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Paperback, $14.99; eBook, $4.99
ISBN: 978-0991329717
Thriller, 382 pages
New edition on June 1, 2014
Stony lives for fly fishing in the wilderness. It literally saved his life. After Stony massacred an entire
village in Vietnam, addiction and PTSD almost killed him. Alaska, fly fishing, and a woman and her
wolves brought him back from the brink. He made a vow to her on her deathbed to always help people,
and to never kill another man.
Now he has a new lover, and is finally clean. So when he takes a seemingly ideal client deep into the
wilderness of Rocky Mountain National Park, he never dreams that his most sacred vow will be tested
to the breaking point. He will have to save his client from a serial killer, a murderer so devious he has
managed to become a respected doctor—and his client’s partner.
It’s taken Stony thirty years to disentangle himself from psychological hell. Now, hampered by all the
dangers high altitude wilderness can throw at him, Stony must risk sinking into mental hell forever by
killing an evil doctor—or risk losing not only his client, but his new soul mate.
After a disturbing experience serving in the military in Vietnam,
Stony strives to overcome addiction and post-traumatic stress
disorder, or PTSD. Emotionally scarred and trying to move on,
Stony finds solace in fly fishing, Alaska’s vast wilderness and a
woman, who he promises on her deathbed that he’ll always help
people and never kill another man. But when Stony takes a new
fly fishing client, Jake, deep into Rocky Mountain National
Park, his vow is put to the test. A conniving doctor is out to get
Jake, and it’s up to Stony to do anything it takes to protect him.
A new edition of “The Guide” comes out June 1, 2014. Mays’
book won first place at the 2011 Pikes Peak Writers contest.
“The Guide” is a page-turner with thrills, chills and unexpected
twists and turns, but it also touches on some serious, real life
issues, including the postwar struggles of military veterans. As a
doctor and U.S. Navy veteran, the subject is close to Mays’
heart.
“PTSD is a much more of a major problem in veterans returning from war now than ever
before,” he says. “It can be overcome if you get the right help. Fly fishing can be a part of that
therapeutic plan because when you fly fish, you live in the moment: figuring how to wade the
river, the cast, the drift, the take, the fight, the release, the beauty.”
Mays spent most of his adult life in the military as a Navy doctor. He lives with his wife in Fort
Collins, Colo. He is the author of the techno-thriller Dan’s War, two short stories – “Thanksgiving with
Riley” and “The Dry-Land Farmer” – and “Take the F…ing Fly,” an illustrated poem on the wisdoms
and frustrations of fly fishing.
Meet Milt Mays
Much like the protagonist in his book, “The
outdoors. He grew up in Colorado and spent
most of his adult life as a Navy doctor, caring for
those at the forefront of many conflicts,
including Vietnam.
Milt graduated from the Naval Academy and
Creighton Medical School. His medical career
included tours with the Marines, a Navy security
group in Scotland and now at the Veteran’s
Hospital in Cheyenne, Wyo. He has been a fly
fishing guide in Rocky Mountain National Park
and continues to ply those waters with a long
stick and pieces of fur and feather.
His techno-thriller Dan’s War (2011, Telemachus Press) was a finalist at the 2009 Pikes
Peak Writers contest. He has also written short stories, including “Thanksgiving with
Riley” (Copaiba Press) and “The Dry-Land Farmer” (The Northwind Magazine). He is
the author behind “Take the F…ing Fly,” an illustrated poem on the wisdoms and
frustrations of fly fishing.
A new edition of his latest book, “The Guide,” comes out June 1, 2014. The book won
first place at the 2011 Pikes Peak Writers contest.
Milt is married in Fort Collins, Colo., with three children and a grandson who will soon
be learning the joys of flinging a fly.
Q&A with Milt Mays
Where did the idea for “The Guide” come from?
As a fly fishing guide, we had clients fill out a health form. They sometimes lied because they
maybe wanted this trip as the last best thing in their life. Actually had one client like that—he was
having difficulty hiking, breathing hard, then after the hardest part and he was feeling okay said,
“Guess I won’t need that stress test when I get back.” It seems he had stents in his heart about two
months before and even if he died, he was going to make this trip. That was the way it was with
Stony’s client.
As a doctor, I have mixed feelings about many difficult situations, assisted suicide for cancer
patients, GMO’s, etc. So I added the twist of suicide and him being a doctor with a serial killing partner
who was after him and his daughter. I think I saw the movie “Mr. Brooks” with Kevin Costner and
modeled Roman after him, though with an added bite of Roman being someone people put all their
trust in, a doctor.
“The Guide” is so descriptive that readers can almost smell the fresh mountain air. Do you spend
a lot of time in the great outdoors?
I have since I was big enough for my dad to take me fishing. I had not been to Alaska or on any
backcountry camping trips, so I bought camping gear and did some back country camping with my son,
and I went on a week-long wilderness Alaska fly fishing and camping trip with some of my friends.
Also, I studied wolves and grizzly bears both in books, online and in Yellowstone National Park, and
talked to patients who were trappers in Wyoming who were sure there were wolves and maybe
grizzlies in southern Wyoming, and possibly northern Colorado.
As a military veteran, a doctor and outdoorsman, you share a lot of characteristics with Stony
and Jake. Do you see yourself in these two men?
I like to think I can fish as well as Stony, but I can’t hike like him, I’ve never killed anyone, and
thank God I’ve never had PTSD. Jake and I go way back, but he has a bit less spine than me, I hope.
In your book, you write about Stony’s struggles with PTSD. Is this a common problem among
men and women returning from military service?
Unfortunately, more and more. Recent VA studies show 30% of the over 800,000 veterans of
Iraq and Afghanistan have been hospitalized with PTSD. Hospitalized. That means there are a lot more
that haven’t been hospitalized with it and treated as outpatients. In Vietnam it was 31%. The reason I
think is extended tours in combat zones.
Is it really possible for a doctor to “give” cancer to a patient?
Hmm…Probably not, but it depends.
This point I researched pretty carefully using industrial accidents as models and with some of
my doctor friends who give chemotherapy to cancer patients.
@mmthriller
@SamiJoLien
Thanks for your great blog tour and question and answers!
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