Death awaits those who seek it. Not an affable consideration for most people, but for Altmon Judd, the would-be author of the next great American novel, death couldn’t come soon enough. His life had been a string of bad choices, from his several failed marriages to a chain of unpaid bills and unfulfilled dreams. It had seemed he would never be able to get his life together, and as his debts multiplied, his enthusiasm for life melted away until there was nothing left except a longing to end it all. Over the years, the man grew more distant from those he’d known and he became cynical about life in general. It’s been said, time heals all wounds, but that certainly wasn’t true in the life of Altmon Judd. The innumerable disappointments brought on by his own negligence had combined with the contempt he felt for those he had discord with and spread like boils that clung to his flesh.