Big Maria

2013 Anthony Award WinnerImagine Chuck Palahniuk and Don Winslows love childand that would be ribald author Johnny Shaw. His novel Big Maria is an unfiltered, wild romp in which three men get one chance to find a lost gold mine; the only problem is the Big Maria Mine is right in the middle of a US Army artillery range.Theres gold in them thar hillsor more precisely, in Arizonas Chocolate Mountains, where one hundred years ago a miner stashed a kings ransom of the stuff. But times have changed. The world has changed. And now the Chocolate Mountains are the home of the largest military artillery range in the world.Harrys living on disability and getting liquored up and beaten down. Franks a feisty old-timer battling cancer and a domineering daughter. And Rickys a good kid in a bad spot, doing everything for family. Together theyre staking what little they have left on a dangerous quest to the Big Maria Mineand the gold that can offer them a new beginning.Unfortunately a meth-dealing biker wants a piece, a trigger-happy AWOL soldier wants to play chicken in a live minefield, two stubborn burros want to go home, a starving mountain lion wants his dinner, and the US Army wants to rain on our heroes parade with real bombs.When youre all out of crazy ideas, youve got to try the stupid ones.