A gritty fantasy of black magic and Delta Blues, from one of the bestselling fantasy authors in America.

Story Excerpt ...

Progress and Slim pulled up in front of a small yellow building with nothing but a sign that read "Charlie's." Progress shot out of the pickup and Slim quickly followed. Once inside the building, it was obvious what the business was. Hundreds of guitars, of all shapes and sizes, stood belly to back, body to body, on racks on the walls and hanging from the ceilings. Amplifiers crowded the floor, and a young skinny blond boy sat in one corner, noodling on a black Danelectro.

"Howdy Progress," said the boy. "How's it going?"

"Hey, Wanger. It's still goin'. Heard there was some trouble I need to know about."

The kid's face darkened, and his eyes turned down. "Yeah, guy," he said softly. "Go ahead on back. Orville's been waiting for you."

Progress and Slim walked behind the counter and went through a small door in the back wall. A small sad-looking man sat on a stool before a felt-covered table, working over an acoustic guitar. His hands were laid on the strings and he was humming to it, vibrating the body. He stood, seemingly in pain, then walked over to Progress and Slim.

"Howdy, Progress," he said shaking the old man's hand. "Who's your friend?"

"This is my new apprentice," Progress replied. "Name's Slim. Slim Chance. Slim, this is Orville Wilbur. Best guitar man in Tejas. A wizard of the string and plank and pickup."

Orville shook Slim's hand. "Good to meet you," he said. He turned back to Progress. "Don't feel like a wizard today," he said.

Story Synopsis ...

Slim's a Texas bluesman of a certain age, down on his luck and just about broke—but hey, that's what the blues are all about. He loves music: 'Not the popular blues, homogenized, synthesized, and zombilized; but the real down-home gutbucket blues.' Then one day the music loves him back.

In a single hot burst of lightning that comes straight up out of the ground, Slim finds himself in Tejas. It's a little bit magic, and a whole lot different, but the blues are the same. And the blues manifest here in the form of a maple-necked pearl-gray Strat with blue-chrome pick-ups, a.k.a. the Gutbucket. The Strat's fallen into the hands of T-Bone Pickens and his Vipers, who want to suck up all its power and turn it to evil.

Slim's off and running on The Gutbucket Quest, with the help of his new mentor, rhythm guitarist Progress T. Hornsby, and a purely unstoppable blues singer named Nadine.

Both authors have included Author's Notes.

Author Information ...

"PIERS ANTHONY is one of the most popular fantasy authors in the world, a New York Times bestseller twenty-one times over. He lives in Florida. RON LEMING is a writer, artist, musician, and bodybuilder. This is his first novel, and Anthony's twenty-second collaboration."

From Piers Anthony ...