Coming in 2024: Darkness in the Redwoods

Neil’s first novel, Darkness in the Redwoods, is scheduled to appear in print in late 2024. It’s a mystery involving Inspector Kevin Valken (who appeared in three stories in Flashes of Lightning) and Detective Naomi Risling of the Northport Police Department. Valken, the Department's senior investigator, has PTSD from capturing a serial killer, and unresolved grief about his wife and daughter being killed by a drunk driver. Risling, the Department's sharpshooter, is a Native American woman from the beautiful Hoopa Valley reservation who feels frustrated that law enforcement doesn’t prioritize searching for missing Indigenous women, just white ones. These trustworthy and experienced partners search for a judge's missing granddaughter, which leads to another missing woman, dangerous felons and several murders. The novel occurs during a typical dark rainy winter in Northern California. 

The story takes place in and around the fictitious rural town of Northport on California’s north coast. Residents and lovers of beautiful Humboldt County will place Northport near Arcata, McKinleyville and Trinidad, but they must not expect to recognize all of the topography or locations, such as the town itself, the police station, roads or businesses. The names of other Humboldt County places are genuine, to add authenticity to fictitious characters, settings and events. But any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales, is coincidental and exists in the imagination of the readers or author.