A Friend of King Neptune

1991 ST LOUIS - Leo Kraszewski aka Dingus has come to visit his old army pal, Francis Lenihan, now a busy process server. It's been 18 years but Dingus is still the same-impulsive, foolish, quick with a wisecrack, uncouth yet worldly. Dingus leans on Francis to accompany him to Southern Illinois, the town of Bunting, where spoils from World War II may lie hidden in a peculiar private museum. Francis declines and soon, after causing trouble in Francis' intemperate world, Dingus finds...
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1991 ST LOUIS - Leo Kraszewski aka Dingus has come to visit his old army pal, Francis Lenihan, now a busy process server. It's been 18 years but Dingus is still the same-impulsive, foolish, quick with a wisecrack, uncouth yet worldly. Dingus leans on Francis to accompany him to Southern Illinois, the town of Bunting, where spoils from World War II may lie hidden in a peculiar private museum. Francis declines and soon, after causing trouble in Francis' intemperate world, Dingus finds himself hitchhiking in the Illinois cornfields. It's a journey of wonder as he encounters tornadoes, a suicidal Indian, a malevolent sheriff's deputy, a crew of offbeat characters who call an unusual restaurant their clubhouse, and the memory of a once-famous pig.The story has legs as Dingus aka Hercules is given a labor by Anselm, the museum's curator and a stand-in for King Eurystheus of yore, to retrieve a stolen historical artifact. Dingus does Anselm's bidding at a dear price, but of course it's never enough. Meanwhile Dingus' court date for cannabis distribution looms. Will Francis find a lawyer for his penniless friend? Will Dingus uncover the treasure? And, more importantly, will he shed the itchy curse put on him by an unseen force? Throw in a junior detective - the next Nancy Drew, a shaman fired from his teaching position at the community college, a formidable hermit whose solitude is rudely interrupted, a contemptuous rapper and his entourage, a cast of regulars at Murphy's Tavern in Dogtown, and you have an enthralling narrative, a comedic chronicle that will have you turning page after page.