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Blood & Black Water by Michael G. Stephens

A series of brutal, unexplained murders shatters a coastal hamlet in a fictional Florida county between Amelia Island and Jacksonville, and the townspeople react with terror and suspicion.

About the book

This novel takes place in a fictional county that I have placed between Amelia Island and Jacksonville, Florida. However, the location is typical of rural north Florida, and a great deal of effort has been make to capture the "local color". When a series of brutal, unexplained murders shatter the quiet of this coastal hamlet, the reactions of the townspeople to the terror and suspicion they feel is a crucial element to the novel. Of greater importance, however, is the impact the slayings have on one particular character, and the friends who surround him. Jake Wilder is an unusual and engaging character, one whose past haunts him, for he is a man in search of redemption. He belongs to the tradition in American literature of the "isolato" character type, operating "outside" of society, and attempting to come to terms with his place in the world. Unfortunately for him, a vindictive lawman singles Wilder as the prime suspect in the murder investigation, which further taints his reputation, and drives Jake (temporarily) back into drug abuse. As the killings continue, each victim is someone Jake knew. An enemy from Jake's past, the seducer of his ex-wife, is murdered by the use of a medieval device of torture called a "strappado." The resident homeless person, a one-armed lunatic, is killed with a refrigerator. Jake loses his job, and the remainder of his self-respect. It didn't help that Wilder beds two different women during this difficult period in his life. Both affairs end badly, and Jake realizes that both of his lovers had used and manipulated him. Another crushing blow that Jake suffers is when he finds himself at the scene of a murder, and the police en route to make an arrest. Jake then escapes into the Okefenokee Swamp, where he survives and outwits one of the largest manhunts in the history of Florida. During his exile into the great swamp, the murders continue, and Jake is technically no longer a suspect. But during his absence the madman has dispatched two of his closest friends. Jake vows revenge. He begins to suspect a man who has been at his side throughout the novel, a man he owes an old debt to. So Jake breaks into his friend's house and discovers that he is, in fact, the killer. That same night, Jake waits in his own home, sure that his buddy will try to silence him. When the murderer arrives, Jake is waiting and exacts some measure of revenge. The novel ends with Jake forging a new life for himself.

About the author

I was born in Somerset, Kentucky in August of 1956, the son of a man who was the first of his family to escape the hardships of the coal mines. I graduated from Madison Central High School in Richmond, Kentucky and won a baseball scholarship to Cumberland College as a catcher - the only position a slow-footed youngster could play. Despite working on the school newspaper and still having the baseball scholarship, I left Cumberland due to bad grades and a failed love affair with a woman several years my senior. I returned to Richmond and began attending Eastern Kentucky University as an English major, finally hitting an academic stride and making the Dean's List several times. I graduated in 1981 with a B.A. in English, and received my M.A. in English Education in 1983. My jobs during the college years included pumping gas with thieves and down-on-their-luck Vietnam veterans. Also, I managed a liquor store where I was exposed to abusive alcoholics, nasty bootleggers, whimpering winos, and party animals of all sorts. In 1983 I began a teaching career at Camden County High School, which is just north of the geographic location of my novel, Blood and Black Water. At night I taught college courses for Georgia Military Academy at the Kings Bay Naval Base. While at CCHS, I became the sports editor of the local newspaper and coached baseball, basketball, and football - although not at the same time. I also started a drama program at CCHS, directing M*A*S*H, The Return of the Pink Panther, The Passion of Dracula, and The Crucible for the high school stage. Besides my wife, my major passion is golf. But even though I manage to sneak in an occasional round in the seventies, I am still the worst golfer in my family. My brothers include a golf professional and two notorious hustlers, and they have no mercy for their older sibling on the links.

Archived from the Harris Literary Agency website. The agency's listing is reproduced as published, with contact details removed.

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