Maine writer Crash Barry’s new novel, “Sex, Drugs and Blueberries,” gives a vivid depiction of lives entwined in the illegal drug trade in Washington County, Maine.

The 198-page book tells the story of failed Portland rocker Ben Franklin who moves Down East with his poet wife. Desperate for cash, Franklin signs on for the Maine blueberry harvest where he is lured into a seamy world of sex and drugs.

Alternating between temptation and ecstatsy, desperation and guilt, Franklin discovers how quickly things can go wrong.

Barry spent a decade as a print and radio reporter in Portland, then moved Down East in 2004, after receiving a writing fellowship from the Maine Arts Commission. Settling in Eastport, he quickly discovered that job opportunities were scarce, so he raked blueberries.

Barry lives in Hartford and worked on the book while working on a farm in Turner.

“Sex, Drugs and Blueberries,” published by Maine Misadventures of Canton, is available in print, audio and ebook formats at sexdrugsandblueberries.com.