Snapped

Dead Lake #2

by Murphy Edwards

Dead Lake Book 2
It has been three weeks since the attacks in Vivid Valley—attacks spawned when the curse of the ancient Adena tribe unleashed its fury and earned the area’s largest body of water the name ‘Dead Lake.’ The lake is now deserted. Many tourists and patrons have been swallowed up by hideous creatures knifing through the tainted waters. Others fled for their lives to avoid becoming the next meal of terrified human flesh. Now, after the desecrated remains of sacred burial grounds have poured out their wrath, the truth about Vivid Valley Lake is rising to the surface.

232 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 7, 2014

About the author

Murphy Edwards is the award winning author of "Serious Money", "Bumper Music", "Heavy Weather", "Noodlers", and "The Last Days of Maxwell Sweet". His work has appeared in Dimensions Magazine, The East Side Edition, Black October, Horizons, MidAtlantic Monthly, Modern Drummer, The Nor'Easter, Walking Bones, Escaping Elsewhere, Trail of Indiscretion, Hardboiled Magazine, Barbaric Yawp, Samsara, The Magazine of Suffering, The Nocturnal Lyric, Night Chills, Big Pulp Magazine, Criminal Class Review and in the anthologies Dead Bait (Severed Press), Assassin's Canon (Utility Fog Press), Abaculus II (Leucrota Press), Night Terrors (Blood Bound Books), Unspeakable (Blood Bound Books), Bloody Carnival (Pill Hill Press), Dead Bait II (Severed Press), Indiana Horror 2011, Indiana Horror 2012 (Indiana Horror Writer's Association), Dead Bait III (Severed Press), Grave Robbers (Static Movement) and Serial Killers 2 (Static Movement). His short story, "Mister Checkers", was chosen to be among the best in science fiction, fantasy and horror of 2009 for the Leucrota Press Anthology, Abaculus III. Edwards is a 2011 recipient of The Midwest Writers Workshop Writers Retreat Fellowship Award for Fiction and is the Co-Editor / Publisher of Indiana Crime 2012. In addition to the United States, Edwards has been published in Ireland, Australia, South Africa, and the U.K. He resides in Indiana and on the web at http://murphyedwards.wordpress.com and murphy.edwards96@facebook.com

Reviews

[John Dizon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Snapped by Murphy Edwards is the sequel to his Dead Lake action-adventure novel, picking up where the original left off without missing a rapid heartbeat. This time around, Deputy Sheriff Sherri Englund is trying to pick up where Charlie Nickles left off. Only the Department of Natural Resources Sergeant has gone AWOL, and Sherri is pressed to divulge his whereabouts. Once again the local teens are causing consternation among the residents of Vivid Valley, and Lace and her friends Slug and Hewie are at the top of Sherri’s mischief-maker list. To top it off, the morally-questionable Mayor Snow has an eye for the attractive deputy. You’d think our gal Sherri has enough on her plate – but once again, there’s a teenage mutant (ninja?) turtle on the loose.

Once again the author provides us with a fast-paced narrative though this is more character-driven than the debut novel. Duncan Eggars joins ‘The Man Who Never Sleeps’ on the missing list, and Perry ‘Boots’ Traylor soon finds that both Egg and Charlie are snooping around what is still known as Dead Lake. Friendships are created and bonds are forged, and soon Egg and Lace are drawn together as they join Boots and Charlie in search of the killer at the lake. Is it a crazed fiend on the loose, or has the curse of the Adena tribe lingered in claiming the lives of the innocents at Vivid Valley Lake?

For horror fans and action buffs alike, Snapped by Murphy Edwards is one you’ll want to bring along on your next camping trip. Be prepared to end up sleeping with the lantern on.