Books by Eric Douglas

Thriller fiction and Non-fiction

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  • Mike Scott Thrillers
    • Held Hostage: Search for the Juncal
    • Water Crisis: Day Zero
    • Turks and Chaos: Hostile Waters
    • The 3rd Key: Sharks in the Water
    • Oil and Water: Crash in Curacao
    • Return to Cayman: Paradise Held Hostage
    • Heart of the Maya: Murder for the Gods
    • Wreck of the Huron: Cuban Secrets
    • Guardians’ Keep: Mystery below the Adriatic
    • Flooding Hollywood: Fanatics at the Dam
    • Cayman Cowboys: Reefs Under Pressure
  • Withrow Key
    • Lyin’ Fish
    • Tales from Withrow Key
  • Thriller Audiobooks
    • Cayman Cowboys: Reefs Under Pressure
    • Oil and Water: Crash in Curacao
    • Return to Cayman: Paradise Held Hostage
    • Turks and Chaos: Hostile Waters
    • Lyin’ Fish
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  • About the Author
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  • Nonfiction
    • For Cheap Lobster
    • Heart Survivor: Recovery After Heart Surgery
    • Oral History
      • Batter Up!
      • Memories of the Valley
      • WV Voices of War / Common Valor
      • Capturing Memories: How to Record Oral Histories
    • Dive-abled: The Leo Morales Story
    • Keep on, Keepin’ On: A Breast Cancer Story
    • WV Voices of War / Common Valor
    • Russia: The New Age
    • Scuba Diving Safety
  • Free Short Fiction
  • Collections
    • Mike Scott Box Set 3 (Books 7-10)
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Read my latest essay on Substack

August 17, 2023 By Eric Douglas

I’ve started a new weekly outreach on Substack. This platform is popular with journalists and other writers discussing a number of topics. 

Give me a follow if you are interested in stories about writing, diving and whatever else comes along. 

Check out my latest post on the tragedy of the dive boat Conception

Boat wake in a blue ocean heading away from land.

The dive boat Conception tragedy and learning lessons

I was in Houston a little more than four years ago when I heard about the Conception dive boat tragedy. Thirty-four lives were lost that day. I think about every diver heard that story with a sinking feeling in their stomachs, imagining that it could be them. It has been termed the deadliest maritime disaster in U.S. history.

Even if they’ve never taken a liveaboard dive trip, nearly every diver has spent time on dive boats often out of sight with land. There are times you aren’t sure exactly which way land is. And that inspires thoughts of worry — even if just for a moment thinking “if this boat sinks, what do I do.”

Read more.

See previous posts. 

Filed Under: Diving Tagged With: diving, free fiction, Mike Scott thrillers, Substack, thriller novels

Build up your summer TBR pile!

June 21, 2023 By Eric Douglas

Hello friends,

Happy Summer Solstice to my friends in the northern hemisphere – and, of course, the Winter Solstice for those of you in the southern.

There’s lots going on right now and I know you likely don’t have the time or energy to read a long-winded email from me. Frankly, neither do I.

I haven’t been diving yet, but I am heading to the garage to unpack my dive gear and get it ready to head to my local inland dive site and shake the rust off. From there, I hope to be back in salt water in short order.

Me (right) and Zack Harold at Summersville Lake.

Two things: I’ve been teasing a short story for the last few months. I finished it up, but I’m taking a little break from it so I can take a last look at it with clear eyes before I make it public. Should be soon.

Second, I have started a new Mike Scott thriller novel and am making really good progress. I think I’ve said it here that I felt like I needed to get that short story off my plate to clear my mind. The flood gates seem to have opened. More on that soon.

Book deal

The Mike Scott thriller series includes nine novels and two novellas. I get asked from time to time where is the best start. The books are written so you can jump in and out with whatever story strikes your fancy, but the beginning is a great place to start, too. You can see how Mike Scott developed over the years.

With that in mind, as well as the start of summer with the solstice, the first book in the series, Cayman Cowboys: Reefs Under Pressure is on sale for a week starting today (June 21, 2023)in the Amazon store. (Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to set up the deal in the UK store this go-round.)

