The Pattern Maker: 6 (The Books of Furnass)

Paul Slater whether he know it or not lives by the book. Once a Green Beret sniper in Southeast Asia he has done his best to fit into everyday life back home. He married his childhood sweetheart lives in the house in Furnass where he grew up works as a pattern maker at his hometown steel mill. But reports of the collapse of the Vietnam War triggers his feelings of futility and drives him to look for he doesnt know what in nearby Pittsburgh. There in the citys Golden Triangle coincidence--or maybe its Fate. Or Blind Chance--take over. Pauls path crosses that of a local hippie panhandler who acts as a spirit guide to the big city; he becomes infatuated with a pretty blond intern with a movie company filming in town; and he unwittingly becomes a suspect in a number of recent murders. As Pauls story interweaves with those he meets-- including a movie director struggling to make a comeback a young actor attempting to break into movies who carries a gun; and a black police detective seeking clues for his investigations and his life-- the story reaches its violent conclusion when perception takes the place of reality.