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the novels
Body of Lies rejoins the tormented voyages of Lauren Jameson, the soulless protagonist of DROWNING. Once out from under pending criminal charges, her eventual goal is to resurrect her career as a spin doctor. First, though, she must escape the cloud of suspicion and notoriety hanging over her. To that end, she weaves an elaborate fiction to mask the villainy of what she’s done. When that fiction begins to unravel, pieces of the real truth imprison her in a deepening web of lies. Finally, she’s forced to confront an unforgiving reality that leaves her only one way out.
A DISASTROUS LEAK OCCURS IN THE REACTOR COMPARTMENT of a submarine docked at King’s Bay. The Navy brass, under duress, makes a furtive decision to pump the water overboard. The radioactivity triggers a genetic chain reaction, producing a species of mutant, humanoid sea creatures. Lurking in the waters surrounding Amelia Island, the creatures prowl the surf, attacking beachgoers, bringing tourism to its knees. When an activist lawyer’s daughter falls victim to one of those attacks, a retired submarine senior chief comes to her aid as she embarks on a crusade for the truth. Together they become embroiled in the fallout and, in time, involved with each other, as they run afoul of powerful interests determined to smother the truth.
Aboard a sailboat 300 miles at sea, an adulterous couple, gripped by panic and desperation, makes a grisly and fateful decision. Lauren and her lover, Blake, mistakenly believe that an accidental fall, stemming from a confrontation and shoving match, has killed her husband, Tim. In a spasm of fear and hysteria, the adulterous pair elects to dump Tim’s seemingly lifeless form over the side, sailing on without him. But Tim is rescued hours later, comatose and still barely alive. The enormity of their deed closes in on them, tormenting them, hounding them from one Caribbean island hideaway to the next. Their affair turns into a harrowing ordeal. Until, in the end, they turn on each other. And in a deadly dance of betrayal, the evil comes full circle.
In this sequel to Girl in the Painting, Colleen Grey flees the lingering suspicions and insularity of Amelia Island for the glamor, sophistication and international flair of Miami. Once there, as her work reaches a more cosmopolitan audience, she achieves a growing chorus of critical acclaim.
With acclaim comes celebrity and newfound wealth. Between the twin siren songs of money and fame, she’s drawn into a shadowy world of jet-setting financiers and international art dealers.
She finds herself embroiled in sinister games of hide-and-seek among hedge fund managers, Russian oligarchs, money launderers, and FBI agents who follow the money trails. When the stakes in those games turn lethal, Colleen’s improbable odyssey reverses course, in a deadly and unexpected twist.
When two teenage boys find a cellphone with a video they weren’t meant to see, they stumble into the violent world of biker gang mayhem and criminality. The phone belongs to members of a biker gang who used it to record the murder of a snitch. The bikers want it back—in the worst way. When they find out where the boys live, they’ll stop at nothing. As the bikers close in on their prey, the boys and their families are caught in the crosshairs of their ruthless desperation. Until a father decides he's had enough.
When one missing girl’s face turns up in a painting, it could be coincidence. Colleen Grey, a young artist, insists that her paintings come not from models but deep in her imagination. But when a second missing girl turns up in another painting, the parents want answers. The police, suspicious at first, now assume the worst. A tense debate rocks Amelia Island: are her paintings fired by the imagination of an artist, or the macabre signposts of a serial killer?
FROM THE VANTAGE OF HIS CELESTIAL CORPORATE CAMPUS, God nurses a seething anger. Humankind’s escalating wickedness and depravity have finally exceeded even his threshold for tolerance and patience. As Chairman and CEO of the Universe, he seeks a measure with sufficient totality to wipe the slate clean and start over. The answer is an asteroid, a big one, redirected toward Planet Earth. The countdown to doomsday has begun. And yet trusted members of his senior staff harbor misgivings. They counsel patience, urging him to reconsider, seemingly to no avail. Exhibiting a grim determination to carry through on his plan to wreak devastation on an irredeemable human race, God shows no signs of wavering. But as he watches events unfold during the tense final hours before the asteroid’s impact, inwardly he begins to grapple with the enormity of snuffing out life on Earth on such a cataclysmic scale. The fate of the world and humankind, his creations, hangs in the balance.
for book clubs
Having been invited to participate in several book club gatherings to date, I can honestly say that they are among the most rewarding and gratifying experiences I've had as an author.
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The great questions, the back and forth, the insights readers share—many of which never occurred to me as I was writing—are fascinating.
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I consider it an honor and a privilege to be invited to take part in book clubs. I encourage club members to contact me if there is interest.
where to buy
All seven novels are available online in paperback or e-book formats. Body of Lies, The Fallout, DROWNING, Girl in the Painting, Foreign Exchange and We Know Where You Live are available in paperback at The Book Loft and Story & Song.
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I would encourage Amelia Island residents, or anyone for that matter, to show your support for those two stores should you decide to purchase a copy. They and other small businesses are part of our community's quality of life. Let's help ensure they remain part of what makes Amelia Island a special place.
God Only Knows is available only through Amazon, also in paperback or Kindle formats.
about
Every web site, it seems, has an obligatory “about” section.
So here goes. Having made a comfortable living creating one form of fiction—advertising—the migration to another form, novels, was a natural extension of his career as a copywriter and
creative director in ad agency settings.
In effect, he’s gone from making good money writing
drivel, to making chicken feed writing fiction. Fortunately, the former more than paid the bills, the latter is an avocation. He is the author of seven novels, five of which are set to varying degrees on or around Amelia Island, Fla. The first novel, his initial foray into fiction,
is set primarily in Heaven. Tom and his wife Susan, a noted watercolorist, make their home on Amelia Island.
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contact
If the spirit moves you, if the
mood strikes, please, for any reason at all, contact me at tomhitchcockwrites@gmail.com