Wild Oblivion

Coming OCTOBER 12th, 2021 Ghosts. Soul-eating wolves. World-consuming woods. A friendship that defies death. Elizabeth 'Liz' Raleigh has lost everything: her job as a police detective, her partner, her fiancé, and her peace of mind. After a month of solitude at a cabin in the woods, she finally feels as though she's ready to move on. But in one terrifying night, everything changes. Liz's partner, Brody, appears in the form of a ghost. He's one of millions that have returned to haunt their loved ones. Brody can't remember how he died and Liz is determined to keep the secret of it buried, for it means dredging up crushing memories. Along with him comes an unearthly forest purgatory that swallows up every sign of human civilization across the world. The woods are fraught with disturbing architecture and monstrous wolves hungry for human souls. Brody says he escaped from them and that the wolves are trying to drag him and others ghosts back. As winter closes in and chaos erupts across New England, Liz fights desolation, resurfacing guilt, and absolute terror as she tries to survive one of the most brutal winters she's ever seen.

It has been ten years since the Merging, since the Woods began taking over the world, since ghosts returned to haunt their loved ones. Liz Raleigh has hidden in the New England wilderness with Hank, his daughter, Evie, and their small group, trying to eke out a small but normal life. Though Liz longs to forget the time she spent attached to her best friend and lover, Brody's ghost, she finds herself pursued by a shadow of his former self and dreams of a life they could have lived together had he not died. The Woods and the wolves that live inside them continue to threaten the group's existence, looming closer every day. Liz feels drawn to them, to the feeling that deep inside the trees is a way to end the reign the Woods have over the world. What's worse is that they seem different inside, darker and emptier than when she visited them years before. Hope comes in the discovery of a self-sustained community, Onyx River: a place run by wind and solar power where other colonies have supposedly fled to with the opportunity to live life the way they used to. Upon arrival, however, they find the place abandoned and, after tragedy strikes, they realize this place might not be as promising as they once believed. Both Liz and Evie will face not only their worst fears but the ones they couldn't even imagine were lurking in the woodland oblivion.

"I am losing all the little things that make me who I am..." Brody Aritza was lost to the Wild Dark when he was killed in the line of duty. But then something happened. The thin wall between life and death parted and he found his way back, back to the woman he loved. It wasn't right though: he was dead and she was alive and they couldn't be together. But he found a way to fix it. He could possess others to keep her safe and maybe...maybe they could be together after all. Orchards takes place after the shocking conclusion of THE WILD DARK. Thrust into darkness once more, Brody must sift through time and memory as he clings to what little pieces of humanity remain in his ruinous soul. This short story will leave readers hungry for THE WILD FALL: Book Two of The Wild Oblivion, coming in 2023.