Wine, Women, and the Many Passions of Max McCoy — Skye Alexander

For more than forty years air traffic controller Max McCoy led a life most men only dream about -- travel, adventure, intrigue, romance. But when he gets the highjack signal from American Airlines Flight 11 on the morning of 9/11, everything changes. In the aftermath of the crisis, he retires and becomes a recluse. He's given up on life and love, or so he says. Then he meets Alexa Cannes in a bicycling accident. A novelist seeking material for her next book, she decides his past contains all the elements of a bestseller and convinces him to reveal his life story. Over a series of dinners he prepares to correspond with the subjects of his nightly tales, Max, a gourmet cook, relates his odysseys. His international adventures include stories of crime, suspense, obsession, love triangles, coming of age, even ghostly possession and exorcism. Gradually a relationship develops between storyteller and listener that is unlike anything Max expected or has known before. "Wine, Women, and the Many Passions of Max McCoy" is part "A Thousand and One Nights," part "Like Water for Chocolate," part "Tropic of Cancer." It takes readers on a lively sojourn to Rome, Mexico, Hawaii, and numerous other locales. In the process, it explores the intricate dance of love, sex, and relationships from two entirely different perspectives: a macho playboy's and a feminist's.