Three Star Fix — Joseph Jablonski

Driven from his rural home for insulting the village priest, young Jake Thomas boards a freighter in New Orleans, entering the exotic world of a ship and the sea. As the vessel sails into the sultry Southern Hemisphere, Jake encounters bizarre characters and courageously faces danger, but falters when the voyage turns into a spiritual and emotional odyssey.

Under the stern navigational tutelage of the captain and second mate, Jake, a midshipman, struggles to master the three star fix, even as he abandons his moral compass in the back-alleys of the South American ports. In Valparaiso, the mariner's Mecca, Jake follows the wicked sailor Fletcher into an intoxicating labyrinth of pleasure and violence, resulting in heartrending retribution homebound.

On Jake's maiden voyage, he delights in the wonders of the wide outer world while navigating a rocky inner passage of beauty, desire and love.