Here’s the set-up for Monte Dutton’s The Audacity of Dope, just $2.99 or FREE to Amazon Prime Members Via the Kindle Lending Library:

Riley Mansfield is not your typical hero. He writes songs for a living, smokes pot for recreation and just wants to live and let live. But when he foils an apparent terrorist plot to blow up a small plane over his hometown of Greenville, South Carolina, he is thrust into the spotlight, which is exactly where he doesn t want to be.

Suddenly, everyone wants a piece of him, including both major political parties. They aren’t willing to take no for an answer, partly because it’s an election year and partly because what happened on the plane may be a bit more complicated than it appears.

Emboldened by his own obstinacy, Mansfield and his Girl Friday, Melissa Franklin, lead the government and the Republicans on a sometimes merry, sometimes painful, sometimes lucky chase. Along the way, they stumble across unlikely friends–a Democrat strategist, a Rolling Stone writer, a pair of sympathetic FBI agents and ruthless enemies.

Theirs is a love affair of sex, drugs and country-folk set against a backdrop of political scheming, hidden agendas and an unraveling plan to maintain control of the government.

The American people deserve to know the truth, and it’s up to Riley to tell them…if he can live long enough to get the chance.

From the reviewers:

Just like a good country song it has everything. It has political intrigue, romance, suspense, humor and surprise plot swings. I laughed, said ‘wow’ out loud several times, and I bet some people might even blush. Congratulations, Monte! Your character, Riley Mansfield, gave me a fun day of reading that made me want to skip watching Sunday NFL football and the NASCAR race.  –  S. Sheppard

A real joy ride!  It is pure entertainment. Many of Riley’s original song lyrics are included in the book, and I could not stop myself from visiting YouTube to see and hear Monte play and sing these very same tunes.   I recommend this book to anyone that loves “home grown” folk music and a great down to earth protagonist with the audacity to take on the political machine.  –  E.J. Kelton

The Audacity of Dope needs every one of its 390 pages to tell the full story, and its a great story. There are some things I don’t particularly like about protagonist Riley Mansfield, but I like the guy. The supporting cast of characters is also very well developed. This is an easy, action-packed and, strangely enough, believable story, one that takes several turns and gets told from several angles  –  Joe

Monte Dutton lives in Clinton, South Carolina. In high school, he played football for a state championship team, then attended Furman University, Greenville, S.C., graduating in 1980, B.A., cum laude, political science/history.

He has written regularly about NASCAR since 1993, and has written for the Gaston Gazette (Gastonia, NC) since 1996. He was named Writer of the Year by the Eastern Motorsports Press Association (Frank Blunk Award) in 2003 and Writer of the Year by the National Motorsports Press Association (George Cunningham Award) in 2008. His NASCAR writing has been syndicated by King Feature Syndicate in the form of a weekly page, “NASCAR This Week.”

Dutton is also the author of Pride of Clinton, a history of high school football in his hometown, 1986; At Speed, 2000 (Potomac Books); Rebel with a Cause: A Season with NASCAR’s Tony Stewart, 2001 (Potomac Books); Jeff Gordon: The Racer, 2001 (Thomas Nelson); Postcards from Pit Road, 2003 (Potomac Books); Haul A** and Turn Left, 2005 (Warner Books), True to the Roots: Americana Music Revealed, 2006. (Bison Books); and is an Editor/Contributor of Taking Stock: Life in NASCAR’s Fast Lane, 2004 (Potomac Books).

The Audacity of Dope, 2011 (Neverland Publishing) is his first novel, and he is hard at work on his second.

And here, in the comfort of your own browser, is your free sample of THE AUDACITY OF DOPE by Monte Dutton: