On an otherwise ordinary spring day in sunny Jacksonville, Florida, an unhinged gunman shreds the fabric of a nation in yet another outburst of senseless gun violence. His victims are primarily children-innocents walking home from school in those final fleeting days before the promise of spring break and time spent with family and friends. When the families of the loved and the lost unite in a push for meaningful reform in the national gun laws, the National Rifle Association squelches their efforts with a series of backroom dealings and political saber-rattling. Nothing changes; but, for so many, nothing will ever be the same again. This is Darren Torrance's sudden reality-a life without his family in a world that no longer makes sense. But there is something he can do. A change that he can make in the names of his son and his wife. Every few years, a celebration of opulence and excess known simply as the Gathering takes place in the heart of the Florida Everglades. Similar to the infamous Bohemian Grove meetings in California, the Gathering is a week-long celebration of privilege and wealth as attendees shape political policy and forge business deals. Jackson Ashcroft-the controversial and charismatic President of the NRA-is attending this year and celebrating yet another successful anti-regulatory campaign season. If Torrance can utterly transform himself and blend into his surroundings in the River of Grass, he just might be able to provide Ashcroft with the ultimate Everglades survival experience. Down in the Sawgrass Boneyard is Darren's story of transformation and redemption, as vengeance blooms among the swamp lilies in this gritty thriller about the power and persistence of a father's love for his family.
Autorentext
Daniel Powell teaches a variety of courses at a small college in Northeast Florida. He is an avid outdoorsman and long-distance runner, and enjoys fishing the tidal creeks of Duval County from atop his kayak.
He shares a small house near Florida's Intracoastal Waterway with his wife, Jeanne, and his daughter, Lyla. His stories have appeared in Redstone Science Fiction, Brain Harvest, Leading Edge, Something Wicked and Well Told Tales.
Drop by The Byproduct, his web journal on speculative storytelling, at www.danielwpowell.blogspot.com.