It's December 1975 and life has taken a precipitous turn for neoconservative insurance agent Karl Patton. While his own family remains in the tenuous grip of Karl's fascist rule, the winds of political change and social liberation are tearing at edifice of his nuclear family. It is indeed a time of tumult with a generation of broken young men returning from Vietnam and young adults cynical to the institutions that once defined the nation and made it great. With the Grand Ole Party reeling from the fall of Saigon and Watergate, the conservative private sector is also under attack by progressive social engineers espousing affirmative action quotas, condemning the tyranny of white male leadership and urging income redistribution to correct the course of society. As the Democrats mount a concerted effort to take back the White House, the once rigid and spotless fabric of America is being soiled by feckless politicians, sex, drugs and rock 'n roll. As temptation probes every corner of his picket fenced world, Karl Patton must rely on brute force, ingenuity and his clairvoyant spouse, Susie, to help him navigate the unfamiliar waters that represent a clear and present danger to his authority and way of life. Bicentennial Rex plunges us back into the nostalgic waters of brown shag carpet, free range kids and grab-ass. As a prequel to the novel, T-Rex By The Tail, we once again enter the primordial world of Karl Patton aka T-Rex, as he contends with a conveyor belt of do-gooders, liberal cretins and ethically challenged business associates -- all organized in a conspiracy to upend his tightly guarded and controlled world. It's touch and go whether the Patton children will emerge from this chrysalis of chaos to become justices of the Supreme Court or wards of the criminal justice system. Is this the beginning of the end for the Jurassic Father - the greatest dinosaur to ever haunt the aisles of the local hardware store?
About the Author: Bi-Centennial Rex is the second novel for Michael Turpin who draws liberally from experiences growing up in Southern Califirnia as the third of four boys growing up in a house fashioned out of conservative dogma and new age pragmatism. He is a healthcare consultant, published author and a contributing columnist to several CT newspapers and industry magazines. Turpin graduated from Claremont McKenna College with a degree in Literature and Economics. He is married with three teenagers and lives in New Canaan, Connecticut.