Charles Hurst

The Monterians Charles Hurst

Jack Strickland, a poor enlisted sailor, was once snubbed by the natives of Monterey. Sixteen years later, he returns to his youthful stomping grounds rich and successful, searching for an acceptance, which eluded him in his past. He happens upon Tony and Drew Bledsloe, a self-absorbed, elitist couple, who unlike Jack, are a product of inherited wealth. The duo befriends Jack as his life slowly deteriorates into a series of drinking binges and destructiveness. Underneath the pleasantries, which accompany the world of the Bledsloes, Jack becomes lost in the darker side of high society as he is torn between his former self and his new peers, who encompass the native elite of Monterey, including a woman determined to domesticate Jack into their castles. The Monterians is a tale about power and prestige from those who were born with silver daggers hanging above their cribs. Revealed through the eyes of Jack Strickland as he struggles to not only identify himself in his new surroundings, but the nature of those whose fateful lives cannot be salvaged by fortune or riches.