Get yourself a copy of The Price of Return

When Pep Gun receives a visit from a lookalike robot who quickly copies his mannerisms and claims to be instructed to take his place as the lodger of his flat, Pep understands the best he can do under the circumstances is run away as fast and far as he can. With the help of a colleague from work he manages to escape to the countryside, away from the city and the internet of things which is able to track his every move. Pep becomes the unlikely hero of his own story, an anxious adventure which lands him under a tree with a bag of food and utensils. With the promise of regular refill Pep begins laying out a place for himself, a total nobody but free from the super brain that’s following most of us and deciding for us what our lives should be like. Pep knows, as soon as he becomes somebody, showing even the slightest trace of a somebody, police will quickly be all over him and anything could happen after what has already happened. Or so thought Pep. Police were not impressed and charged him with trace and retrieve costs, but that happens only later on. First, Pep has to learn to love his dirt floor den under cover of plant life and to do so he will have to control his fear of nature. Luckily, there seems to be very little wildlife around, insects also notably failing, giving the city dweller he is much needed respite.

Pep is a healer of sorts in his spare time. He sucks off negative energy from depressed and otherwise unhappy people, to give them a short look into a happier version of themselves, which they then must see to extend up till the next session. More than anything, Pep sees the robot’s appearance as interference with his well-established private practice. Some people perhaps didn’t like him keeping individuals away from pills. It’s easy to get paranoid when you are trying to be totally alone because it’s really the only safe thing you can do. Nobody to talk to and no alcohol either, unless you had brought a bottle, so you had better find something to keep the mind busy.

Pep needs focus to keep himself sane and he chooses to write the story of his escape, the one he is at that very moment experiencing, hoping success may render him immune from the law. Nobody wants to see a beloved author get into trouble, do they? Even so, there doesn’t seem to be any other way out of his predicament. So, Pep starts writing. He is turning his adventure into a story for popular consumption.

 

In spite of all the hardships, The Price Of Return is a funny story, full of crazy situations as they happen when you’re out of place in a place where there is no place to go. For instance, people do the weirdest things when they think nobody sees them and for some the great outdoors are the best place to freak out, so there are lots of cyclists and other intruders of his initial hideout habitat he was told would be remote. Pep witnesses plain repulsive stuff and everyday madness and even steaming sex - so as not to forget the good sex thriller fans - and he is close to interfering a couple of times, but it would be the immediate end of his escape. And he’s not ready for that, yet.

 

Want to read the full story? For only € 4.49 ($ 4.99) you can order The Price of Return as e-book from Kobo, Scribd, Barnes & Noble or Apple. Pdfs for phone reading or printables can be ordered straight from the author. Send an email to: coospalmboom@gmail.com, stating the preferred format, phone, A5 or B5.