This is the part in our hero’s story where he looks back and reflects upon the man he is today, but the truth is I’m still searching for him. I am still lost. Not the guy who thought I had found my way out of the wilderness . . . not the guy I wanted to become.

When we last saw Hank Fitzpatrick, he seemed to be figuring things out. He had a girlfriend. He had a life. But his secrets were yet to be discovered, his demons yet to be exorcised, and soon he would have no choice but to face them both.

Welcome back to Empire Ridge, Indiana. Hatch is now a recovering alcoholic turned naval officer and happily married man. Beth is still the love of Hank’s life, at least when he’s not going to strip clubs, organizing secret rendezvouses with ex-girlfriends, making out with his Armenian Mormon stepsister, or playing beer pong with his hot nineteen-year-old caterers. Jack is still the boy without a father, as far as he knows. And Uncle Mitch still awaits his irrevocable confrontation with a godson hell-bent on redemption, if not outright vengeance.

With Hank Fitzpatrick, gone is the boy you came to love, replaced by a man you will struggle to like. Rest assured Hank still has his moments—forging an unbreakable bond with Jack, adopting a rescue dog named Chief that will steal your heart, and fighting against all odds to hold on to a love that’s generally uncooperative. Hank jumps from one impulsive decision to the next, narrating his story with the same uninhibited fly-on-the-wall perspective that made Exotic Music of the Belly Dancersuch a disturbing yet endearing journey.

Making Out with Blowfish is fear and loathing in the suburbs. And against your better instincts, you’ll root for Hank all over again.