Crockettville

Minson (Sun City) delivers a heartfelt and hilarious story of greed, environmental protection, and small-town life in West Texas. Dave Crockett, acquisitions agent for Enroxx Energy, is no fan of the outdoors and the suffocating Texas heat, so he’s dismayed when he’s dispatched to the state by his eccentric boss, Dick Dunlap. Dick, a nudist who’s often naked at the Houston office, erroneously believes Dave is descended from the famous frontiersman of the same last name and insists on calling him Davy. Dave’s mission: purchase the sleepy desert town of Crockettville, Tex., which has the most consistent wind currents in America, and where Enroxx plans to install wind turbines. Dave eventually learns to appreciate the landscape’s charms—including a crystal-clear swimming hole and wondrous night sky free from light pollution—and bonds with café owner Bettie, maker of an addictive fried apricot pie, along with beautiful biodiversity researcher Angie and stoic Native American Geronimo, a direct descendant of the Apache warrior, who watches over the town with his donkey, BidenTrump. After an Enroxx engineer reveals the company’s true motives for the site, which would devastate the town, Crockett tries to intervene. Infused with deadpan humor and stocked with appealing characters, Minson’s witty tale builds to a stirring environmental rallying cry. This is sure to put a smile on readers’ faces. (Self-published)