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Left on Rancho

A Novel

Published by SparkPress
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

LIST PRICE ₹741.00

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About The Book

For fans of Tod Goldberg’s Gangster Trilogy and Tim O’Brien’s America Fantastica, this contemporary noir follows a burned-out tech entrepreneur into the Wild West of California cannabis and the converging worlds of contraband weed and illegal immigration.

It’s October 2019 and Andrew Eastman, a tech entrepreneur with a bank account running on fumes, has just ridden into Adelanto, a desolate outpost in the Mojave Desert, to help an old friend. The ask: turn around a fledgling legal cannabis operation.

Andrew, the outsider, asks too many questions—about the viability of the legal market, the inoperative surveillance cameras in the factory, and the dominance of the illegal trade—and makes himself a target. Undeterred, he journeys from Adelanto to West Hollywood to the underbelly of Los Angeles on a hunt for contraband. When he lands at the intersection of cannabis and immigration, and as bodies pile up around him, he is left with one last decision—one that will forever change him.

About The Author

Francesco Paola was born in Turin, Italy, and was raised in Italy, Thailand, and Australia before moving to the US, where he earned an engineering degree from MIT and an MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. He is an accomplished technology entrepreneur, and from 2019 to 2021 worked at a legal cannabis startup in California while on a sabbatical from tech. He has written technical blogs, white papers, and articles for over twenty-five years as an executive in the tech-startup ecosystem. He and his wife, the novelist Jackie Townsend, have called New York City home since 1999.

Product Details

  • Publisher: SparkPress (February 11, 2025)
  • Length: 352 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781684632930

Raves and Reviews

“Paola takes us on a fast-paced romp through the smoky battlegrounds of California's busted green rush, where the cowboy hustlers of legal and illegal weed fight for market share. It's like a Western set in the New West instead of the Old, and the first novel that confronts the blunt realities of 21st-century cannabis economics.”—Dr. Robin Goldstein, PhD, author of Can Legal Weed Win?: The Blunt Realities of Cannabis Economics

“Murder and corruption plague California’s cannabis industry in Left on Rancho, a sharp, fast-paced thriller where loyalty is tested, and nothing is what it seems.”—Daniel Kalla, author of High Society

“With a gripping narrative, snappy dialogue, and obvious familiarity with the cannabis industry and immigration issues at the Southern border, Paola crafts a masterful tale. I couldn’t rest till I knew how all the pieces tied together. A blend of intrigue and relevance makes Left at Rancho a must-read.”—Jude Berman, author of The Die and The Vow

Left on Rancho is 'art imitating life' at a time when illegal immigration and the drug culture underbelly of America is in the spotlight. The book couldn’t be timelier, and it’s also eye-opening for readers who have no exposure to the world of cannabis production and the illegal drug trade. Paola’s lead character is relatable, making his journey through challenging scenarios set in California both compelling and believable.”—Shelley Grandy, author of Devious Web

"Paola's all-too-realistic narrative dives headfirst into the dark underbelly of the cannabis industry. As we follow the protagonist deeper into the ethical quagmire, the bodies pile up in this page-turning debut."—Mike Trigg, author of Burner and Bit Flip

“As someone who has been on the ground floor of cannabis policy in California, Left on Rancho masterfully captures the good, the bad, the legal, and the not so legal perspectives of the California cannabis world and weaves them into an enthralling and satisfying thriller, with dead-on, well-developed characters that are only found in the Wild West of California cannabis.”—Niccoló De Luca, Vice President Townsend Public Affairs

“Left on Rancho is a mystery proximal to California’s legal recreational cannabis industry. Add immigration and the result is an intense, savvy, intelligent, and informative whodunnit. The reader is treated to vivid descriptions of southern California and the Mojave desert, with characters that are nuanced and realistic, enhancing the realism of the story.”—Elizabeth R. Aden, PhD, author of The Goldilocks Genome

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