The Marfa Blues
searching for treasure
Vera DeSoto runs a cafe in Marfa, Texas in 1968.
Book Summary →
The Marfa Blues
Vera DeSoto runs a cafe in Marfa, Texas in 1968. The cowboys and truckers who come in fantasize and hope for a chance with her, but she enjoys her solitary life and isn’t ready to settle down with anyone.
Somehow, Vera seems to collect strays—lost and wayward people looking for second chances. A 14-year-old girl, two hippie boys, and a scared young artist manage to find their way into her life and suddenly, Vera is joining them in a search for buried treasure in the badlands of the rugged desert of Southwest Texas.
Egenes gives us a mismatched group of characters that helps explore themes of found family, redemption, and the varying interpretations of “treasure”—is it gold, or human connection? The dusty, mystical backdrop of 1968 West Texas—with its iconic Marfa Lights—adds a magical, almost surreal quality to the narrative. In a playful yet poignant tone, the author takes us from hippie culture and desert adventure to giant cloned cows and a psychic raven, as the novel balances whimsy with real emotional stakes.
If you’re drawn to offbeat, character-driven fiction with a strong sense of place, this could be a delightful discovery. It’s breezy enough to read quickly, yet it lingers in your mind due to its emotional resonance and quirky charm. It’s an unexpectedly warm, humorous, and heartfelt adventure story—perfect for fans of nostalgic road trip vibes and unconventional treasures. If you enjoy that kind of narrative, The Marfa Blues is definitely worth a read.
From the author of the award-winning “Man & Horse: The Long Ride Across America.”
What readers say about the book🧐
*The Marfa Blues* is a thoroughly enjoyable yarn with the most diverse and engaging characters I’ve encountered in a long time. Having lived in West Texas myself, the idea of a book based on the little town of Marfa intrigued me. But this story was so much more than setting. The book starts in the 19th century when Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico, sends troops north with wagons loaded with his treasures (gold, diamonds, etc.) to ship back to Europe. Things go awry, and the treasure is lost. Or is it? A map shows that the treasure was actually hidden in a Texas canyon. And it’s still there.Move ahead to 1968. A motley crew of hippies, artist, a wealthy rancher and a teenager come together with Vera, who owns a cafe in Marfa. They end up forming an oddball kind of family, and they decide to go looking for the treasure. At the same time, a ruthless entrepreneur from back East initiates a cloning experiment to create really, really big beef cattle, in the hopes of making a financial killing from the ability to produce so much meat for sale. And there’s those bad guys, drug-dealers all, who are interested in intervening and finding the treasure. Events play out. Then the author treats us with a jump into the future to let us know what happened to everyone involved in the treasure hunt.All around excellent and entertaining read. That’s *The Marfa Blues.*
C.J. Shane
About the Author →
John Egenes
Author of the bestseller “Man & Horse: The Long Ride Across America”, John Egenes has been a musician, a saddlemaker, and a university lecturer, among other things. He learns the hard way, through his mistakes. He views his life through a windshield full of squashed bugs.