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Freeze Dry,
Hard cover, Forge Books.
Shickie Doone
is one of the best con men on the planet. When his latest scam as the
leader of the Children of Light, a religious cult he has founded in the
tourist Mecca of Gatlinburg, Tennessee, doesn't pay off as expected, Doone
borrows a bundle of cash from entrepreneur and local mobster Thadeus Trout.
Shickie takes off with the money to Las Vegas, angering not only Trout,
but Shickie's conniving wife, Rita Rae Deaver (returning from Too
High.)
Trout sends his bumbling son and his buddies with orders to bring
in Shickie Doone. One of the hunchmen stashes their man in a freeze drier
instead of a meat locker by mistake, turning him into a mummy. Eager to
dispose of his mistake before his easily angered boss finds out, the thug
drops Doone into a sinkhole where no one will find him . . . only someone
does.
Once word spreads of the discovery, a number of people step up
to claim the mummy, including Jimmy Feather, certain the mummy is his
ancient ancestor; the Children of Light, convinced the remains are the
second coming of their leader after his mysterious rapture into heaven;
a senior citizen hit man known as The Hammer; an anthropologist seeking
to revive a flagging career in a local buttonhook museum; wife Rita Rae,
seeking Shickie's life insurance; and Thadeus Trout, who realizes the
mummy could be a star attraction in his Bible Alive Museum, Gatlinburg's
leading tourist draw.
A cascade of confounding events allows the one-time shyster to
elude his pursuers again and again . . and perhaps pull the last con of
all.
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