Patrick Norris has seen the worst that Afghanistan has to offer – excruciating heat, bitter cold and death waiting behind every rock. He returns home exhilarated amid his new freedom, but he is shocked to learn that a massive wildfire has destroyed the San Diego-area avocado ranch his family has owned for generations and that the parents he loves are facing ruin.
San Diego, avocados and fires are part of the local public mind – but if you go to Warwick’s Books on Tuesday, Oct. 7, or the La Jolla Brewing Company on Sunday, Oct. 12, you’ll see the storyline is actually taken from “Full Measure,” Fallbrook native T. Jefferson Parker’s latest novel from St. Martin’s Press. It’s a fictionalization of Parker’s talks with returning servicemen and the present dangers they face, and there’s plenty of Fallbrook thrown in to keep things local. Meanwhile, Parker said, “I use the battered economy and crashed real estate market as manmade insults to injury.” And Fallbrook?
“When writing a novel,” he added, “it’s always so tempting to throw in some of the things you love. Come to think of it, I guess that’s what any novel is really about.”
Parker is the author of 20 crime novels.
The Warwick’s event will take place at 7:30 p.m. at the bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave. The number is (858) 454-0347.
The La Jolla Brewing Company fete is at 7536 Fay Ave. and starts at 7 p.m. The number is (858) 246-6759.