Brief

In 1983, two young men in love ride a motorcycle across the country in search of their Californian dream, but their relationship has to face prejudice, lack of money and a terrifying new health pandemic.

What We Liked

- Diversity;
- Great road movie structure;
- Compelling ‘80s story with a lot of twists and turns;
- Surprising revelation at the end;
- It’s not an overly erotic book, but a passionate one - sex equals love here;
- The film/TV series wouldn’t be restricted to a LGBT audience - it has the potential to
crossover with the right people behind and in front of the cameras;
- Great settings/visuals.

Synopsis

Summer of 1983. DUSTIN is a 20-year-old young man conflicted by his sexuality and haunted by
having being raped. Despite the close watch of his very religious mother, TERESA, he manages to fall
in love and create a bond with his neighbor GAUGE, a boy set on fixing his late dad’s classic
motorcycle, a 1949 Indian. One day, Teresa catches Dustin and Gauge kissing. She loses her mind and
violently attacks her son. After this episode, Dustin and Gauge decide to take the bike and ride away
to Los Angeles, where Dustin could become an actor and fulfill his dream of swimming in the Pacific
Ocean.
The old motorbike gives out for the first time near Atlanta. There, Gauge starts working part-time as a
mechanic, and Dustin housekeeps the motel where they live, while the Indian gets fixed. When Dustin
surprises Gauge with a nice dinner at a nearby restaurant, the waitress won’t serve them. At the
parking lot, the owner and some friends ambush Gauge and brutally beat him up. The couple
manages to escape town with a borrowed truck and get as far as New Mexico, where a mechanic
offers to fix the ‘49 Indian, but asks for sexual favors in return. Saved by a brave Native-American who
also fixes the motorcycle, they get back on the road; Gauge’s wounds, however, get infected and they
have to make a stop in Las Vegas, where they meet a medical student who offers his house and his
services. The night before the lovers are supposed to finally get on their way to Los Angeles, the
sketchy doctor invites some friends over for dinner and they drug Dustin, imposing some involuntary
BDSM experience. Once again, they flee.
Without any money and gas, Dustin and Gauge find themselves in the desert just outside Barstow,
California. Dustin doesn’t seem to recover from whatever drug he took at that fateful dinner. OFFICER
JENKINS, a policeman, helps them. He feeds both and let them stay at his garage. A couple of weeks
later, the nights of happiness under the celestial sky of the desert are interrupted by bad news. A local
doctor suspects Dustin is HIV Positive. Dustin keeps the suspicion from Gauge and they both finally
arrive in Los Angeles. Momentarily, everything is perfect in the world. A few weeks later, however,
Dustin can’t even leave the bed of a private room in a hospice they had to go to, for their lack of health
insurance. He asks the doctors to assist his suicide, but they don’t accept. Then he asks Gauge to
take him to the Pacific Ocean, just like he promised. There, Dustin lets himself go and Gauge
understands. Dustin dies seeing his soulmate from underwater, just like he did in the Atlantic that
bathes Fort Lauderdale, one year before, when he fell in love for the first... and last time.

About The Author

Craig Moody was born and raised in Pembroke Pines, Florida. Author of acclaimed novels The '49 Indian and His Name Was Ezra, Craig currently resides in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with his boyfriend, Gable, and twenty-three-year-old cockatiel, Alley.