Does exactly what it says in the title. Totally inspired by Stephen King and my (golly) real-life experiences in and around Norfolk, Virginia during the early fall of 2004[1] . This one moves fast. It’s got swagger. It curses way too much. And it’s covered in bloodshed and suspense. It’s also got some good jokes.
This was written in the 6 months or so leading up to the release of Dear Al-Qaeda, which I was convinced would (at the very least) get enough attention so this one would get published and make me a star.[2]
When I started writing the book, I joked to my friends that it was going to be a cross between Da Vinci Code and Animal Farm. It sounded nice at the time. After all, I figured it would be a thriller, and there would be animals. Ironically enough, the book has actually taken on the quality of a fable. Because, at a certain point, we are no longer simply talking about web designers and animals, or activists and peninsulas.
I also told people it was going to do for contemporary literature what Independence Day did for movies.
When I finished the book, I decided it was more of a cross between Alice in Wonderland and Crime and Punishment. Like Alice, the main character is thrust into an unfamiliar environment filled with strange characters and forced to learn the rules as she goes. The book never shifts from her perspective, and also like Alice, it is only her resourcefulness and newfound inner strength that gets her out alive.
And like Raskolnikov, the main character’s spiritual growth comes with a body count.
Also, I should probably point out that I am not an animal rights activist. I neither support nor condemn their cause. And this book is not concerned with either side of any ideology, it is interested only in the contradictions and rationalizations that come from total commitment to a cause, the paranoia that mindset creates and its potential for violence.
It’s available as an e-book for $2.99.
You can buy it for your Kindle here.
You can buy it for your Nook here.
1 And by the real-life implosion of a romantic relationship in Athens, Ga shortly thereafter.
2This is a recurring theme in these stories, my quest for stardom. I think it’s safe to say that this website, and the concurrent publication of all these e-books, can be seen as an admission of defeat. I don’t think it’s that simple, but the theory wouldn’t be entirely wrong.
Scott Creney 