“Stinger is taut and colorful, a tale well-told (about) every corner of the Valley and every secret hidden there. The landscape and the characters who inhabit it come alive in these pages.”
– Steve Yarborough, American Novelist
Stinger takes readers on a caper full of entertaining twists and turns, failed intentions and human foibles. Navigating a rich landscape of crops and characters, Nichols and McEwen offer a tantalizing tale that reminds us of the possibilities of sweet revenge for the little guy who dares to dream.
Meet Tex Rainwater, a truck driver, who runs a bottled water hustle. With the help of college students and social media, he fools a public thirsty for any magic elixir to buy his Rain Water as fast as he can swap labels.
Meet Allie Boyd, a beekeeper with a promising career teaching at the university, searching for an answer to the dwindling bee population. Her head is full of dreams to create her own brand of honey, one that delivers more than a little sweetness.
Meet Roland and Lisa Gold, owners of the Gold-N Corporation, a giant ag company gobbling up small farms and ranches in California’s vast Central Valley. They are fabulously rich living a luxurious life in Bel-Air, away from the dirt and dust of their farms.
Allie, her sister, Heather, and Tex are lifelong friends bound by a love for one another, the land, and seething contempt for the Gold-N Corporation. When Allie is offered a high paying job at Gold-N, she remembers how King Mithridates defeated the Roman Army by placing chunks of mad honeycomb along the soldiers’ path, making them intoxicated and easy prey for slaughter. With the legend of Mithridates fueling her on, she accepts the job and enlists the help of Tex, Heather, and Doc, Heather’s boyfriend, to find a way to bring down the Gold-N empire.
Join this motley crew on their quest for revenge with a fast-paced, wild ride through the Central Valley, shattering dreams, tarnishing reputations, and finding fortune along the way.
Out September 18th with West of West publishing.