Publisher: CamCat Books
Publication Date: February 15, 2022
Page count: 384 pages
“[In this] intriguing debut . . . clear crisp prose . . . morphs from a western into a detective story with an overlay of conspiracy theories.” —Publishers Weekly
“Sparkling 1940’s dialogue, wry humor, an unpredictable yet coherent storyline, and a breezy style all his own, make Colin Holmes’ somewhat spooky novel, Thunder Road, a winner. I’ll be on the lookout for his next novel.” —Rob Leininger, author of Killing Suki Flood and the Mortimer Angel “Gumshoe” series
“This genre-defying and enormously entertaining romp is Mickey Spillane meets Whitley Strieber meets Woody Allen. I can’t remember when I’ve had so much plain old fun reading a book and just didn’t want it to end.” —Historical Novel Society, Editor’s Choice
“A carefully crafted and original suspense thriller of a read, Thunder Road by Colin Holmes is the stuff of which block-buster action/adventure movies are made. With many and unexpected plot twists and turns, Thunder Road is an inherently fascinating and entertaining novel . . .” —Midwest Book Review
INTERVIEW WITH COLIN HOLMES
How has being a Texan influenced your writing?
My family came to Texas before Stephen F. Austin and we’ve been here ever since. I grew up in the Panhandle and developed an ear for the dialect and sayings from my grandmother. For her it wasn’t just warm in the summer, it was “hotter than Hell with the heater on.” In the winter it was cold because “there’s nothing between Amarillo and the North Pole but a barb wire fence and some damn fool left the gate open.” I’ve grown up around great Texas characters and have stolen from many to spice up dialog and the humanity of the people I write about.
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
Pulling all of the different characters and threads together. Thunder Road came about when I realized that not only did several interesting coincidences happen during the summer of 1947, but there might be a means to tie them to the wreckage from the Roswell incident coming to what’s now Carswell Air Base in Fort Worth. I always wanted to write a noir detective mystery, but I didn’t want to write just another trenchcoated gumshoe. The work of Texas livestock detectives and brand inspectors gave me the perfect protagonist in Jefferson Sharp.
Did you first experience rejections when submitting this manuscript for publication?
For literally years. Thunder Road begins as a western, transitions to a noir detective story and then winds up with a sci-fi spin. I spoke with dozens of agents and reps and publishers who were intrigued by the idea and liked the work, but they had no idea how to sell it to an editor or where to shelve it at the bookstore. They weren’t wrong.
Finally, I tossed the logline out during a Twitter pitch contest and Helga Schier, who is now my editor at CamCat Books liked the idea. It took several rounds of back and forth – the first ten pages, then the first chapter, then the last chapter – before she finally asked for the full manuscript. Her vision of a genre-bending book got it into print and I can’t thank her enough.
What projects are you working on at the present?
I have a pure science fiction novel called The Oxygen Farmer which will be published by CamCat in late 2023. It’s the story of a cranky old man who has lived on the Moon longer than anyone and stumbles upon a secret that could destroy the lunar colony, ruin mankind’s first trip to Mars and maybe even end all life on earth. He’s the only one who can stop it. If he decides to.
Behind that I have a couple of other novels in progress, one of which is sequel to Thunder Road following the next adventures of Jefferson and Roni.
Before the pandemic, Colin Holmes toiled in a beige cubical as a mid-level marketing and advertising manager for an international electronics firm. A recovering advertising creative director, he spent far too long at ad agencies and freelancing as a hired gun in the war for capitalism.
As an adman, Holmes has written newspaper classifieds, TV commercials, radio spots, trade journal articles and tweets. His ads have sold cowboy boots and cheeseburgers, 72-ounce steaks, and hazardous waste site clean-up services. He’s encountered fascinating characters at every turn.
Now he writes novels, short stories and screenplays in an effort to stay out of the way and not drive his far too patient wife completely crazy. He is an honors graduate of the UCLA Writers Program, a former board member of the DFW Writers Workshop and serves on the steering committee of the DFW Writers Conference. He’s a fan of baseball, barbeque, fine automobiles and unpretentious scotch
|
12/06/22 |
Book Trailer |
|
|
12/06/22 |
BONUS Promo |
|
|
12/07/22 |
Author Interview |
|
|
12/07/22 |
BONUS Promo |
|
|
12/08/22 |
Review |
|
|
12/09/22 |
Author Interview |
|
|
12/10/22 |
Review |
|
|
12/11/22 |
Promo |
|
|
12/12/22 |
Review |
|
|
12/12/22 |
BONUS Promo |
|
|
12/13/22 |
Audiobook Review |
|
|
12/14/22 |
Review |
|
|
12/14/22 |
BONUS Promo |
|
|
12/15/22 |
Review |
oh my gosh — I LOVE those grandma quotes! And I loved the audio book of Thunder Road, too. SO good. Thanks for sharing.
Kristine Anne Hall recently posted…Thunder Road ~ Lone Star Book Blog Tours Spotlight & Giveaway!
Thanks, Kristine! And glad to know the audio is worth checking out!