User:Erikjmartin/sandbox

Synopsis
Lieutenant Baron Dunning is an American investigator and a former US Marshal. He is stripped of his clothes and found naked, standing on the side of the road at a temporary roadblock of burning barrels of oil in Northern Nigeria. As he follows the fraudulent international money trail to Wisconsin, many surprises await the Lieutenant. He unexpectedly discovers an unending series of events linked to various individuals competing to own Woebegone Dunes Resort and the Hermitage at Gravestone Castle. The story unfolds as an irredeemable series of seemingly disconnected events of murder and mayhem. Everything is sadly askew, off-kilter, and caddywampus. Bo-Bo Bigelow is the antagonist, a true supervillain, mastermind, and exporter of stolen natural resources. Father Feely, the founder of the Hermitage at Gravestone Castle, is Bo-Bo’s enabler and financial advisor. Jack Daniels is the luxurious Woebegone Dunes Resort owner in Northeast Wisconsin, headquarters to the Royal Enouement Society. A secret organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, and membership are unknown. The cast of supporting characters is humorous, sexy, corrupt, and dangerous. Readers will be eager to know if Lieutenant Dunning finds the answers he seeks—to the case or life’s deep philosophical questions—amidst the chaos.

Author Comments
"Nothing contributes more to the reader's amusement than the tempo of significant life events and the vicissitudes of fortune, evolving circumstances that create the emotional ups and downs we face daily." Erik Martin

“Destiny is not preordained; it’s about making choices. Our lives are the sum of our choices, the bridges we cross, and the ones we burn.” Judy Martin

Endorsements
"Caddywampus is a high-stakes human drama. Competition for ownership of Woebegone Dunes Resort and Gravestone Castle results in a series of freakish deaths. Lieutenant Baron Dunning's sleuthing brings him into contact with many odd characters that are deep, rich, sexy, and amusing. It is a wildly entertaining and thought-provoking story of mystery and mayhem that is highly captivating. The plot has many twists and turns, making putting the book down difficult. Readers will love this highly entertaining story." —Robson Editorial, Quail Creek Crossing News.

“Authors Erik and Judy Martin had much fun with this one. I kept thinking of ‘Bourne movies' throughout, with the caveat that maybe being at the center of international espionage isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. There’s plenty of intrigues, mystery, blood, and a few unmentionable moments. It's like James Bond meets Matt Helm meets Jack Reacher, with the occasional eye roll. The writing is breezy. The story is easy to follow with a hottie reporter named Crystal Glass, a bad Catholic Priest named Father Feely, and the ‘Curl up and Dye’ beauty salon.” —Dan Shearer, Green Valley News & Sun.

“Lieutenant Baron Dunning's globe-trotting investigation takes him to Wisconsin’s five-star Woebegone Dunes Resort. He matches his wits with a nefarious secret society as he uncovers the dark truths surrounding an abandoned research site where dead bodies have been piling up. Everything is in disarray and out of balance. The authors do it all with good humor, winking at the genre of spy thrillers. The cast of curiously named characters, including scientist Adam Baum and the rogue priest Father Feely—call to mind Ian Flemings’s memorable flair for monikers. As do the frequent references to feminine pulchritude and the head-spinning plot twists.” —Helen Woodhams, Arizona Daily Star

Definitions
Caddy: In golf, a caddy is a person who carries a player’s bag and clubs and gives the player advice and moral support.

Wampus: A strange, objectionable, monstrous person with an attitude and a lifestyle exhibiting extreme self-fulfillment despite adversity. An uncouth and aggressive lout that acts entirely out of self-interest in the pursuit of extraordinarily murderous or perverse affairs spoken of in hushed tones to the severe detriment or inconvenience of others.

Caddywampus: In disarray and disorder, out of kilter, lopsided, crooked, confused, diagonally off-center, and not lined up correctly, like a crooked bicycle wheel. With too many loose ends, everything has gone awkwardly and in the wrong direction. Nothing is normal. Everything is screwed up, cockeyed and unlevel, fishy and suspicious, out of alignment, and skewed off-center. Everything that has happened is whacky, off-kilter, and out of balance.

Publisher
Caddywampus: Murder at Woebegone Dunes Resort Copyright © 2022 Erik and Judy Martin. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or retransmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the publisher. Published by Wheatmark® 2030 East Speedway Boulevard, Suite 106 Tucson, Arizona 85719 USA www.wheatmark.com ISBN: 978-1-62787-945-3 (Paperback) ISBN: 978-1-62787-946-0 (hardcover) ISBN: 978-1-62787-947-7 (ebook) LCCN: 2022900470