Jan Notzon

The Dogs...Barking Jan Notzon

After disastrous experiences as a lawyer and then as a teacher, Jake Kazmareck tries to disappear from the world by taking a menial job picking melons on a farm in the wilds of south Texas. An estranged friend, Connors, tracks him down, however, with news that their mutual bosom buddy, Artie, is not dead as they both believed, but rotting in a Mexican prison. The stage is set for Artie's rescue. Jake, Connors and Artie's friendship was forged years earlier, during an almost fatal canoe trip in which only Artie's genius for survival kept them alive. That brush with death unleashed a primitive beast in Jake during a violent confrontation with Connors that has never stopped plaguing him. The prison rescue is successful, but Artie's experiences in captivity have destroyed his spirit. Jake and Connors immediately enlist the help of psychiatrist Judith Neuwirth to try to piece together Artie's shattered self. In the process, Jake is again confronted by the beast in himself. Will he learn to accommodate it, or will it destroy him?