SOLVED. Fantasy (Urban) - Talking Crab

[Chris]

The protagonist is a normal 'suburban' guy who suddenly realises/is told/finds out that he must go on an adventure/quest of some sort. I can't remember how or why he finds out. But he goes into another dimension to complete this adventure/quest, where a companion/mentor is a talking crab.


SPOILER BELOW







A couple of further points that are spoilers:
(view spoiler)[- he successfully completes the quest and returns home to his suburban life
- when he completes it and is home, his wife seems to realise and understand where he's been and what he's done...and he recalls when, some time ago, she had to suddenly to go a work conference (or similar) and was out of touch for some time...the strong implication is that she had had to do her own adventure/quest back then, so she knows what he went through. (hide spoiler)]

[Chris]

Okay, I posted this about fifteen minutes ago, and then, spurred by doing so, I had another try at googling for it. Lo! and behold, I found it. It's The Hike, by Magary Drew. Highly recommended.