LocalLit book preview: ‘Purple Skies over Sage Canyon’

A few weeks ago Ken McGee of Plainfield sent me an email asking me to “let him know what I think” if I ever read his latest book.

The book, McGee’s 33rd, is called “Purple Skies over Sage Canyon.” I had chuckled my way through McGee’s “The Amazing Adventures of Rex Ford & Clay Horn”, so I was ready for another lighthearted read.

Besides, after I saw the line about the main character’s dog that says, “his tail thumped against the passenger seat at a heavy metal tempo” I knew “Purple Skies” would be a fun experience.

I’ll review “Purple Skies” in Tuesday’s LocalLit newsletter.

Here is its Amazon description:

“I had arrived in this part of the Utah desert by following national forest and BLM dirt roads from Coshoctin Grove. That was five days ago.

“I was now fifty-five miles away, as the desert hawk flies. And no one knew I was here.

“I shielded my eyes from the sun and gazed at the vertical wall to my left. I saw the remains of a cliff dwelling. When I saw something reach out, I staggered back, tripped over a rock and landed ... on top of a cactus. I yelled involuntarily. I continued to stare and realized the thing I saw was an arm and a hand holding something.

“The hand’s owner dropped the white object. I watched it smack into the detritus fifty feet away, bounce into the sky, roll down the slope, and end up in four pieces fifteen feet away. I shuddered when I realized I was looking at pieces of a human skull.

“So begins Rhett Carter and Bandit’s adventure overlanding through the American West in his Wrangler Rubicon.”

Subscribe to the free newsletter at shawlocal.com/the-herald-news/newsletter/#//.

Buy “Purple Skies over Sage Canyon” on Amazon.

Know more about LocalLit

Each week LocalLit will deliver an original short and family-friendly story (or a book review) by a local author to the newsletter’s subscribers.

Local writers: Do you have a book you’d like me to review? A short story you’d like to share with LocalLit subscribers?

Please contact me at 815-280-4122 or dunland@shawmedia.com.

Authors with a connection to our readership area may submit. Submission does not guarantee acceptance.