In the new novel Deadman's Bust, former Humboldt grower Cory Marchese has written what Blogcritics.org calls "a real page-turner" about two brothers growing pot in the Humboldt hills in 1992:
The adventure takes us right into the heart of George H. W. Bush's "War on Drugs," the Medellin cartel, rogue cops, and a huge pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.![]()
It's Marchese's first novel. According to his biography on his own site corymarchese.com, Marchese moved from Minnesota to Humboldt in 1991 "to grow pot and learn to surf." Yeah, he's a bit of a cliché, but one many locals no doubt would cotton warmly to. As he writes:
Having been raised solo by a progressive mother in a not-so-progressive place -- a cold, hard, bleak, God forsaken place -- he felt an immediate affinity to Humboldt's people and culture. For years, he spent his time surfing, growing, and generally enjoying life until the DEA, like a drunk angry father, put the leather belt beat down on it. That bust would become a defining moment, having a most acute and lasting impact on the well-being of his psyche.
Marchese spent two and a half years in prison after he was busted. After that, in 1998, he started a construction company in the Bay Area, which he is still running today. And, he notes, these days he is "crime free, drives like a granny, and has a perfectly healthy fear of authority."
He's a novelist, now, too.
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