The Siren's Refrain

A renowned travel writer who is facing both middle age and terminal illness is forced to revisit his twenty-five year on and off again love affair with a famous singer-songwriter with whom he has become estranged. Both characters must replay the seminal chapters in their relationship as they undertake an odyssey that concludes with recriminations, revelations, and regret. At its heart, THE SIRENS' REFRAIN is a story of a love affair that has endured not only the passage of time but also the very bonds that both enabled and threatened it.

The renowned travel writer and novelist, Leon Riser, is facing not only middle age but terminal illness. He has sequestered himself in his cabin in the Rockies, his sole companion, his private duty nurse Fumiko Sato. An unexpected visit from his former step-daughter Iris forces him to revisit his troubled on and off again twenty-five-year love affair with Iris's mother, the famous singer-songwriter Lou Ann Catskill whom he has not spoken with in over five years. It seems that Lou Ann, who struggles with Bipolar Disorder, has walked out on her current husband and has gone missing. Iris hopes to enlist Leon's help in finding her. Out of obligation to Iris, Leon puts aside his physical limitations and conflicted emotions, and agrees to accompany Iris as far as Santa Fe, Lou Ann's most recent domicile. Fumiko feels she has little choice but to accompany them. Their initial efforts come to naught and do little more than resurrect painful memories for Leon, forcing him to reexamine some of the seminal chapters in his tangled relationship with Lou Ann. All the while, Lou Ann is forced to face her own culpability in the failure of their relationship. Their parallel cross-country odysseys eventually lead them to Austin, culminating in revelations, reckonings, and regrets. THE SIREN'S REFRAIN explores themes of aging, mortality, lost love, and regret. At its heart, it is a story of a love affair that has endured not only the passage of time but also the very bonds that both enabled and threatened it.

DENNIS JUNG is the author of nine novels, four of which have been selected as a finalist in the New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards. His use of visual imagery and his strong sense of place are what make his stories as much an escape to a geographical location as the emotional landscape of his characters. Tapping into a background in anthropology, he weaves into his stories the mystical and the universal in the human experience - the drama and conflicts that consume us all, regardless of culture. The author resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Excerpts, essays about his books, and a complete biography are available on his website www.dennisjung.com