My fourth book, Island Red, is available now, and if you’ve somehow missed my most recent round of aggressive social media marketing, then allow me to tell you about it. It’s a bloody piece of nautical horror crossed with roman noir, and a few other surprises mixed in along the way. It’s my most experimental novel to date in a lot of ways, and I’m glad that it’s finally been released into the wild.
I’m also excited that it’s hitting just in time for the sweltering summer months. Island Red was written to be read on the beach of your favorite vacation spot. In a perfect world, this would be sold off metal spinner racks at the beach’s Rite Aid, but that’s not going to happen in 2016 so it’s on you to give yourself the “author’s preferred” experience (and once summer passes, I’ll write another post selling this as ideal escapism during the cold winter months).
Island Red is set on the fictional island of Crystal Key, Florida (not really a Key, just named for one in an attempt to blend in with the real Florida Keys). At the outset, it’s about a small community of career fishermen ravaged by the unlikely presence of a bloodthirsty frilled shark. And that’s before a comet comes crashing out of the sky to unleash something much worse.
I’m attending Scares that Care in Virginia later this month, and because of that I’ve already begun practicing my sales pitch for three days of serious indie author hustle. Island Red is Jaws meets Night of the Creeps meets Key Largo. When you read it, that’ll make sense (hopefully).
Here’s the official Severed Press synopsis:
It’s a species that has been around for 80 million years. It has over 300 teeth in 25 rows to trap its prey. It has very rarely been found in depths above 160 feet, meaning the frilled shark has never posed a threat to humans. Until now. The residents of Crystal Key, Florida didn’t think there was anything to worry about. A missing girl with a troubled past was easy to dismiss, but that was only the beginning. When fishermen disappear and two girls are attacked on open water, everyone assumes the culprit is a predator stalking their piece of the Atlantic. But as an offseason hurricane descends, and communications with the mainland are severed, Crystal Key is about to discover that terror doesn’t only come from below.
ISLAND RED
Hold your breath. Until it’s time to scream.
This one has a few characters that I believe are among my best (and by that I mean I was genuinely sorry to leave them once I finished writing). It was a fun book to write. I created a handful of major players and knew where the story had to end up, but their placement on the board kept surprising me. One who was supposed to die just refused to go, while another who was intended to play a smaller role kept fighting for more and more page space. The writing process is weird and awesome like that, and I loved being kept off guard nearly every step of the way. I hope this is as surprising to read as it was to write.
Click the Island Red cover below to be taken over to Amazon where you can order the Kindle version. The paperback will be available in a day or two, and I’ll be sure to update this story when that happens.
Last but not least, don’t forget to leave a quick review once you’ve finished reading. Yes, your sale means a lot to me and I hate to ask for more than that, but in this day and age, a review can be even more helpful to indie authors in the long run. Thanks for considering it.
See you at the beach.
