Christian Soldier

Book excerpt: What do you do after your vacation in Mallorca ends abruptly when you mow down a couple of Japanese tourists with your rented Renault? You flee to another country, of course! That's what happens to Marcello Carosio, a high-spirited, twenty-something native of Milan, Italy, and that's what he decides to do in a moment of panic to avoid prosecution for the hit-and-run accident. The hasty plan: Hop aboard the first flight to Venezuela and lay low on Margarita Island while his best friend, Filippo, presses his lawyer father to eliminate the problem. Thus begins Marcello's extended adventure as a stranger in a strange land a self-imposed exile punctuated with the pain of lost love and longing, loneliness and fear, and discovery and desire. Awards: - 1st Place: ReaderViews Literary Awards 2008, Multicultural.