Advertising Exec Who Once Climbed Mt. Rainier Pens Critically-Acclaimed Suspense Thrillers

Colin Kersey recently released his newest suspense thriller, Swimming With The Angels, after taking 26 years off from penning his debut novel, Soul Catcher, which was originally published by St. Martin’s Press and re-released this year. His first book, also a suspense thriller, earned rave reviews from The Washington Post, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and Kirkus Reviews. But his writing career was on hold while he worked hard at his day job in marketing and advertising. His career in that industry now spans 45 years. He knows how to package up a story and then tell it like a pro.

“My fiction writing has been compared to that of Dean Koontz,” says Kersey. “I have been told by editors, reviewers and writing instructors that my writing style touches all of the senses. Reading my books is like watching 4-D theater.”

Colin Kersey

Kersey, who grew up in a small town in Washington, some 20 miles from Seattle, where his dad was a three-term mayor, has lived with a bit of the adventure his novels take readers on. The three-time married author has traveled all across the United State and around the globe to places like Japan and the United Kingdom.

Earlier in his life he climbed Mt. Rainier, an experience that he says tore off some of the skin on his face due to the harsh conditions. As an advertising executive he enjoyed working with some big-name celebrities and iconic brands, including McDonald’s and IBM.

For one of his clients, a real estate development firm, he created a campaign to launch a new town in southern California, replete with its own zip code!

For several years he was mentored by The New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth George. Kersey, an interesting guy who earned three different college degrees, majored in English and creative writing – in addition to advertising and education.

His books explore complex situations involving handicapped characters – one is blind, another is deaf – and the supernatural. They capture readers emotionally. One reviewer, at Publishers Weekly BookLife, compares his writings to those of Nora Roberts’ The Witness and Michael Koryta’s Those Who Wish Me Dead.

Soul Catcher

Black Wolf, the ancient Shaman of the Caribou People and their last survivor, leaves his ancestral lands in Northwestern Canada to travel to Seattle, driven by a confusing vision that tells him of a final task he must perform and of a boy with no ears. But before he can perform his final quest, he is murdered by a gang of Seattle street-thugs. With his last breath, Black Wolf calls upon the spirit wind, Williwaw, to avenge his death and complete his mission. Now all of Seattle will have to pay for the desecration.

Seattle and its environs are suddenly hit by a series of deadly gale-force winds, winds that strike from nowhere, causing massive death and destruction. Only Evan Baker, a thirteen-year-old deaf boy with a gift for second sight, understands that these winds are not some freak meteorological phenomenon. Only he knows that this wind is intelligent, that its attacks are just part of a scheme of revenge, and that, when its revenge is complete, the wind will be coming for him.

Now, with a ragtag group of allies — including Paul Judge, a Native American lawyer; Billy Mossman, a prize-winning journalist fallen on hard times; and Helen Anderson, a survivor of one of Williwaw’s attacks — Evan must find a way to defeat an all-powerful enemy that no one can see and few believe exists. And he must do it before time runs out and the next to die is himself.

Swimming With The Angels

Gray Reynolds’ world is violently upended when assassins wound him and kill everyone else aboard a speedboat. He then learns from his dying wife that she helped steal $100 million from a notorious drug cartel. Gray’s only hope of staying alive is to disappear.

Forced to flee, Gray searches out a remote trout fishing farm in the foothills of the North Cascades that seems to be the perfect hideout. But his identity is not the farm’s only secret. Traumatized by the loss of her mother to cancer, a young blind woman believes the mysterious stranger is the man her mother promised would one day come. Her infatuation, however, arouses the desires of her older married sister.

Tensions escalate when a tragedy occurs, raising the possibility of the farm’s imminent sale and rekindling the cartel’s relentless determination to discover Gray’s whereabouts.

In Swimming with the Angels, Colin Kersey has woven themes of longing and grief, love and sensuality into a thriller of uncommon beauty and depth.

About Colin Kersey

Colin Kersey’s writing combines hair-raising stories and vivid prose with colorful characters. His first novel, Soul Catcher, was published by St. Martin’s Press.

A former Washingtonian and self- described rainophobe, Colin now lives on a sunny island in Southern California where he is employed as Global PR Manager for a Japanese company.

He is a graduate of the University of Washington, Western Washington University, and the novel writing program at Stanford University. He is currently working on a third novel.

His work has been mentioned or featured in select news media outlets, including Entertainment Weekly, Washington Post, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and Kirkus Reviews.

Reviews for Colin Kersey

“First time novelist Kersey melds elements of the Indian curse story and the disaster novel in the fast-paced horror tale set in contemporary Seattle. Kersey shows an aptitude for bringing characters to life.”

–PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

“Colin Kersey’s first effort is a mature and auspicious debut.”

–WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD

“Kersey’s supernatural thriller is full of interesting characters and events. The city itself – lovingly and accurately portrayed – and the rampaging williwaw give a special flavor to this engrossing and unusual first novel that will appeal to its readers.”

–LIBRARY JOURNAL

“A big bad wind avenges the murder of Native American shaman Black Wolf by destroying large areas of Seattle: a rousing supernatural thriller by first-novelist Kersey.”

–KIRKUS REVIEWS

“This is a stunning first novel for Colin Kersey. He has written a rousing supernatural thriller as memorable as those of Dean Koontz and Stephen King. Kersey promises to be one of the strongest voices in the genre for years to come.”

–TULSA WORLD

“Colin Kersey’s Soul Catcher is the best kind of first novel, a fast-paced thriller absolutely overflowing with riches. Open it and enter a fascinating world of Northwest lore, heartfelt characters, and one very smart dog. Get comfortable, because once the spirit wind launches its reign of revenge on Seattle, you will not be able to put it down.”

–JO-ANN MAPSON, AUTHOR OF HANK AND CHLOE AND BLUE RODEO

“Exciting, eerie, with excellent characterizations and a fast pace, this is a believable thriller.”

–ELLENVILLE PRESS

“Chilling and ravishing. This author has a wonderful ear for the language and a profound insight into the sounds of silence.”

–P. SOMTOW, AUTHOR OF VANITAS AND JASMINE NIGHTS

“Unclassifiable, but imaginative and intriguing, providing a detailed portrait of Seattle. Kersey has been likened to Dean Koontz.”

–THE POISONED PEN

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