Books by Rick Destefanis

For Jack Hartman, the town of Tallahatchie, Mississippi, is an accidental destination. One day he has it all: a beautiful home on the Gulf Coast, an even more beautiful fiancée, Acey Kimmons, and an assured future as the CEO of his family's multimillion-dollar business. Then he meets talented young Blues singer Cici Cannon and recruits her for his Uncle Tuck's nightclub. Too late, Jack discovers she's a tortured alcoholic. His efforts to help Cici cause her to self-destruct, and his world comes apart when Acey, believing that he's been unfaithful, walks out on him. Jack's guilt compels him to relocate to Cici's hometown and try to rectify the harm he has caused. Thus, he finds himself in the Mississippi Delta as an assistant general manager at an antiquated and failing furniture factory-one he likewise feels compelled to save.A hopeless idealist, Jack plunges into saving the factory and the hundreds of jobs that depend on it-jobs hard to come by in the Delta. As he struggles to gain the respect of the factory's quirky and unpredictable employees, he also hopes to help Cici regain her health. But will his plans to help Cici squash any hope he has of someday reuniting with the love of his life, Acey Kimmons? Jack's quixotic journey teaches him as much about himself and the human condition as it does about life in the rural Delta. Southern fiction and dark comedy at its best, Tallahatchie is a story that is as hilarious as it is tragic.