also extremely helpful in getting me back on my feet, especially Andrew McGlothin, Megan McGrath, Blake Lindsley, Christine Stauber, Dr. David Schechter, Arnold Bloch, Jake Goldberger, Jordan Ramer, Sandra Hoffman, Sagiv Rosano, Vanessa Coifman, the Schnur family, and my brother Jonathan. My ex-girlfriend Christina Blazek visited with her daughter Mekenna and their dog to cheer me up. My manager, John Tomko, read the initial drafts and showed confidence in the material. My agent, Ethan Ellenberg, gave invaluable advice as to how to bring the story home.
I’d also like to thank my editor Brendan Deneen for granting me this opportunity. Thanks to my copy editor Jane Liddle, Nicole Sohl at Thomas Dunne Books, Shari Smiley at Resolution, my attorney Kim Jaime, and my secret weapons, Andy Nordvall and Marat Bokov. I thank my family and all my friends and hope this humble achievement is worthy of their love and support.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Part One
One: Heartbeats and Spinners
Two: A Salesman
Three: The Younger Brother
Four: Camilla’s Brothel
Five: The Situation on Beverly
Six: Enter the Detective
Seven: Drip Kills
Part Two
Eight: Made in Heron
Nine: Orpheus and Eurydice
Ten: A Date
Eleven: Pound’s Antiques
Twelve: The Gun Club
Thirteen: Pound’s Antiques II
Fourteen: Underground
Part Three
Fifteen: The Hunt
Sixteen: Rampart Division
Seventeen: The Standard
Eighteen: Yoshiko
Nineteen: An Unexpected Guest
Twenty: The Catch Basin
Twenty-One: Titty Fat
Twenty-Two: The Chumash Resort and Casino
Twenty-Three: Martha
Twenty-Four: The Boat
Twenty-Five: Pound’s House
Twenty-Six: A Drip Deal
Twenty-Seven: Office Politics
Twenty-Eight: A Spectacle
Twenty-Nine: Lorca
Thirty: Manhunt
Thirty-One: Blumenthal
Thirty-Two: A Confession
Thirty-Three: The Girl
Thirty-Four: Apocalypse
Thirty-Five: The Canal
Epilogue: Avernus
Acknowledgments
Love in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction: A Novel Page 30
