A hole in the ground owned by a liar - Daniel Pyne

A divorced shop teacher buys a Colorado gold mine sight unseen in this raucous novel from the screenwriter of Doc Hollywood and The Manchurian Candidate.

Lee Garrison, a high school shop teacher in Evergreen, Colorado, managed to survive his messy divorce only to find himself in a full-on midlife crisis. Looking for a way to distract himself on weekends and the now painfully long summer vacation, Lee buys a gold mine off the internet-a real, honest-to-God mine, complete with tall tales of riches, a history of disappointment, and a couple of Pakistani-by-way-of-Jackson-Hole prospectors willing to kill for its contents.

With the frequently unwanted help of a band of locals, Lee becomes a weekend warrior, attempting to work the mine and studiously avoid the daily grind of his life. There are the Pakistanis, of course, along with his brother Grant, just released from prison, who is trying in his dubious way to pull Lee from his midlife funk. And then there's his ex-wife Lorraine, her slick boyfriend Stan, and the lovely yet mysterious Rayna-the first woman Lee has wanted to date since his divorce.

In Daniel Pyne's uproarious style, A Hole in the Ground Owned by a Liar is part mystery and part gold-infused tall tale with a lively cast of odd-ball characters and one highly unexpected payout.