Stray Son

Stray Son sets the supernatural solidly amidst the bizarrely mundane life of Patrick Jaworsky, Vietnam vet, married with two children, whose current job is picking up bodies for a mortuary.  And when a young but familiar looking Marine keeps crossing his path, nothing is normal again, and, we find, as in real life, it never really was.


Patrick and his family are swept back and forth in time in a gorgeous 1937 Packard on their way to two funerals, his grandmother's in 1942, and his father's in 2000. Haunted by an array of surprisingly tender and horrifying ghosts, Patrick meets not only the brutal family he's been estranged from for 30 years, but his past. And beyond. In a startling unraveling of memories and revelations, he comes to terms with his scarring past, and has a cascading domino effect on those around him.


This gutsy, lyrical, sad, hilarious journey into the past and present--and what often passes for love--is an emotional, metaphysical roller coaster. Through Patrick's eyes, we look long and hard, if tenderly, into our own hall of mirrors. And at the things we were taught never to talk about.


A wonderful story and an amazing first novel!


About the Author


Richard Slota was born in Southern California, USA, in 1947. He endured a Marine Master Sergeant father and a rigorous Catholic school education, even briefly studying for the priesthood before dropping out and enlisting in the US Army in the spring of 1966. Bad timing. He writes plays, novels, nonfiction and poetry. He and co-author Yaw Boateng, just published, on Amazon, a piece of investigative journalism: CAPTIVE MARKET: Commercial Kidnapping Stories from Nigeria. He also just published 3 plays on Amazon: BABATUNDE IN HELL, FAMOUS MICHAEL and WE ALL WALK IN SHOES TO SMALL. He earned an MA in Creative Writing. He has 3 grown children.