Pishtaco

"Pischtaco is a very imaginative story and creative melding of the many and various characters, themes, time periods, and other elements. The characters are well-drawn, the action is interesting, and the resolution is very satisfying. It would probably make a great movie." -- Marilyn Rowland, ArtsCapeCod

"Miss Penelope Gertrude Augusta Farquhar is undergoing treatment for her schizophrenia. Having spent much time in and out of the local psychiatric unit, her doctor experiments with mediative therapy in order to alter Penelope's brain. Hopefully the treatment will block the intrusive hallucinations Penelope experiences. One day whilst in the bedroom of her old family home a spider spins its intricate web between two posts of the four-poster bed. Penelope starts a monologue with the spider as her audience and tells all about her condition and the treatment she is undergoing. Now considered a friend, Penelope scoops the spider up into a mason jar and sets it free in her beautiful garden, placing it on a hibiscus flower. Enter the characters that invade Penelope's mind. To these add a life-giving hummingbird, a hair-raising flight deep into the Amazon jungle and to the empire of the Incas. Hold on tight to your seat!" -- Sandra, Lincolnshire, UK

"Absolutely love this book. Miss Penelope embarks on an improbable journey with a crew of improbable historical characters on an improbable quest. The characterizations of this improbable troupe, as they travel through a jungle wilderness with the evil Pishtaco threatening them, is brilliant and so much fun to read." -- Linda Harding Newroe

"Many people have an invisible friend when they are young; Miss Penelope Farquhar has managed to reach adulthood while retaining half a dozen of them: they simply refuse to go away. In 'Pishtaco', Mark Patton's second novel, they follow Penelope down a rabbit-hole into a world of myth, legend, magic and megalomania set in the foothills of the Peruvian Andes. On a deadly adventure, shot with dark humour, they contend with a powerful revenant whose name is still whispered with dread by forest tribes, five hundred years after his death. Deeply-researched, and with more twists than a slithering anaconda, this story is guaranteed to delight readers who relish the extraordinary." -- C.A. Smith, Author of 'Icelandic Magic' and 'Vegv­sir'

"A lavishly imagined flight into a humid and psychedelic Mesoamerica, where modern clairaudients meet auspicious animals, ghosts of the famous dead, and awakening Inca gods. Part Plumed Serpent, part Once and Future King, part gonzo-ethnography, Pishtaco gleams with jewels of description" -- Derek Turner