In his Magnificent re-imagining of classic Norse myths, William R. Trotter transports the reader to faraway Vardinoy in the Faeroe Islands, the remote Scandinavian locale that has bewitched Allen Warrener since his first visit there twenty years earlier. Now middle-aged, he returns to the Faeroes in a quixotic effort to bring his life into focus. But his pilgrimage casts him and perilous than he ever imagined.

Amid the growing menace of this wild, desolate landscape and its watery depths are dangers and temptations Allen must: the legendary undersea monster, as elusive as the Golden Fleece; Elsuba, a stunning woman with whom he shared a passionate affaer on his first visit to the island; and the enigmatic Andreas Dahl, an artist whose sudden appearance seems more than mere coincidence. Increasingly, Allen turns to his old friend and mentor, Eiden Poulsen, a Faeroese millionaire was a famous U-boat stalker during the Battle North Atlantic, only to discover that Poulsen, too has a hidden and a hidden and seemingly sinister agenda.

Vivdly set against a backdrop that is once alluring and loney, Warrener's Beastie is a spellbinding meditation on fate, human passions, and the ultimate mystery of life's origins. The novel culminates in an apocalyptic and explosive climax that will leave readers in awe at the power of nature and the imagination.

 

WILLIAM R. TROTTER is the author of fifeen books, including Winter Fire, The Samds of Pride, and its sequel, The Fires of Pride, all available from Carroll & Graf. His nonfiction trilogy, The Ciuil War in North Carolina, was cited as source material for Cold Mountain. Twice a nominee for the prestigious Bram Stoker Award and winner of the 1992 Finlandia Foundation Arts and Letters Award, Trotter lives in Greensboro, North Carolina. For more information, see www.trotterbooks.com.

 

''Trotter's epic tale seems made for its stark and ominous setting. An evocative story, whose gripping final chapters will have readers on the edge of their seats''.

─ Juliet Marillier, author of WOLFSKIN

''An epic-scale novel, rich in characterization, with many surprises along the way. Trotter takes along the way. Trotter takes you on a memorable literary that encompasses mystical experiences in the Finnish wilderness,the 1960s art- film word. And, of course. The possibilities that exist in the world's eerie deeps. With seasoned aplomb, Trotter draws you into a complex where fantasy and reality intermingle seamlessly.''

─ Stephen Mark Rainey, author of DARk SHAlow