THE ULTIMATE LIST

A long lost love could change your life foreverappears as an adage in Marvin Style's Chinese fortune cookie a few days before his fiftieth birthday. Marvin, who has long been seeking his destiny,  wonders if the subsequent revelation of the fateful words, FIND KAREN, as the first and only entry in his list of possible future life pursuits might be his subconscious response to the cookie's prophecy. And should he consider changing his  life based solely on that premise? The logical answer is no, but his heart tells him differently, and he knows his destiny must come from the heart.

Marvin is aware that the concept of seeking Karen Allison has existed in his subconscious  for a long time. Perhaps it has always been there, always as measured from that day nearly twelve years ago when he made his momentous decision to walk away from the woman he loved. Of course, he had often considered trying to find Karen. He  had thought about it nearly every day, but only in the abstract. Never before had he allowed himself to believe that he might actually set out to accomplish the mission.

Marvin's resolute quest to locate the rich and beautiful Karen Allison  takes him crisscrossing the country, pursuing a few remote leads, each culminating in a dead end. Just when he is about to concede defeat, a seemingly miraculous occurrence leads him to the city where Karen possibly now resides. During his  venture, he learns that Karen has married, but he is unable to determine her married name, so he is forced to continue in his detective role if he ever hopes to locate her.

As the reader may anticipate, Marvin eventually finds his Karen,  but the story has only just begun. Marvin wonders if his and Karen's love could have survived their many years of separation as he finds Karen caught up in a complicated quandary. Her philandering, dishonest and abusive estranged husband has  somehow managed to tie up her fortune and her life by seizing control of her company, which is now worth millions. Marvin and Karen decide to undertake the mission of recovering Karen's money, and if they can financially destroy her ex-husband  in the process, then so much the better.

The story deals with the rediscovery of one's destiny, and combines a remarkable detective story with an extraordinary love affair. The narrative draws the reader into the mind and heart of Marvin  Styles as he struggles with what to do with the rest of his life. He decides to search for his long lost love, and after finding her, he then seeks to determine if the two of them can build a new life together. Will they find a way to recover  Karen's fortune? Will the ex-husband get his due? Will Marvin and Karen eventually fly off into the sunset to live happily ever after? These are but a few of the issues that will entice the reader to continue to the climactic ending.