Jose, an ambitious but struggling writer, is driving home from his weekly workshop group in Dallas when his life is irrevocably altered by a phone call from an unknown number. The mysterious caller offers to help him with his work, promising success and fame. Jose is skeptical, but the deal he strikes with the mysterious man is far more complex and consequential than he could ever imagine.
Knee Deep in Gatun follows Jose's transformative journey as he is pulled out of his mundane life in Dallas and brought to Panama. This new life, which leads to the success and recognition he craves, requires him to navigate a shadowy, international landscape. He quickly realizes that achieving his dream will come at a profound human cost.
Jose makes connections with a cast of characters who mentor and shape him, and lead him to grapple with the immense, unpayable debt he owes them; a truth so deep that words fail to capture it. The book is a reflective thriller about the price of ambition and the profound nature of gratitude and loss.