(Complete. Currently seeking representation!)

This road trip novel of 77,000 words follows grieving chef Nick as he copes with the breakup of his marriage at age 25. Having found little solace in the mechanisms of church, therapy, and working life he turns to his motorcycle and begins a desperate quest for healing. Set in the summer of 2000, the story follows his travels from Minneapolis out across the American West. 

A picaresque cast of cops, grifters, psychics and loners spring up along the way but Nick’s focus returns always to the nameless companion he writes postcards to. He travels further into the wilderness than he is prepared to go, exploring the roots of his grief which tangle deeper than a broken marriage. While fasting in a lonely canyon in Colorado, he takes a walk in the moonlight and comes face to face with the Virgin Mary. He chooses to accept the radical shift in perspective the vision presents. While he is putting himself back together, a pack of coyotes destroys his camp, ruins his gear, and leaves him one can of beans from starvation.

Enter Scorpio, a drifter living a life of yoga, petty theft, library books and blackjack. Scorpio steals the beans but helps Nick make sense of his situation and recover from his fast. The two men bond and embark together exploring the wilds. Scorpio’s immersion in Spirit gives him insights which he follows without question, showing Nick an intuitive path to living which just might lead him to the healing he needs. Eager to embrace this chance, Nick accepts a challenge to race Scorpio across the wilderness to a mystery destination called the Gate. The contest of will and intuition tests Nick to the limit, but reveals to him the spiritual landscape of his own heart.

After the race, new roads open to Nick: reconciling with his nameless companion, romancing an impulsive Supermoto racer, apprenticing to a great chef. But after his trip to the end of the world, where will he ever belong?