Bye Bye Bertie

the long version

Bye Bye Bertie is the story of P.I. Joe LaFlam's struggle to be free from the fear of dying destitute and alone in an alley, under cardboard, just another discard of a world gone bad. His fear is magnified by doubts about his chosen profession. He has long sought to be a successful detective, but he has been thwarted by his incompetence and haunted by his insecurity. Bachelor LaFlam, who lives at home with his mother and who moonlights driving cab to pay the rent on his detective office, equates marriage with bliss and a successful career with bread on his future family's table. To be free once and for all, Joe vows to look death in the face by undertaking a desperate 21-day fast to twist God's arm to help him solve a prominent kidnapping case, make some good money, and get the girl, any girl. With God's help Joe figures the odds are now good that he won't end up dead and alone in some big-city alley under cardboard or newspapers or something bad like that. Bye Bye Bertie is a compelling telling of how the fear of living and dying badly sometimes can be relieved somehow in mysterious ways.