The Hitchhiking Effect

Synopsis

Spans Gene O'Neill's thirty-year-plus writing career, including his first major sale, "The Burden of indigo," to the The Twilight Zone Magazine. In time, O'Neill would develop this short tale of a dyed criminal's search for salvation, into a full-length novel, eventually resulting in the much-anticipated four-book Cal Wild Chronicles, set in post-apocalyptic California. O'Neill's autobiographical introduction candidly explains the significance of this collections title. Four Stoker Award finalists are included among these brilliant, gritty stories, including "Balance," a Marine vet's struggle to keep the world balanced; RUSTING CHICKENS, a Marine's return to a home possibly more dangerous and surreal than his deployment in Afghanistan; THE CONFESSIONS OF ST. ZACH, the first book of the Cal Wild; and an intriguing novelette, THE HUNGRY SKULL: a jump-pilot, half-man, half-machine, defines what character is--with a shocking ending. A novelette of supernatural obsession, FIREBUG was written especially as an end note for this retrospective, a signature event in Gene O'Neill's award-winning career. Review Praise for Gene O'Neill: " … a compelling, surreal tale of crime and redemption. Its beautiful central image will stick in the reader's mind for years to come. This is O'Neill at his finest." --Kim Stanely Robinson, multiple Nebula and Hugo award-winning novelist"Haunting, lyrical and often uncomfortably realistic … minds changed grief, chemistry, or too much hard living … deft, authentic prose resonates with the weight of sad reality, erasing the line between knowledge and fear. "His words bristle with a muscular intensity that strengthens any book or magazine lucky to contain him." --Scott Edelman editor of Sci-Fi Channel Magazine About the Author Gene O'Neill has seen 150 of his short stories and novelettes published. He's published five novels. He has been nominated for the Bram Stoker Award nine times, winning the haunted house twice. He currently writes full time and lives in the Napa Valley with his wife, Kay.