Knee Deep in Gatun - by Stephen Maher (Hardcover)

About the Book

Jose, a struggling novelist in Dallas, gets a call from a mysterious man offering fame, wealth, and a guaranteed bestseller. Thinking it's just a story idea, he accepts--only to be drawn into a global web where the price of success is far darker than he imagined.

Book Synopsis

Jose, an ambitious but struggling writer, is driving home from his weekly workshop group in Dallas when his life is irrevocably altered by a phone call from an unknown number. The mysterious caller offers to help him with his work, promising success and fame. Jose is skeptical, but the deal he strikes with the mysterious man is far more complex and consequential than he could ever imagine.
Knee Deep in Gatun follows Jose's transformative journey as he is pulled out of his mundane life in Dallas and brought to Panama. This new life, which leads to the success and recognition he craves, requires him to navigate a shadowy, international landscape. He quickly realizes that achieving his dream will come at a profound human cost.
Jose makes connections with a cast of characters who mentor and shape him, and lead him to grapple with the immense, unpayable debt he owes them; a truth so deep that words fail to capture it. The book is a reflective thriller about the price of ambition and the profound nature of gratitude and loss.

About the Author

Stephen Maher is the CEO and owner of Cutting Edge Selections, a leading fine-wine importer and distributor based in Cincinnati, Ohio. A career sommelier and entrepreneur, he has spent decades cultivating relationships with boutique wineries across the world and shaping the Midwestern wine market. His deep appreciation for culture, risk, and redemption infuses his fiction with vivid realism and emotional depth. Knee Deep in Gatun is his debut novel.