Wyoming

Patrick Flaherty spends his days Patrick Flaherty spends his days surviving - hunting, farming, and scavenging. An irrational and unshakeable fear of money led him some years ago to carve a life out for himself in the remote town of Coolidge, Wyoming. Over the years, he has melded with the community of warm and friendly locals who call Coolidge home. At 29 years old, Patrick's calloused hands, sharp aim, and general tenacity have allowed him to eke out a life that's entirely his own. Sure, he doesn't have it all figured out yet (his cabin could use a feminine touch, and so could he), but he's happy. One day at Cousin Clem's, the town bar where most happenings happen, Patrick says the wrong thing to the wrong stranger. Now, he's the subject of a criminal investigation, and the full weight of the U.S. Government threatens to collapse the little haven he has built. In Patrick's corner is Coolidge lawyer Anita Boyle. Lucky for Patrick, Anita never, ever backs down from a fight.

Patrick Flaherty is a young man dealing with chrometophobia – an irrational aversion to money. He has chosen to live as a subsistence farmer and hunter near Coolidge, Wyoming, a small town nestled between the high plains and the Bighorn Mountains. But Patrick isn't a hermit – he's a part of his community, and his friends and neighbors love having him around. In Washington, the current administration is fed up with Congressional gridlock on tax reform. To achieve "revenue enhancement" in the absence of Congressional action, the Treasury Department and the Department of Justice have identified taxable transactions in the deep recesses of the tax code that taxpayers have been under-reporting. The government is determined to pursue high-profile criminal prosecutions to increase voluntary reporting and compliance. Soon after the new policy is disseminated to IRS agents across the country, Special Agent Arthur Bolton finds himself on a barstool in "Cousin Clem's," the noisiest bar in Coolidge. Patrick Flaherty is sitting next to him, and they are talking about life and football. In passing, Patrick describes how he looks for opportunities to do favors for his friends and neighbors, and his friends and neighbors find opportunities to feed him and to provide food and fencing for his animals. What Special Agent Bolton sees in Patrick's description is taxable bartering – which, it turns out, the suspect has failed to report on federal tax returns. Bolton alerts his superiors in Denver and Washington, and, at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice, a grand jury in Wyoming quickly hands up an indictment. Patrick is arrested outside his cabin on a cold afternoon in January, and faces a criminal trial in federal court in Casper, Wyoming. His biggest problem – the law and the facts are pretty much on the government's side. His biggest advantage – Patrick's lawyer at trial is Anita Boyle, a small town solo practitioner who will never, ever back down from a fight.

Richard G. Tuttle lives and writes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. "Wyoming" is his first novel.