Book excerpt: Aaron Flaherty is forced to confront his addictive personality when it nearly brings him to an untimely end. Needing real change, he decides to relocate from his native Buffalo, NY to Los Angeles, CA, tracing Historic Route 66 along the way. Before leaving, Aaron receives an encrypted, anonymous email from one of his past lovers, persuading him to follow her clues among the fascinating attractions lining Americas Main Street. Aaron deciphers the several clues along the way and finally meets the mystery woman, Maria, amidst the Santa Monica Pier. They fall ecstatically in love while traveling the coast together, and shortly afterward they engage to be married. All seems well once they settle into their new lives. However, the hidden reality behind Maria slowly manifests, and it is beyond anything Aaron could have ever imagined. The ultimate mystery for Aaron to grasp, therefore, is how the love of his life can be involved in a desperate, radical event. Like so many business partnerships along the Mother Road, their relationship is forced to reconcile the warm, charming past with the cold, hard present. Can he understand and still love her? One thing is for sure--through their suffering Aaron is transformed, allowing him to move beyond his former addictions and lead a truly fulfilling life--a life inspired by the forsaken sense of community found among the struggling small towns of the Mother Road.