The Crippy

by Michael Just

In the methlands of the American Southwest resides Mitch Cantsee, a half-Native, half-Anglo man at home in neither the white or the Native world. A drug dealer who's wasted his life using and dealing, Mitch signed away the rights to his children while he was in prison. He's looking for a way out, for a way to make amends.When a meth customer pawns her 8 year-old daughter off on him, Mitch sees a chance at redemption. What he doesn't know is that the girl, Sam, seems to have the uncanny ability speak any language after hearing just a few phrases. What Mitch doesn't know is that pursuers hunt the child for what she knows, and that he must defend her from otherworldly forces as well as worldly ones. He and Sam set out on a trek across an alien landscape akin to that of another planet as they seek the answer to the mystery of who pursues Sam, and why. They travel across Navajoland, through the Grand Canyon, down the superheated troughs of Death Valley, and climb over the lofty Sierras of California, seeking refuge in Yosemite and Crater Lake as they fight the forces seeking to kidnap Sam and destroy her.Mitch finds that he must confront the demons of his past in order to defeat the sometimes demonic forms which would see him dead. He encounters strange, extraterrestrial allies who turn just as quickly into enemies, as well as friends with treacherous hearts who betray him. All the while, those he encounters along the way remind him of people from his tortured past. Are they the keys to his future? This 367 page novel combines elements of mystery, suspense, science fiction, fantasy and adventure.

545 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 31, 2018

About the author

Michael Just writes book-length and short fiction in the genres of literary, mainstream/contemporary, mystery/suspense, thriller, science fiction, fantasy, and horror. He is a former attorney, actor, psychotherapist, and adjunct professor with an amateur background in science, mythology, and storytelling. Born and raised in Chicago, he now lives in the Four Corners region of the American Southwest. A hiker with an interest in geology, natural history and Native American culture, Mike combines all of his interests and expresses them in his writing.