Parker Duque

PROGRESS: a sophomoric case for optimism is read by author Parker Duque.. You know what you can’t stop? Progress. As an heir to the Duque Industrial Fixtures fortune, Parker Duque had everything, except his family’s good looks, but as everybody knows, less than average looks don’t matter when you’re ultra-rich. Parker Duque had a trust fund, fake ambition, and a beautiful girlfriend who loved him instead of his money. Then one night, Parker lost everything. His well-meaning father had bankrupted the family company and their fortune was gone. His beautiful girlfriend who loved him instead of his money left him too. Would this rich kid sink or swim? When we catch up with Parker Duque he’s completing the sale of his real estate interests to his partners/employers, “the best f***ing day of his life.” This rich kid, against all odds, has become a self-made man. The euphoria of renewed self-worth wouldn’t last though, as Parker finds out his wife is cheating on him, and the world is about to be blown in two -- by aliens. Can you imagine what it must be like to have everything, lose it, build it back yourself through years and years of hard work and struggle, and then lose it yet again? But this time you were losing it because aliens were going to blow the earth in two? Aliens? It was hard for Parker too. With only a week (or two) left, would Parker Duque save the planet? “F*** that.” Parker Duque was a realist. There were several things Parker wanted to do with his last two weeks on Earth but first he had to escape “The Nest” where he’s being held by Dusty and Peaches, an odd pair of government agents. Peaches, despite her morbid obesity, was an impossibly athletic, accomplished hitwoman, and Dusty, despite his small stature, had a vise-like grip and moved through the shadows like a gazelle, a tiny gazelle. She was the largest woman in comfort shoes he had ever seen, and Parker knew she and the tiny man with the quick temper would prove to be a formidable duo... Can Parker Escape? What will he do if he does? Is it really the end of the world? Buckle up because there’s so much more, and it’s a wild and hilarious ride the entire way through…