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the mighty six-ninety
The Mighty Six-Ninety (690) is a fictionalized account of actual events that transpired in Southern California during the Summer of 1981. A struggling AM radio station buried $50,000 in cash and gave its listeners clues as to its location, one a day, until the money was found. Set against the backdrop of a California landscape very much in flux, the story resonates evenly between desperation, hope, and suburban dissonance.
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Praises
“Woven of the street grid of suburban Los Angeles County, from the threads of many lives—some hopeful, some defeated, some already lost—Alexander Hamilton Cherin’s tapestry of a novel portrays working-class lives pursuing the dreams heard on the AM dial of a car idling in traffic on the 405. Cherin proves that vivid stories abound in the most ordinary of circumstances, in the deeply felt and intensely experienced matters of the everyday.”
—D. J. Waldie, author of “Becoming Los Angeles: Myth, Memory, and a Sense of Place“
“A fun read that captures a time of fading possibilities in California. The Mighty 690 is a well-paced treasure hunt interweaving the lives of several struggling people looking for their big break in the land of endless hope.”
—Hector De La Torre
“From a remarkably talented storyteller… a deep tale of adventure.”
—Nicholas Schou, award-winning author of “Kill the Messenger”
“A remarkable run around the field in search of the American dream. Alex Cherin’s precise narrative is as snappy as a Polaroid camera, clicking and capturing the essence of the 70s and 80s Southern California cultural landscape. Slowly we watch each image and indelible character develop, all yearnings exposed; we travel neighborhood by neighborhood—from Didion-esque suburbia to Baja California, all field by the heart and soul of an immigrant past and a collective hope for salvation and greater purpose. Turn the dial to the Mighty 690 and play the game, follow the clues—you just may find your own treasure, or learn a thing or two, in Alex Cherin’s great American field of dreams. A home run of a novel. I loved it!”
—Jane Creed, founder of First Bloom Studio
“In the ‘Mighty Six-Ninety,’ Alex Cherin weaves together small lives and large hopes into such a compelling tapestry that we find ourselves cheering far too loudly, hoping against hope, even when we sense that the odds are stacked against us. After all, what are the odds when the stakes amount to—well, everything?”
—James Kincaid, Aerol Arnold Professor of English at the University of Southern California and author of “Annoying The Victorians”
“Mayhem, spies, murder, intrigue, cold cases…you will get none of that in ‘The Might 690.’ You will get an engaging story, get to know interesting characters drawn as real people, and a riveting and heartwarming tale of perseverance and determination. Alex Cherin puts you in the stands cheering for the characters he develops so well. You will love ‘The Mighty 690.'”
—Bob Foster, former Mayor of Long Beach, California
“Cherin’s story, equal parts engaging and evocative, feels human and lived-in. A thoroughly enjoyable and skillfully crafted tale.”
—Kirkus Reviews