Something for nothing : a novel

Martin Anderson has a racehorse, a deep-sea fishing boat, a vacation home in Tahoe, and a Caddy in the garage. But his life is in freefall. It's the 1970s, and with the arrival of the oil crisis and gas rationing, his small aircraft business is tanking, as is his extravagant suburban lifestyle. Martin keeps many secrets from his wife, such as his mounting debt and his penchant for sneaking into neighborhood homes and making off with small keepsakes. So when he's given the opportunity to clear his debt by using one of his planes to make a few drug runs between California and Mexico, Martin doesn't think twice . . . or at all, for that matter. Things quickly spiral out of control when Martin's simple plan lands him in the midst of gun-toting Mexican thugs. After a narcotics agent arrives on his doorstep, he becomes increasingly paranoid, both about the police and about his associates in the drug world—a feeling that seems justified when he stumbles upon the scene of a... Martin Anderson has a racehorse, a deep-sea fishing boat, a vacation home in Tahoe, and a Caddy in the garage. But his life is in freefall. It's the 1970s, and with the arrival of the oil crisis and gas rationing, his small aircraft business is tanking, as is his extravagant suburban lifestyle. Martin keeps many secrets from his wife, from his mounting debt to his penchant for sneaking into neighborhood homes and making off with small keepsakes. So when he's given the opportunity to clear his debt by using one of his planes to make a few drug runs between California and Mexico, Martin accepts the offer . . . only to find his troubles have just begun.

Smart, suspenseful, and funny, David Anthony's debut is a perfect snapshot of America's misguided pursuit of happiness—then, and now.

His extravagant suburban lifestyle deteriorating along with his small-aircraft business in the face of the 1970s oil crisis, Martin Anderson attempts to clear his mounting debts by using his planes for drug runs to Mexico only to find himself wrongly implicated in a double murder