«Farnsworth’s Revenge» by Gerald Everett Jones

From the acclaimed author of 2020 Independent Press Awards Distinguished Favorites Clifford's Spiral and Preacher Finds a Corpse. Even grown men get upset when you take their toys away. Rollo Hemphill has a history with a life-sized rubber doll he dressed up to look like glamorous Hollywood star Monica LaMonica. For a time, the doll's worldwide travels provided convenient cover and sensational press for her living counterpart. But now, rubber-Monica has disappeared from crusty Hugo Farnsworth's yacht in St. Tropez. Like it or (mostly) not, Rollo gets drafted as an unofficial government operative to deal with the kidnappers. The doll has become a pawn in an international game centered on an eccentric Turk who collects lookalikes — but who may have also collected state secrets, including the plans for cold fusion and a scheme for bankrupting the world's money supply. All Rollo wants to do is get safely home to his estranged wife Felicia — who now happens to be pregnant. Is the child his? If not, will Rollo be bold enough to risk everything for a real life with a real woman? Once again, Rollo will prove that the male ego is as vulnerable as it is predictably deflatable.