Gerald Everett Jones is a freelance writer who lives in Santa Monica, California. He is a member of the Writers Guild of America, the Dramatists Guild, Women’s National Book Association, and Film Independent (FIND), as well as a board member of the Independent Writers of Southern California (IWOSC). He holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honors from the College of Letters, Wesleyan University, where he studied under novelists Peter Boynton, F.D. Reeve, and Jerzy Kosinski. “Harry Harambee’s Kenyan Sundowner,” his new book, is about a lonely widower from Los Angeles who buys a tour package to East Africa on the promise of hookups and parties. What he finds instead are new reasons to live. It will be released on Tuesday June 29, 2021 and is available for preorder now in trade paperback and e-book formats from booksellers worldwide, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Google Books, and Rakuten Kobo. (Black Château, 2021)

LaPuerta Books and Media announces the release of “Harry Harambee’s Kenyan Sundowner,” the eleventh novel by award-winning author Gerald Everett Jones. This is literary fiction with geopolitical overtones, reminiscent of “The Heart of the Matter” by Graham Greene and “The Constant Gardener” by John le Carré.

Locals tease main character Harry with the surname “Harambee,” the Kenyan national motto meaning something like, One for All. He is not sure whether that means he is being played. Slick Italian tour operator Aldo Barbieri convinces Harry to join a group of adventuresome “voluntourists.” In a sleepy resort town on the white sands of the Indian Ocean, Harry does not find the promised excitement with local ladies. Instead, he meets Esther Mwemba, a demure widow who works as a bookkeeper. The attraction is strong and mutual, but Harry gets worried when he finds out that Esther and Aldo have a history. They introduce him to Victor Skebelsky, rumored to be the meanest man in town. Skebelsky has a plan to convert his grand colonial home and residential compound into a rehab center – as a tax dodge. The scheme calls for Harry to head up the charity. He could live like a wealthy diplomat without costing him a shilling. Harry has to come to terms with questions at the heart of his character: Is corruption a fact of life everywhere? Is all love transactional?

LaPuerta Books and Media is the small-press imprint of La Puerta Productions, Santa Monica, CA. The LaPuerta imprint and its logo, an open door, symbolize unlimited access to knowledge, opportunity, innovation, fascination, and delight. In its support for authors and thought leaders, the publisher’s mission is to help influential voices achieve worldwide platforms.