Book Description

Diving in Grand Cayman, magazine photographer Mike Scott notices a series of unusual occurrences including the death of a girl, a protest of new development and the systematic destruction of coral reefs. It all comes together when armed men warn him away from a dive site. Investigating, he witnesses a specially-equipped submarine destroying the reef. Before he is able to report the destruction to the authorities, he and his dive buddy, Kelly, are kidnapped–along with Kelly’s girlfriend Tanya. Friends rescue Mike and Tanya, but the assassin gets away with Kelly, taking him to die. They must race against time to save Kelly and bring down the greedy developer putting his own wealth before the beauty of the island and the welfare of the people.

Jump on it now before the price goes up.

By the way, Cayman Cowboys (and a few of my other books) is available as an Audiobook. If you’re taking a road trip this summer, take the adventure with you while you drive!

That’s enough for now. I hear the water calling me.

 

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Cayman Cowboys, Countdown deal, free fiction, Mike Scott thrillers, thriller novels

Going to the circus!

February 20, 2023 By Eric Douglas

To unfamiliar eyes, everything around them was chaos. Men and women scurried around. Some were in costumes, others in athletic training gear. A half dozen songs played as dancers practiced their choreography.  

But, to a circus performer, this was the real magic of the show. Everything it took to produce a modern-day circus was happening at once. Acrobats, clowns, gymnasts, and daredevils came together from nearly as many nations as existed on the planet. And they did it for that one kid in the front row at his first circus who was just blown away by the magic of it all.

Nearly every performer had a story about “that” kid. No matter what was going on around them, the kid would stare, and smile and yell and cheer and cry. That was what made it all worth the effort. That was why they loved it.

Before they could take the show on the road, before they could affect that child in the front row, it took hundreds of hours of sweat, blood, tears and screams of their own.

Photojournalist Mike Scott was there to capture that part of the story – the spectacle behind the spectacle at the circus’ winter home in Florida. It was circus school.

On his third day there, one of the administrators of the training program, Karl Klapproth, lead Mike around. Karl was a former performer in his own right, so he was able to give Mike special insight into some of the acts that were still in development.

“What’s this thing for,” Mike asked as they passed by a 30-foot-tall acrylic tube filled with water. The tank was like one you would find in a large public aquarium where the fish swim in the water column.

“Oh, that’s a new underwater act. The tube is six feet wide. A group of swimmers does an underwater ballet inside. They swim down in twos and threes to the bottom and perform. It’s very impressive to watch. They stay under an incredible amount of time and you wouldn’t think there was enough room for all of it, but they make it look amazing,” Karl said.

“I’ve done some freediving myself. Thirty feet is about my limit on a good day and I’m sure I wouldn’t have time on the bottom to do stunts,” Mike said. “Are they going to be practicing any time soon. I’d like to watch.”

At 6’2” and 220 pounds, with dark wavy hair, Mike was a big man. He stayed in shape mostly by traveling and being active. He loved scuba diving when he wasn’t working, and he combined his two loves into underwater photography when he wasn’t on assignment. He spent a lot of time diving the Caribbean but also loved to dive the shipwrecks near his home in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

“I’m not sure when they’re going to practice again, but I’ll be sure and find out for you,” Karl told him.

“So, is that performance going to make it in the show this year? How do you decide what acts are featured each year and which ones never leave Florida,” Mike asked as they walked away from the tank.

“It’s interesting you ask that. There is a very involved process where choreographers and designers at our headquarters review possible acts, including the staple performances that everyone expects at the circus – the clowns, the high-flying acts, that sort of thing – and decides what else can fit with the theme of the show. Each show has a look and feel, and each act has to work with that look. Then they design costumes and figure out how to make it all work together,” Karl explained.

After a particularly grueling assignment in a war zone, Mike’s boss had suggested the circus school as a story and Mike jumped at it. After just a few days, he was surprised how much the experience had affected him. Lately, telling the big stories felt like it was wearing him down. Maybe he was getting older, but it was harder and harder to move on to the next assignment. But being here was inspiring Mike all over again. People doing this for the pure joy and satisfaction of it. They couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.

Like most closed groups, the performers and stagehands met Mike with some skepticism. They had all seen their fair share of reporters and photographers come to the training ground with an angle or an axe to grind. But they soon discovered Mike was different.

“Help!” came a terrified scream from behind Mike and Karl. “Ridian fell into the tank. Someone please help!”

Mike had walked about 20 feet from the acrylic tube with Karl. He could clearly see a lifeless body sinking in the tank.

Unconscious.

