He cooked up a brilliant plan. It was deadly, slightly unhinged, and, in Guy Brennan's mind, perfectly justified.
Guy is a man on the edge-of reason, of his rented apartment, and of his already frayed relationship with his ex-wife, Sarah. Her new husband, Derek Hoffman, is everything Guy isn't: successful, charming, infuriatingly competent, and worst of all, great with Guy's kids. Consumed by resentment and a desperate longing for his old life, Guy hatches a plot as dark and tangled as the Ozark wilderness he chooses for its setting: a "guys' trip" designed to permanently remove Derek from the picture. If Derek has a tragic accident, surely Sarah will need Guy again.
Armed with internet research on "wilderness accidents" and "bear behavior", Guy lures the unsuspecting Derek into the heart of the Ozark National Forest. But from the moment their ill-fated adventure begins, Guy's carefully crafted schemes backfire with spectacular, darkly comedic precision. From tampered compasses leading them in circles to sabotaged gear that injures the wrong man, each meticulously planned "accident"-be it involving bears, rapids, sheer cliffs, venomous snakes, poisonous berries, or out-of-control fires -implodes, leaving Guy more battered, humiliated, and further from his goal than ever.
Derek, meanwhile, navigates each ensuing disaster with a bewildering combination of Boy Scout preparedness, uncanny luck, and an arsenal of unexpected skills (whitewater rafting instructor? Amateur botanist? Volunteer firefighter? ). He's the kind of man who brings an inflatable kayak on a hiking trip and knows how to use it.
As Guy's attempts grow increasingly reckless and his own incompetence becomes glaringly obvious, Derek starts to suspect something is amiss-though his theories lean more towards Guy being a walking catastrophe than a premeditated killer. The trip spirals into a masterclass in botched mayhem, culminating in a real medical emergency that forces Guy to confront the true consequences of his actions.
But the Ozarks hide more than just treacherous trails and Guy's homicidal hopes. As the two men are pushed to their limits, a series of shocking confessions emerge, revealing that Guy wasn't the only one with a dark agenda for their wilderness getaway. Both men, it turns out, were fighting their own ghosts and insecurities, with equally disastrous and twisted results.
Fans of Elmore Leonard, Carl Hiaasen, and the Coen Brothers will devour Guys' Trip, a Southern Noir dark comedy brimming with snappy dialogue, unexpected twists, and a protagonist whose best-laid plans pave a hilarious road to potential redemption-or at least, a very awkward ice cream social.
This fast-paced, witty, and suspenseful novel explores the absurdity of resentment, the surprising ways connections can form in the most toxic conditions, and the complicated, messy, and ultimately unbreakable bonds of a modern dysfunctional family. Will Guy get his old life back, or will he stumble into something far more unexpected and strangely whole?
Pack your bug spray and your darkest sense of humor for Guys' Trip-a wilderness adventure where the most dangerous predator is a desperate man with a really bad plan.
