The Kindness of Ravens

Daren was always ahead of the curve, a prodigal son without focus or direction. That's why the drifters and castaways of broken humanity were drawn to him. As his supercharged empathy begins to manifest, revealing brief glimpses into higher dimensions most humans are not equipped to endure, he falls in love with Lee, an enigmatic gypsy who might be an ancient Native American demigoddess. Ever challenging conventional taboos held by his conservative suburbia, Daren straddles the thin line between excess and addiction with his two closest friends, Alex, a prince of hedonism peering perpetual into the abyss, and Keith, a Zen surfcat aficionado of sweet riffs and a-frame waves. Daren soon discovers balancing different worlds, the ethereal and the material, is no simple task even for a supposed whiz kid. Set against the decadent backdrop of 1980's California, his journeys will take him through the idyllic ranch country of the gold coast, the sweat-soaked concert arenas of dystopian Los Angeles, and the underground sex clubs of San Francisco. Owing allegiance to Generation X predecessors like Bright Lights, Big City and Less Than Zero, as well as the stream of consciousness styles of Kerouac and Castaneda, 'The Kindness Of Ravens' is a postmodern tale of magical realism, wherein a young man's struggles with substance abuse and the perils of spiritual revelation may result in nightmare, death, or worst of all, madness itself.