Shamus Flaherty

Blue Collar Heaven Shamus Flaherty

Blue Collar Heaven is about life on the island of Martha's Vineyard. Author Shamus Flaherty says he wrote it, "to show people the island the way the locals know it. There's a lot more to it than just the typical summertime tourist-trap that most vacationers see. And there's so much more to appreciate about the real thing." Hero Bobby Blood is a gifted timber framer and family-man who believes he's living in heaven. He thinks he was flattened by a truck when he was young and that his entire life from that point on has been a gift. Life is smooth and easy for Blood. He's away from the real world with the ones he loves. But there are some troubling things that take place on the island over the course of a year that make him question his beliefs. Will things return to paradise with the upcoming summer, or will the island be tainted forever? If villain Dirty McGruff gets his way, it will surely be turned for the worse. Dirty is a hack carpenter who's always between jobs and always looking to defile the island with his filthy ways. The reader also sees life through the eyes of a local bartender, a group of Brazilian immigrants, a family of vacationers, an artist, a comical landscaping duo, and a college-age summer resident. All of their stories have an effect on the condition of Blood's paradise. Together they form the tale of Blue Collar Heaven.