David Morrell

Title: The Shimmer
Series: Standalones
Published by: Vanguard Press
Pages: 352
Buy the Book: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Scrib, Smashwords, Kobo, iTunes, Audible

Synopsis

When police office Dan Page’s wife disappears, her trail leads to a remote Texas town where unexplained phenomena attract hundreds of spectators each night. Not merely curious, these onlookers are compelled to reach this tiny community and gaze at the mysterious Rostov lights. But more than the faithful are drawn there. A gunman begins firing at the lights, screaming, “Go back to hell where you came from,” then turns his rifle on the bystanders. Events quickly spiral out of control, setting the stage for even greater bloodshed. To save his wife, Page must solve the mystery of the Rostov Lights. In the process, he uncovers a deadly government secret dating back to the First World War. The lights are more dangerous than anyone ever imagined, but even more deadly are those who try to exploit forces beyond their control.

Praise

“David Morrell is, to me, the finest thriller writer living today, bar none.”
—Steve Berry 

“David Morrell’s The Shimmer showcases a master storyteller at his finest. Mysterious lights, an isolated research facility, and a cast of characters as real as your next-door neighbors elevate this techno-thriller into a masterpiece of suspense, intrigue, and terror. Once cracked open, the book demands to be read in one sitting.”
—James Rollins 

“It would be easier to explain the phenomena of the Marfa lights than it would be to explain the storytelling genius of David Morrell. It’s simply that—genius. Never does it shine through more vividly than in The Shimmer.”
—Sandra Brown 

“David Morrell has written more good thrillers than just about anyone alive.”
—Chicago Sun-Times

Backstory

The mysterious Marfa lights have been appearing outside the west Texas town of Marfa since 1889. Cattlemen thought they were marauders from Mexico. In WWI, local people feared that they were Germans on the border. In the 1950s, the classic James Dean film Giant was made there. Dean was fascinated by the lights and dragged his co-stars Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor to see them, but of the three, only Dean could see the lights. In 1980, the locals organized what they called a ghost-light hunt, but with no success. I'm so fascinated by these lights that I decided to write a fictional version of them, although fact and fiction are sometimes indistinguishable in the novel. There is indeed an abandoned WWII airbase near the lights, and there is indeed an observatory 20 miles away. I myself have seen the lights. They are as I describe them. The night I was there, a researcher set up an array of cameras that were pointed toward the lights. Every night, he came to check the images the numerous cameras recorded. Despite attempts by many researchers from various universities, no one has satisfactorily explained what causes the lights.