The Offshore Triumphs of Karla Jean

After twenty-six years working on offshore oil rigs for Big Coast Drilling forty-six-year-old Karla Jean Slidell is coming home to Brinkfiled Texas for good. As a lanky girl with a peculiar braid she blazed a trail as a roustabout in 1980. On her final flight home however her helicopter crashes; now shes missing in the Gulf of Mexico. As her excited family awaits her return they instead get word she might not be coming back. They hope Karla can cheat death once again as she has done since her birth. Among those waiting are Joe her house-husband and biggest fan since the seventh grade. Then theres Dangling Dooley the Vietnam War chopper pilot who is Karlas constant source of exasperation. Theres Karlas lifelong friend Darlene with whom she experienced every kind of escapade life has to offer. Finally Karlas insanely religious dad Orvin and her vacant mousy mom Joy add to the mix. These people who form the fabric of Karlas life hold out hope that she can be found alive and returned home to fulfill a dream that would positively impact so many lives.