Two strangers, a man and a woman, become acquainted over drinks in a bar. A tenuous connection is made that ends in a tryst with tragic consequences. So begins SIGNS OF LIFE, a tale of the cost of one's past and the price one is willing to pay for the future. Harlan Quist, the cashiered ATF Agent from the novel JACK OF ALL TRADES, becomes enmeshed in a search for a child who was abducted fifteen years ago. What follows is the story of a mother's willingness to sacrifice everything to recover her bond with a daughter whom she no longer knows. Quist accompanies her on a perilous odyssey and a descent into the world of human trafficking and drug cartel violence; a journey that leads from Fiesta in Santa Fe and the symbolic burning of Old Man Gloom to the underbelly of the tourist mecca of San Miguel de Allende, and finally to Oaxaca during the celebration of the Day of the Dead.
About the Author: As a child, Dennis Jung's imagination outgrew his small town roots in the German speaking part of the Texas Hill Country thanks in part to a bibliophile mother and what his mother recognized as Unruhe, the German word for restlessness. An undergraduate degree in anthropology and a stint as a military police officer in Germany only deepened his love of travel and a desire for a life outside of the norm. A subsequent career as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner allowed him the flexibility to travel to many parts of the world. After a volunteer assignment in the Marshall Islands and long road trip in Asia and the Pacific, he and his wife eventually settled in Hawaii, a place he still regards as his spiritual home. It was there he began writing in earnest, an endeavor that allowed him to live vicariously and feed a desire to embellish. His stories' use of visual imagery and his strong sense of place transport the reader to not only a geographical location but the mental landscape of his characters as well. Tapping into his interest and background in anthropology, he weaves into his stories a sense both of the mystical and the universal human experience - the drama and conflicts that consume us all, regardless of cultural identity. His locales encompass Balinese rice paddies to the refugee camps of the Sudan, the Guatemalan highlands to a decrepit hotel in the Congo, the Green Zone of Baghdad to the streets of Oaxaca during Day of the Dead, the war torn frontier between Syria and Lebanon, and a night ride in an ambulance in Ebola-stricken Sierra Leone to the alleyways of Honolulu's Chinatown. He recently retired from a long career in pediatrics, a profession that exposed him to the rich complexity of the human experience and the sense of compassion required to write characters that are both real and wonderfully flawed. He currently resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico with his wife, and has no intention to end the journey. His future plans include writing, working in the Syrian refugee camps, learning Spanish, and spending an unhealthy amount of time talking to his cats. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx