FROM THE BOOK JACKET:
Diagnosed with terminal cancer, retired marine biologist Delphine is on the brink of throwing in the towel. She has outlived her PI husband and worries she's become a burden to her son and his growing family. One night, while contemplating how to go on, Delphine witnesses a violent argument between a man and his girlfriend. When Delphine discovers the woman has gone missing along with her young child, Delphine embarks on a quest to find them.
What begins as a chance encounter balloons into a rescue mission across the Pacific Northwest. Along the way, Delphine encounters the dregs of humanity—grappling with schemers, kidnappers, and murderers—as well as its joys. With the help of a few friends, a retired PI, and a queer biker gang, Delphine is determined to see her mission through... knowing full well it may be her last.
While Big Breath In stands alone, longtime Straley fans will recognize the characteristic wit, heart, and contemplation of life that threads through every one of his books—and discover a new heroine to fall in love with.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
John Straley never saw himself living in Alaska. Now he can't see himself living anywhere else. He knows the weather and wild of the place - what the wind will bring, the give of muskeg underfoot. He has met the characters that fill his books. He owns a lot of raincoats.
The youngest of five children, John Straley was born in 1953. He received a BA in English and a certificate of completion in horse shoeing. He has brown eyes and likes jokes and a wide variety of literature and music. He is the Shamus Award-winning author of The Curious Eat Themselves and The Woman Who Married a Bear and was appointed the Writer Laureate of Alaska in 2006. John Straley lives with his wife, Jan, a prominent whale biologist, in a bright green house on the beach in Sitka, Alaska, where he works as a criminal defense investigator by day and sleeps, writes, and plays with his band, The Big Fat Babies, whenever he can.