Mike tossed his camera bag to Karl as he bolted for the spiral staircase that led to the top of the tank. “What happened?” Mike shouted as he ran, taking the steps two at a time.

“Ridian said his father was going to let him in the act and we snuck up here as soon as you left. He was showing off and then slipped and hit his head. He just sank,” the young girl said as she began to sob.

When Mike reached the top of the stairs, he immediately stripped down to his shorts.

The sprint to the tank and charging up the stairs had Mike nearly out of breath.

He took a moment to focus on what he was going to have to do. Looking around, he saw what he would need to get down. Two weight belts were lying on the floor. The performers had been using them to train with. Each held five pounds of weight.

Mike picked up the belts and draped them over his shoulders, took three quick breaths and did his best to relax. Then he simply stepped in the water and let himself sink.

Cool water rushed all around Mike and shocked his system. It almost caused him to gasp, but he quelled the urge. He forced himself to stay relaxed and still – twisting, turning or struggling would only slow his descent. Mike wanted to save his energy. He was going to have to grab the boy and then swim up with him. That was going to be the hard part.

Mike would also be fighting a quickly dropping supply of oxygen in his system. The exertion of the swim would demand more oxygen from his body than normal. He would be cutting it close by the time he got to the surface.

Touching the hard acrylic bottom of the tank with his feet, Mike’s lungs were already beginning to burn and his mind was telling him to breathe.

Without a mask, Mike could only see blurry shapes. The performers had some equipment in the bottom of the tank that broke up his line of sight making it even harder to see.

Mike knew he had to find the boy quickly. There would be no way he could swim to the surface and make it back down again. And there was no telling when other help would arrive. He was the boy’s only hope.

Then he saw Ridian lying on the floor against a block that formed the base of one of the performer’s supports. Mike dropped to his knees and lifted the boy over his shoulder. Dropping the two weight belts, and with all the energy he had left, Mike sprang from the bottom, propelling the two of them toward the surface.

Mike kicked with his legs as hard as he could and swam upward with his free arm. His mind was screaming for fresh air. His lungs were burning. Mike swallowed, trying to put off the urge to breathe. He had no idea how far he was from the surface. Doubt started to creep into his mind. Can I make it? What if I’m too late? Should I have done this differently? What if I had…?

Mike’s vision began to grow dark and he knew he was close to blacking out.

And then his head broke the surface. As he felt the water fall away and air on his face, Mike took a deep breath. And a second one. And then he was able to focus his eyes. There were people on the stand. Hands reached out and grabbed Ridian from Mike. Others helped Mike climb out of the water.

The performers immediately began caring for the boy. One rescuer opened his airway and delivered two rescue breaths. Another performer called 911 while a third began CPR and started giving him oxygen.

After just a minute, Ridian began breathing on his own.

By the time emergency medical services had arrived the boy was beginning to regain consciousness.

There was no question in anyone’s mind that Mike had saved the boy’s life.

Mike would have won the performers’ confidence anyway, but his selfless effort to save the boy opened every door and broke down every barrier that anyone could have even thrown up. They accepted him as family and allowed him inside their homes and allowed him access to their lives without hesitation.

Finally, the circus was putting on a dress rehearsal before taking it on the road. While each of the performers had done their acts hundreds, if not thousands, of times before, this was a chance for everyone to see exactly what the show would look like. And Mike was there for that, too.

Mike didn’t look forward to editing through the images for this article. Ultimately, he might end up publishing 10 photographs from the thousands he took, but he knew he had amazing images that would reveal the circus life to his magazine’s readers. And that was what was important to him.

For him, the stress and the intensity of the assignment were over. Now, he got to enjoy this last night with his new group of friends, not as a photographer. He got to sit in the front row, in the owner’s box, and enjoy the show. He got to be the wide-eyed kid again. And he loved every minute of it.

Filed Under: Books, Free Fiction Tagged With: adventure, diving, free fiction, Mike Scott thrillers, scuba, thriller novels

Everyone loves a Christmas ghost story…

December 22, 2018 By Eric Douglas

Have you ever wondered about the line in the song “Scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago?” People used to gather around the hearth at the winter solstice, days before Christmas, and tell ghost stories to each other.

For several years running now, Loren Eaton has organized the Advent Ghosts collection. (He did take a year off, but the birth of a new child will do that.) He coerces as group of writers to submit original scary Christmas/Solstice-themed stories. The catch is, the stories must be 100 words, no more, no less.

