In the summer of 2004, Tony James Slater went to Ecuador, looking to become a man.
Not all of him returned.



But the bit that did was fueled by a burning desire to do . . . something.
Something that mattered.
And, ideally, to get the hell out of England in the process.



His dream was to blatantly steal his friend Toby's dream—of escaping to Thailand and becoming a professional diver.



But when a man like this goes on a search for adventure, it's bound to end in tears. And yet—what can actually go wrong?
I mean, really?
With renovating a house?
With volunteering?
With sailing?
And selling your body to medical science?
Surely, those are the kind of activities that any old idiot
can pull off?
But then, this isn't just any old idiot.
This is Tony James Slater—the man who was carrying that jaguar when it woke up.
And to make things worse—he's not alone . . .



So batten down the hatches! Lock up your power tools! And
for gawd's sake turn the electricity off.
Because that idiot from Ecuador is back.
And this time, he's brought the whole family . . .