Only in California would a New Age cult's holy teachings be contained on a 5 1/4" floppy disk--hence the title of West's droll, fast-paced debut novel set in the San Joaquin Valley. Bob Fisher, a Vietnam vet with a Ph.D. in history and an honorary Doctorate of Divinity, falls into the detecting business when he inherits an agency with an efficient secretary, and he soon earns a reputation for trouble after an on-air fistfight with an unscrupulous televangelist. Now he accepts his first important sleuthing gig: finding the missing floppy for Yogi Ben Barr and Baba Der Ursus, the mysteriously wealthy leaders of the Eternal Truth Temple. The trail leads to Christy Baker, Tom Hammerhill and Angie Fernandes, all lapsed members with a grudge and a mission.
