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NOVELS BY RICHARD M. BROCK
HURRICANE CANOE: AN ADIRONDACK WILDERNESS THRILLER (NEW RELEASE)
HURRICANE CANOE: AN ADIRONDACK WILDERNESS THRILLER (NEW RELEASE)
HURRICANE CANOE: AN ADIRONDACK WILDERNESS THRILLER (NEW RELEASE)
“An exhilarating exercise in suspense. . . Playing out against the majestic peaks and lush valleys of the Adirondack Mountains, [Hurricane Canoe is] a devilish, terrifying game of cat and mouse . . . maintaining the intensity at a fever pitch from its arresting start to a shocking conclusion.” —KIRKUS REVIEWS
Recommended in Adirondack Life
“An exhilarating exercise in suspense. . . Playing out against the majestic peaks and lush valleys of the Adirondack Mountains, [Hurricane Canoe is] a devilish, terrifying game of cat and mouse . . . maintaining the intensity at a fever pitch from its arresting start to a shocking conclusion.” —KIRKUS REVIEWS
Recommended in Adirondack Life Magazine's 2023 edition of "Regional Reads"!
Two men paddle into the wild, each with his own secrets.
Gilbert Willards is a socially awkward professional poker player with no interest in camping or canoeing. His would-be brother-in-law, Trent, on the other hand, is a capable outdoorsman—but one with a shadowy past and volatile psyche.
A freak storm lurks beyond the mountains.
When the pouring rain and flash floods of a wayward Atlantic hurricane threaten to strand the two men deep in the Adirondack wilderness, their only escape looks to be a perilous mountain trek through increasingly severe weather.
Waters and tensions rise.
With their lives on the line, and escalating conflicts between them, the pair must put the past and future aside and find a way to work together in a harrowing race against time and the elements—and their own worst natures.
But how far is each man willing to go to survive? And what dark motivations led to this strained excursion in the first place?
With warm summer lakes, cold calculations, and a relentlessly challenging wilderness, Hurricane Canoe delivers a wildly entertaining, suspense-filled adventure perfect for a backcountry lean-to.
CROSS DOG BLUES: BOOK ONE OF A GREAT LONG STORY TO TELL
HURRICANE CANOE: AN ADIRONDACK WILDERNESS THRILLER (NEW RELEASE)
HURRICANE CANOE: AN ADIRONDACK WILDERNESS THRILLER (NEW RELEASE)
“Artfully combining fact and fiction, this is storytelling at its best, with a plot that surprises at every twist and turn.”
—Fortean Times Magazine
“Poignant. . . Insightful. . . A heartening read for blues fans as well as anyone interested in the history of American music and civil rights.”
—Kirkus Reviews
Fast, powerful, and entertaining.
“Artfully combining fact and fiction, this is storytelling at its best, with a plot that surprises at every twist and turn.”
—Fortean Times Magazine
“Poignant. . . Insightful. . . A heartening read for blues fans as well as anyone interested in the history of American music and civil rights.”
—Kirkus Reviews
Fast, powerful, and entertaining. From upstate New York to the Mississippi Delta, Cross Dog Blues is a thrilling journey through the American landscape that spans from 1903 to 2002 and plays out over the wails of the birth of the Delta blues.
1915: In a moonlit room in a boarding house in Texas, Charlie Patton—the enigmatic “inventor” of blues music—founds a shadowy alliance with Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter and Blind Lemon Jefferson. A pact is made, and the seeds of revolution are sown. Back at the Dockery Plantation in the Mississippi Delta, with the help of the likes of Son House, Howlin‘ Wolf, Robert Johnson, and others, Charlie’s plan spreads across the South, and then across the country. But these bluesmen have no way of knowing where this dangerous road will lead—or who is watching.
2002: Franklyn O’Connor—an adventurous and penniless youth—sits at the lonely train station in his small upstate New York hometown holding a one-way ticket to the Crossroads in the Mississippi Delta. There he hopes to track down his father, who disappeared when Frank was five. With nothing but his rucksack and the unsolicited assistance of a little old man called Furry Jenkins, Frank soon unwittingly drifts into the middle of a combustible racial feud at the intersection of a still divided society, a shocking truth waiting down the line.
With the rambling pioneers of blues music leading an unforgettable cast of characters, this raw, rousing, and adventurous debut novel delivers a breathtaking view of life, livin’, love, and hate in America in the 20th century, and the mysterious beginnings of the music that provided the soundtrack for it all.
UP A TREE: A NOVEL
HURRICANE CANOE: AN ADIRONDACK WILDERNESS THRILLER (NEW RELEASE)
UP A TREE: A NOVEL
“A perfect blend of Mark Twain-style color undercut by modern humor. Ruby and Quinn are a Tom and Huck for the 21st century. True brilliance . . . in the finest American tradition.” —Kirkus Reviews
The madcap adventures of a boy named Ruby in search of answers across the American landscape.
The trouble begins for young Ruby and his best fri
“A perfect blend of Mark Twain-style color undercut by modern humor. Ruby and Quinn are a Tom and Huck for the 21st century. True brilliance . . . in the finest American tradition.” —Kirkus Reviews
The madcap adventures of a boy named Ruby in search of answers across the American landscape.
The trouble begins for young Ruby and his best friend, Quinn, after an accident in the forest outside their rural Adirondack hometown. Their attempt to cover-up their mistake ignites a local skirmish with one of the most influential families in America and leads to Ruby's death—or so everyone thinks. Plenty alive and sensing an adventure, Ruby disappears and soon weaves his way across the country in a series of narrow escapes from danger. Journeying from the Adirondacks, through New York City, and into the heart of the American West, Ruby and Quinn discover the importance of true friendship, the meaning of family, and the immensity of the world beyond their backyards.