Thriller Novel Commemorates 30th Anniversary of 1994 Ice Storm
OXFORD, MS / ACCESSWIRE / January 26, 2024 / As winter storms strand people and officials encourage residents to stay indoors, this wintery weather may bring back memories to some readers of another major storm that ravaged the South 30 years ago this coming February 9, 2024.
To one Southern author, the memory of the storm (and the lessons learned from it) fueled his next novel. One Icy Night: A Rook Thriller is a new release from multi-award-winning Mississippi writer W.A. Pepper and is "gritty, unexpected, and hard to put down (Midwest Book Review)."
"That Ice Storm redefined the way I live," says Pepper, a USA Today Bestselling author. "My wife and I keep bottled water, canned goods, and more on hand at all times. We have gas heat and a gas stove. These were not just useful, but necessary, during the 1994 Ice Storm. A number of large trees surrounded my childhood home. Throughout the night, sounds like gunfire popped as limb after limb struggled to handle the 3X to 4X their weight in ice. Thunderous crashes echoed through our home as trees toppled. Finally, the booms of power lines crashing and transformers exploding added to the chaos."
One Icy Night, Pepper’s second full-length novel takes place in the Mississippi Delta during this 1994 Ice Storm and follows Rook, a 20-year-old who is on the run from the law. After being abandoned by her now-ex-boyfriend at a dive bar in the middle of nowhere, she’s trapped by a deadly ice storm that destroys everything around her. It is only when she escapes to a secluded cabin does Rook discover she isn’t the only one in need of rescue.
The thriller is already receiving positive praise from reviewers and readers alike. The readers from the reviewer-led website Goodreads have this to say about One Icy Night: "One of my favorite thrillers to date! (K.C.)" and "It is thrilling, suspenseful, disturbing, witty and funny at times. You will not believe the ending! (E.S.)."
About the 1994 storm, Pepper adds, "Over 350,000 people went without power for an average of seven days, and that was just in Mississippi. My family went without it for three weeks, and we were on the same power grid as the hospital. Overall, almost 26,000 power line poles covered yards and streets. At the time, this was the largest and costliest disaster in Mississippi Power & Light history. Alabama and Tennessee each had damage reaching over half a billion. Mississippi wasn’t as lucky, where the damage and loss of revenue reached over two billion."
Hustle Valley Press released One Icy Night: A Rook Thriller on January 26, 2024. It is available to order through your local bookstore, library, and all major retailers and distributors, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Ingram Spark.
To contact the author or for photos and reference materials, please visit https://www.wapepperwrites.com.
Contact Information
Taddy Pepper
Publisher
queen@hustlevalleypress.com
6623160085
SOURCE: Hustle Valley Press
View the original press release on newswire.com.