Writing flash fiction is always an interesting exercise in telling a story, with the intent of making someone’s skin crawl using only 100 words. It is just as important what you leave out as what you put in.

Below are my submissions to the effort this year. If you want to read more, go to the Shared Storytelling: Advent Ghosts page on Loren’s I Saw Lightning Fall page and follow the links. There are already a bunch there and more will come throughout the day.

You can also see past year’s submissions on my Free Fiction page.

Enjoy!

Roasting Over an Open Fire

Nothing says the holidays for me like the smell of fresh meat cooking over an open fire in the fireplace. There is just a magical feeling that comes with it. I have so many family memories of hunting with my father and grandfather. And for them, generations before that. I can’t wait to eat.

This year we are going to have a special treat, too. As soon as we get those eight reindeer butchered.

But first, we have to decide what to do about the fat man in the chimney. He should’ve known there was a fire in the fireplace.

Costume?

“That’s a great costume, very realistic. But what are you doing here?”

“I’m Krampus. I take bad children and whip their parents for letting them be ill-mannered.”

“We don’t celebrate that way. We believe in free-range parenting and never discipline our kids. They learn better that way and don’t believe in things that will hurt them. We want them to have a safe space to grow up.”

“You know the real world isn’t like that, right?”

“It’s our choice to protect them and shield them from bad things. Well, anyway, that’s a nice costume.”

“Who said it was a costume?”

Filed Under: Free Fiction Tagged With: advent ghosts, flash fiction, free fiction, ghost story

Cliff was his own man

August 20, 2017 By Eric Douglas

Cliff was his own man.  That much was for sure. All the guys at the rally the night before told him so. When they were all chanting together, listening to what the leader told them, and shouting back jeers and cheers, where appropriate, he felt important and independent. No fake scientists with their fake news were going to change his mind.

This morning he turned on the news, but it was the same old drivel again. News reporters, paid for by the liberals and the elites, talking about global warming. Don’t they know it’s actually a cooling period? The earth is getting colder, not hotter. He had read that just a few days ago on the internet site he followed regularly. They reported on stuff the mainstream media wouldn’t tell anyone. It’s all a big hoax.

“I mean literally, follow the money. The crybabies just want to make money and keep people like me working minimum wage jobs. It’s all just a scam to keep people like me down.”

The grand exalted leader said that at the rally last night, too.

Scientists? They don’t know what they are talking about. He had read that all the scientists who said global warming was a hoax had been silenced. They lost their jobs or were shouted down the liberal media. Science was all about the money, too. He knew more than all of them did.

Heading to work at the job he hated, he almost forgot it was the day of the big eclipse. He hoped his boss let them go outside for a few minutes to check it out and see what all the fuss was about.

The day wore on into the afternoon and it was close to time for the eclipse. In fact, looking out the window, Cliff could tell it was getting darker outside.

“Hey guys,” the boss said. “It’s time for the eclipse. Let’s all go outside and watch. I even got special eclipse glasses for you. I don’t want any of you to hurt your eyes.”

Most of the staff was excited about the chance to watch the eclipse although a few were more interested in the chance to take a break and stay on the clock. Nothing like getting paid for a few minutes without having to do anything for it.

Cliff took the paper glasses from his boss, but didn’t like the look of them.

“Another scam. I wonder how much some ‘scientist’ made off these things,” he said and tossed his glasses to the ground.

“It’s time. Everyone, put on your eclipse glasses.”

Cliff stood at the back of the group and watched his co-workers put on their goofy glasses and stare at the sky while it got darker.

“We’ve survived for hundreds of years without these stupid glasses and now we all have to have them or the scientists say our heads are going to explode or something. I don’t believe it. Just like global warming. It’s not real.”

Cliff looked straight at the sun as the eclipse reached its peak. He wasn’t going to listen to any stupid scientist.

He was his own man.

Filed Under: Free Fiction Tagged With: flash fiction, free fiction

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How I got into diving!

https://youtu.be/gKhw-4tORAM

Real Thugs: A Cult of Murder — Small groups of travelers have disappeared all over the mid-Atlantic without a trace. When bodies turn up with what appear to be ritual markings, FBI Agent AJ West is on the hunt for what might be a serial killer. Or something even more sinister. It’s a race against […]

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