Murrieta's Leap

Deeply grounded in Ojai valley history, contemporary drama and Chumash mythology, this new John Selby novel exposes four people caught in the multi-dimensional unfolding of a bank robbery, murder mystery and intense coming-of-age romance. A unique merger of historic and mythic truth, the novel offers a new vision of love, sacrifice and liberation exploding during a fated Easter vacation. Flura Spark, 20, is brilliant but caught in a nasty marriage. Benny Scope at 16 is over-steeped in Chumash myths and hungry for sexual love. Jacko Murrieta, great grandson of the notorious Zorro anti-hero, is pushed to rob a bank to save his mother. And Frank Scope at 48 struggles to find forgiveness and new love. Together they plunge into life-or-death encounters with each other, nature and the law - as they open up to emotional healing and spiritual awakening. MURRIETA'S LEAP delivers unique fiction revealing both the historic pathos and also the upsurging faith and hope still vibrantly alive in Ojai - where the spirits of Chief Matilija, Juaquin Murrieta and Krishnamurti reach out to the hearts of a new generation.