Sean Beaudoin has used his B.A. in film/photography as a springboard into the following jobs: construction laborer, circus roustabout, busboy, used book buyer, hotel desk clerk, outdoor education counselor, statue repairman (really), seller of jazz vinyl, and a nine-day stint as The World’s Worst Telemarketer.

Sean Beaudoin likes to list his publishing history in the third person, as if someone else—a pimply young assistant, for instance—were writing it for him. He loves blueberries, garlic, hot sauce, bagels, almonds, and Turkish coffee. He hates the phrase "It is what it is." When people say "It is what it is," he snaps back, in a much deeper voice than necessary, "NO, IT ISN’T!" When they look at him quizzically and say "Excuse me?", Sean yells "DON’T EVEN GO THERE, GIRLFRIEND!" He also likes old vinyl and French movies and books about unhappy people from the Fifties. He’s not particularly crazy about police procedurals, hospital dramas, ketchup, rap-metal, pass interference penalties, cell phones, or Escalades.

While Dalton appears to be confident and in control, his personal life is in shambles. His father is unemployed and his oldest brother is fighting overseas. Meanwhile, his attraction to Macy is clouding his judgment and hurting his case. Dalton’s only help is Lexington Cole, a literary detective whose impossibly close-call exploits offer Dalton lots of inspiration, but little actual help.