Russell Hill
The Egret
(Pleasure Boat Studio, July 2018)
A hit and run driver pinwheeled his daughter’s car into the waters of Tomales Bay and his life is turned upside down. Then the sheriff’s detective tells him he may have found the driver, a rich man who lives nearby. Fueled by his anger and an overwhelming desire for revenge, he plots ways to make his daughter’s killer suffer and die. Like the predatory egret, he stalks his victim, waiting for the right moment to strike. Drowning in the sea, rattlesnakes and crude bombs are parts of his obsessive pursuit, leading to the inevitable violence of what he imagines to be the final strike of the egret’s sharp beak.
Russell Hill is a three-time nominee for the Edgar Allen Poe prize. His books, Lucy Boomer and THE LORD GOD BIRD have been optioned for film, and his work has been translated into French, German and Polish. He continues to write, and his latest book is THE EGRET (Pleasure Boat Studio, 2018). He lives in the San Francisco Bay area, is married, and has three grown children. He is an avid fly fisher and his book, The Search for Sheepheaven Trout has become a “cult classic” among fly fishers. Other books by Russell Hill include Letters from the Mines (poetry), The Heeler (short stories), The Edge of the Earth (a novel originally titled Cold Creek Cash Store), THE DOG SOX (a novel), DEADLY NEGATIVES (a novel), and TOM HALL AND THE CAPTAIN OF ALL THESE MEN OF DEATH (a novel).