In this sequel to Eddie’s Bastard, William Kowalski takes Billy Mann, the title character of that book, on a classic quest: a search for the mother who abandoned him at birth. Quest tradition requires that the journey prove more important than the prize and Kowalski doesn’t stray from this proven formula.

Since his father died in Vietnam, Billy has scant information about his brief affair with a mysterious woman named Sky. All he knows is that she left him on his grandfather’s doorstep in a basket bearing the note “Here’s Eddie’s Bastard.” Having found out his mother’s real name (from a kindly old doctor who betrayed doctor-patient privilege on his death bed) and where his father’s personal effects were sent (from the Defense Department), Billy heads from his hometown of Mannville, New York, to Santa Fe, New Mexico – somewhere south of here.

The trip itself proves uneventful, but once in Santa Fe, Billy meets an endless stream of quirky characters: a bar singer whose former career as a highwire artist ended when she fell from the wire and was safely delivered to the ground by her eleven guardian angels; a psychotic Vietnam vet who thinks Billy looks like one of his old ‘Nam buddies; and a nerdy Greek classics scholar who takes Billy on a quest within a quest to a remote desert town.

Somewhere South of Here is a story about courage, about whether or not Billy can overcome the inertia of his upbringing and make a life for himself. Billy wants to be a writer; Billy wants to find his mother; Billy panics when he realizes that his headstone will likely read “some brains, nice enough guy but never quite had what it took to make it …” As he heads out on his quest, his courage is challenged at every turn.

“[He] looked me up and down with that same dubious expression I’d come to expect from men his age … men old enough to have fought in wars long before I was born. … as though they were trying to figure if I’d survive or not, if I had what it took to kill or be killed. I stood up a little straighter and tried to look brave.”

• Eddie's Bastard
• The Adventures of Flash Jackson