"Bicycle Hobo" revisits the story of Moby-Dick in a thriller set on the underside of modern America.
When a homicidal motorist kills his wife during a bicycle tour of the South, a man known only as Jake spends months trying to track the killer down through the efforts of the law, social media and a private investigator, all in vain. Driven to the brink of insanity, Jake receives a divine clue. He quits his job to cycle the highways of America, following the wind in the desperate hope that his path will cross the killer on the road. Along the way he encounters an assortment of misfits and dreamers and a battle for his own soul. Sure to be of interest to every cyclist, especially those who enjoy bicycle touring, the book includes more than a dozen illustrations.
Author Biography:
Author and world traveler Robert (Bob) Downes has been inspiring readers to pursue their dreams of travel and adventure for more than three decades. A resident of Traverse City, Michigan, Downes, 64, is the author of three nonfiction books: Planet Backpacker (2008), Biking Northern Michigan (2014), and Travels With My Wife (2015) and the historical novel, Windigo Moon, (2017). A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Downes earned a B.A. in journalism from Wayne State University in Detroit in 1976. Thereafter, he worked as a reporter and editor at newspapers in metro Detroit, with a stint in hospital public relations in the 1980s. In 1991, Downes and his friend, George Foster, launched the alternative newsweekly, Northern Express Weekly. The publication was a hit with readers and went on to become northern Michigan's largest weekly newspaper with a readership of more than 75,000, covering a radius of more than 150 miles of the region. Downes served as editor and co-publisher of the newsweekly for 22 years until its sale in December, 2013. Under his leadership, the publication earned numerous Michigan Press Association awards, including the highest honor for General Excellence. Concurrently, Downes indulged his passion for world travel, mostly as a backpacker and cyclist, using local transportation, hostels, campsites and guest houses. He has visited more than 70 countries with destinations ranging from the supercities of the Third World to the heart of the American wilderness. In 2011, he and his wife, Jeannette Wildman, spent seven months backpacking around the world, resulting in their memoir, I Promised You Adventure. A former Ironman triathlete, Downes is also an ardent cyclist and his guidebook, Biking Northern Michigan, is a regional best seller. Downes has cycled in Australia, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Peru, England, Ireland and across continental Europe in addition to routes around the U.S. In the summer of 2016, he cycled more than 2,700 miles over the Rockies and across the Great Plains from Seattle to his home in Michigan. He and his wife Jeannette have two adult children and seven grandchildren. The couple makes their winter home in Mexico and the American Southwest.
