┬аconcludes the┬аFor America┬аsaga with Otis finding in an┬аisland prison a measure of peace, which then is disturbed by baseball and the rape of a woman he loves. He┬аescapes from prison and flees Mexico to settle with the rapist and with the resurrected Enemy, and with the deranged and relentless Cynthia Jones. And after Otis once again falls in love and renews his pursuit of a baseball career, a team of screwball Charles Manson worshippers come seeking revenge against his dear friend Nancy, once a Manson family girl.
Some of KenтАЩs favorites are early mornings, the desert in spring,┬аkind and honest people, baseball and other sports played by those who donтАЩt take themselves too seriously, most kids, and films┬аhe and his┬аZoe┬аcan enjoy together.
He has long┬аbeen the author of novels, stories, articles, poems, and essays. Lots of honors have come his way, including a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship;┬аPoets, Essayists and┬аNovelistтАЩs┬аErnest Hemingway Award; Private Eye Writers of America┬аBest First Novel and┬аShamus Best Novel; and several San Diego and Los Angeles Book Awards.
Here are some of the kind words written about KenтАЩs work:
тАЬтАж brings a great new character тАФ and a fresh voice тАФ into the mystery field.тАЭ Novelist Tony Hillerman
тАЬKuhlken is an original, and in these days of cookie-cutter fiction, originality is something to be prized.тАЭ San Diego Union Tribune
тАЬтАж brings the social and cultural scene of the period vividly to life. тАЭ PublisherтАЩs Weekly
тАЬтАж a tale as sensitive and heartfelt as it is action-packed.тАЭ Kirkus Reviews
тАЬтАж takes readers into dark experiences and deep understandings that canтАЩt help but leave them changed.тАЭ Novelist Michael Collins
тАЬKuhlken weaves a complex plot around a complex man, a weary hero who tries to maintain standards as all around him fall to temptation. тАЭ PublisherтАЩs Weekly
тАЬтАж a stunning combination of bad guys and angels, of fast-moving action and poignant, heartbreaking encounters.тАЭ Novelist Wendy Hornsby
тАЬтАж captures the history and atmosphere of the 1970s as well as the complex dynamics of a fascinating family.тАЭ Booklist
тАЬтАж a tale as sensitive and heartfelt as it is action-packed тАж Crime, punishment and redemption.тАЭ Kirkus Reviews
тАЬтАж fast-moving adventure, effectively combines mainstream historical fiction with the conventions of the hard-boiled detective novel.тАЭ Booklist
тАЬA wonderful, literate, and very ambitious novel that does everything a good story should do. It surprises, delights, it jolts and makes you think .тАЭ Novelist T. Jefferson Parker