Belize (Friends and Scammers)

He’s back! This time the Man Without a Plan lands in Belize, quickly amassing an array of new friends in a short time – some of whom can even match his penchant for being in a near-constant buzz from industrial-quantity drugs and drink.

As ever, the characters Steven ingratiates himself with become his surrogate dysfunctional family. But Tracey, Devonais, Ask Bobby!, Valentino and a pack of feral kids soon have Steven suspecting that his cheerfully transactional relationships are, in fact, ensnaring him in a web of scams. Will he be left for broke, stranded in this shabby paradise? Is his paranoia justifiable, or simply the result of continuous cocaine use? His response is to embark all together on a road trip along the coast, taking in shantytowns, fine hotels, beaches and, at a low ebb, jail.

Coarse, irresponsible and wilfully uninformed, Froelich is nevertheless observant and caring at heart – and Belize is about the ways in which chaotic, complex human beings find community, no matter where they’re from or where they’re headed.