EL CAMINO LOCO: An Epic Misadventure

by Kenneth E. Nowell

Flounder O’Toole is on a treadmill to nowhere. But after one spectacularly bad night, a famous former classmate offers him and his best friends an unlikely opportunity: backpack across Spain, on camera, for a shot at a million-dollar prize.

Bella Ventura’s chosen course is the Camino de Santiago, the ancient pilgrimage trail famous for its scenic landscapes, historic villages, and mystical lore. Whoever completes the 500-mile hike within thirty-three days will share the prize.

To the clueless crew, it sounds like easy money. But Bella has also devised a list of Camino Commandments sure to make blisters the least of their problems.

Step-by-step through the beautiful Spanish countryside, secrets surface, suspicions deepen, and Bella’s demands evolve from difficult to dangerous to deadly.

What has changed the old friend they thought they knew? Is Bella seeking ratings, relationships, or revenge?

An amusingly bittersweet tale of failure and forgiveness, of losing and finding your way. Inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy, El Camino Loco is a humorous and heartfelt modern-day misadventure in which even the worst detours can lead to the life we love.

294 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2026

About the author

Kenneth E. Nowell—entrepreneur, lawyer, legislator, and author. An avid pilgrim and purposeful traveler, Ken has completed six Camino backpacking journeys in Spain and Italy. The landscapes, challenges, and unexpected encounters of those adventures helped inspire El Camino Loco, his latest, humorous adventure novel. He lives on the Treasure Coast of Florida with his high school sweetheart, Betsy, and their lovable pug, Bear Bear. His previous works include: Rome and the Vatican: Guide 4 Pilgrims, which became Amazon's #1 bestselling Vatican travel guide; as well as The Trials and Triumph Trilogy, apocalyptic thrillers based on true but little-known prophecies of saints. They are individually titled: The Rise; The Rebellion; and The Return. Also, he has edited a variety of Christian master works, known as Vero House abridged classics.

Reviews

[Pranav Bhatnagar]

El Camino Loco was one of those books where I kept laughing at Flounder while also wondering how on earth he was going to get himself out of the next situation. His voice is what pulled me in. He tells his own story with so much confidence that even when things are clearly going wrong, he somehow believes he has everything under control. I enjoyed that a lot because it makes the whole journey feel like you are sitting beside a friend who has absolutely no idea what he is doing but is having the time of his life anyway. The Beaver Gang was another big part of the fun for me. Their friendship feels like something that has survived years of bad decisions, unemployment, arguments, and life simply moving on. There is a lot of silliness between them, but underneath it you can tell these people genuinely care about one another. I also enjoyed the change in atmosphere when the story moves beyond Beaverburg. Flounder suddenly finds himself dealing with a world much bigger than the one he has known, and watching him try to make sense of it is half the entertainment. Bella adds another side to the story too, especially because Flounder remembers her from a very different time in their lives. What I did not expect was how much the story would make me think underneath all the jokes. Flounder is looking for something more than another adventure. He is trying to figure out what to do with a life that has not gone the way he imagined. That gave the humor a little more meaning for me. I laughed a lot while reading this, but I also found myself rooting for Flounder to finally discover what his next step should be. It is ridiculous, warm, and very easy to get swept along with.