SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2023 BOTTOM DRAWER PRIZE FROM BLACK SPRING PRESS GROUP
Available in paperback October 22, 2024!
(E-book available in early 2025 - iBooks and Kobo links below to be updated when available)
Available in paperback October 22, 2024!
(E-book available in early 2025 - iBooks and Kobo links below to be updated when available)
 Click cover to purchase via Amazon
Daniel Fassett, a divorced Vermont factory worker, is just months from retirement. With a newly purchased bungalow in the Florida Keys and the promise of a hefty pension payout, he is eager to head south and permanently escape the bitter, lonely New England winters. But on Christmas Eve, 1992, Daniel suffers a horrific accident, as his pickup truck skids off the road and plunges into the frigid waters of the Mad River. After nearly drowning, he falls into a long coma—awakening in springtime to find his finances in shambles, his dream cottage gone, and his world in disarray. Feeling hopelessly trapped and desperate for an escape, Daniel enlists the aid of a local physician, Dr. William Butcher, for a wild experiment: an attempt at overwinter human hibernation in an unused backyard maple sugarhouse. Despite Daniel’s attempts to maintain secrecy, word of the bizarre procedure eventually gets out—and that is when trouble begins. Inspired in part by Vermont's "Frozen Hill People," a legendary 19th century hoax, BLACK DAYS is a unique literary thriller for fans of Shirley Jackson, Hubert Selby, Jr., and James M. Cain. |
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Praise for Black Days
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"A strange and marvelously unpredictable tale... The narrative is intelligently conceived and executed, and refreshingly original. A compelling plot infused with philosophical vitality." ―Kirkus Reviews
"What begins as a science fiction hoax becomes a psychological thriller, a double hitter that packs a painful punch." ―Midwest Book Review
"The dramatic tension of Black Days is perfect throughout. Nobody is going to put this book down." ―Howard Frank Mosher, author of Where the Rivers Flow North, Disappearances
"Jackson Ellis has come up with a most unusual marriage of fairly straight literary realism and over-the-top phantasmagoria that is the more successful for its quiet, understated narration. It’s fast-paced, compelling, and equipped with a hero-narrator whom the reader likes and sympathizes with from the outset." ―Castle Freeman, Jr., author of Go With Me
"Jackson Ellis combines the subtlety of a Don DeLillo with the fearlessness of Stephen King. If you love stories that take you on a wild ride from introspective narrative to sinister revelation you'll enjoy Black Days. You'll never predict what the next turn in the horrifying journey will be until you take the trip." ―Bill Morgan, author of I Celebrate Myself, The Typewriter Is Holy
"What begins as a science fiction hoax becomes a psychological thriller, a double hitter that packs a painful punch." ―Midwest Book Review
"The dramatic tension of Black Days is perfect throughout. Nobody is going to put this book down." ―Howard Frank Mosher, author of Where the Rivers Flow North, Disappearances
"Jackson Ellis has come up with a most unusual marriage of fairly straight literary realism and over-the-top phantasmagoria that is the more successful for its quiet, understated narration. It’s fast-paced, compelling, and equipped with a hero-narrator whom the reader likes and sympathizes with from the outset." ―Castle Freeman, Jr., author of Go With Me
"Jackson Ellis combines the subtlety of a Don DeLillo with the fearlessness of Stephen King. If you love stories that take you on a wild ride from introspective narrative to sinister revelation you'll enjoy Black Days. You'll never predict what the next turn in the horrifying journey will be until you take the trip." ―Bill Morgan, author of I Celebrate Myself, The Typewriter Is Holy
