Belly of the Whale

Terrorized by a gunman, a woman with cancer vows to survive and regains her hope.

Linda Merlino

Cloth hardcover 6x9” | Pages 208 | Fiction US$ 19.95 / CDN$ 21.95 | ISBN 9781601640185

Hudson Catalina has given up. Having lost both breasts to cancer, she is emotionally and physically exhausted, no longer willing to endure the nausea and crushing weakness that chemotherapy causes. Until the wrecked-by-life young Buddy Baker arrives, bent on murder. Linda Merlino’s harrowing, touching story of despair, abuse, murder and survival takes you on a journey through the darkest places of the human mind and spirit, and in the end leads you back out of “the belly of the whale” enriched by the experience.

• “A riveting story, both powerful and poignant in its telling. Merlino’s immense talent shines on every page.”—Howard Roughan, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Promise of A Lie
• "This debut novel by Linda Merlino is smartly crafted with the perfect combination of sympathy, suspense, and sentiment. Merlino demonstrates her ability as a writer through the appropriate depth and diversity of her characters and delivers an easy and entertaining read." Identity Magazine.   Read the full review.
  

About the Author — Linda Merlino

Linda Merlino, the mother of three children, had to find the time and place to write whenever and wherever she could. She began Belly of the Whale, her second novel, in long hand, on the road. She has lived in Connecticut for most of her adult life.
 

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Belly of the Whale

Linda Merlino

ISBN 9781601640185

Harrowing and enriching story of anger and survival.

Belly of the Whale plumbs the depths, finds the light in the end.

REVIEW SNIP

 "A riveting story, both powerful and poignant in its telling. Merlino's immense talent shines on every page."

    —Howard Roughan, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Promise of A Lie
Co-Author of SAIL and You've Been Warned

LOGLINE

A woman whose cancer has caused her to lose hope and the will to live finds herself trapped in a local convenience store in the worst New England blizzard in a decade, terrorized by a murderous misfit who hates her. Suddenly life does not seem so hopeless, and against all odds, she vows to survive.

Read an excerpt below!

SYNOPSIS 

Hudson Catalina is ready to give up and die, thanks to a disease that took her breasts and her will to live, but fate has something else in store: a murderer takes her hostage, and after a night of terror that leaves four people dead, Hudson vows to survive.

Living with the ravages of cancer—the mutilation of having both breats removed, the pain, weakness, nausea, depression—Hudson Catalina is in a place where nothing seems to matter any more. As she drags herself through a blizzard to her chemotherapy session in Boston, she makes a decision: this will be her final treatment. She can’t do it any more. Death appears imminent and she has lost the will to live.

Her final meaningful act will be to celebrate her five-year-old daughter’s birthday the following day, and it is her intention to do this that brings her to a truly life-altering crossroads. A night of story-telling and wisdom at the Whales Market turns deadly when the wrecked-by-life young Buddy Baker arrives, bent on murder. Before the night is over, four people will be dead, and Hudson Catalina will find strength she thought had abandoned her.

Linda Merlino’s harrowing, touching story of despair, abuse, murder and survival takes you on a journey through the darkest places of the human mind and spirit, and in the end leads you back out of “the belly of the whale” enriched by the experience.

Hardcover US $19.95

Available wherever books are sold.

ISBN 978-1-60164-018-5

Distributed by Independent Publishers Group 

Excerpt

    My hand stopped mid-air and my eyes went wide. I was a pillar of salt, a paralyzed fly. He stared at me for a few seconds, snow caught up in his cap and melting down his jacket. Buddy’s hands were bare and bright red from the cold; he held them to his mouth and blew into the tunnel made by his fingers. No one spoke. Those few seconds were like our future; unsure.
    “Well, I’ll be fucking damned,” Buddy said. He pushed back his cap and sprigs of red hair escaped like hot lava. “Hey, how come you’re not dead?” He pointed an icy finger at me. “You look like a fucking cue ball, Teach. God’s payback, right?”
    I dropped my arm and stayed silent. Ruby turned to face him.
    “You got your beer, boy, just leave and let us have some peace.” Her voice was tinged with scorn, but it didn’t matter to Buddy. His eyes bounced and flashed.
    “Old woman, you were hiding Teach on me and that doesn’t make me happy. You’ve pissed me off for the second time in one night and I am definitely not pleased.” 
    He strode up to Ruby and shoved her into the shortening and oil shelf so hard that it collapsed. Ruby’s arms went behind her. She reached for something stable and found nothing. She went backward and backward until she went down too. He looked down at her and laughed.
    “Teach and me, we got some history, right, Teach?” Buddy took a can of lard in his right hand and flung it down aisle three. It smashed into a display of Kleenex sending small tissue packets scattering onto the floor. He unbuttoned his jacket and took out a cigarette. He drew his fingers along the shaft, and put it between his lips. The lighter sparked and a single arc of flame shot out, enveloping the waiting end.

About Linda Merlino

Linda describes herself as a writer and a lined-paper junkie.
As a single mother of three children, her most trustworthy partner became a ballpoint. She wrote anywhere, any time, in her car during soccer practices, under an umbrella on rain-drenched sidelines, in fast food restaurants and in chain hotels.

Belly of the Whale began in long hand, on the road. The story mushroomed and filled a carton in the back seat amongst soccer balls and tailgate paraphernalia. Her kids finally gave her a laptop and Linda went digital
 
She was born in New England, the setting for Belly of the Whale, and home has been Ridgefield, Connecticut for most of my adult life. Here the children grew up, and it is to them that she dedicates her writing.