“It’s a twisted, gut-wrenching, graphic, grisly, gritty, gripping tale – certainly not for those who are looking for a subtle, peaceful crime novel that’s likely to put you to sleep.

It focuses on FBI Special Agent Sharon Ormsby, a recent academy graduate, who’s been assigned to the Highway Serial Killer Initiative.  When body parts are identified in different, far-flung locations, various indicators point to a serial killer, a big rig driver travelling around the country.  Ormsby goes undercover as a truck driver in the FBI investigation, joining veteran big rig driver Rudy Dykstra on the road in pursuit of a killer who goes by the handle of White Knuckle.  She travels with Dykstra cross-country, (there’s even a stop in Marshall MI), as they try to gather information and discover the true identity of the murderer.  Meanwhile, the clever killer keeps on picking up and brazenly kidnapping women and girls, keeping them restrained in a special secret compartment that he’s built into his huge vehicle.  He’s been leaving body parts in assorted states for forty years; most authorities weren’t even aware of his gruesome deeds – many of the bodies have never been identified or even found.

White Knuckle has a nasty, dark past – he tortured animals as a child; he long ago progressed to viciously killing women and shows little sign of stopping. He makes multiple-murderer Ed Gein look like a mere beginner.  Ormsby, Dykstra and her supervisor are working diligently but they have few useful leads, rising safety concerns and time constraints.

Hollywood screenwriter and director Red increases the tension by offering intriguing emotional viewpoints, providing insights from victims, the crazed killer and Ormsby, who has her own hidden secrets. Red has done his research – his terrifying novel is full of well-described locales and peppered with the blunt opinions of tired truckers.  The brutal, full-throttle conclusion is carefully crafted, making it almost impossible to put the book down.

There are likely to be comparisons to Richard Matheson’s classic, nerve-wracking trucking saga “Duel” or Robert Bloch’s “Psycho”; this may leave you sleepless and linger longer in your memory.” – Ray Walsh, Curious Book News.

View the trailer at http://t.co/VQJ8ffn0Qz

WHITE KNUCKLE is available in trade paperback and digital editions in bookstores, from Samhain Publishing, or on Amazon at http://amzn.to/1STW9jo

#thriller #mysterybooks #mystery #horror #serialkiller #FBI #procedural #crime #trucker #action #scary

“There’s more than mere road rage on the highway. A serial killer in the form of a truck driver has killed hundreds of women across the United States for over thirty years. The killer under the handle White Knuckle has eluded police captivity with barely a trace until now. A FBI agent, Sharon Ormsby goes undercover as a fellow trucker. Hot pursuit is engaged and carnage kicks into overdrive as Ormsby narrows in on her target threatening to put an end to the trail of bloodshed that goes on for miles and miles.

I’m never ceased to be amazed by the formidable talent that Samhain Publishing puts out month after month. Although I’d read White Knuckle back in June, it was difficult to put together a tangible review to really do this phenomenal read justice.

Author Eric Red harnesses and exploits the fear factors within each of us instantly. With a firm grasp on his market and how the subconscious works, his efforts come across seemingly with ease. The vulnerability to everyday occurrences such as driving, the open road, transport trucks is showcased and the darkness that our irrational fears manifests is tweaked to the next level making this tale highly plausible and all the more terrifying.”  – Dave Gammon / HorrorNews.net

Read the full review at: http://bit.ly/1MI7cK8

WHITE KNUCKLE is available in trade paperback and digital editions in bookstores, from Samhain Publishing, or on Amazon at http://amzn.to/1STW9jo

“The character of White Knuckle himself is one of the most gruesome and terrifying ever imagined.  Like Thomas Harris did in THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, Red demonstrates that the scariest monsters don’t always come from another planet or the laboratory of some misguided scientist – but rather are flesh-and-blood humans we might see on any given day, with an altogether different attitude about the value of life.  Eric Red is an author to discover and enjoy, and WHITE KNUCKLE is highly recommended for those who prefer their horror with a huge dose of reality.  But avoid reading it before taking a road trip, unless you’re prepared to alter your route before hitting the road.” — Alan Cranis, Bookgasm.

Read the full review at:  http://bit.ly/1M7sD4I

WHITE KNUCKLE is available now in trade paperback and digital editions in bookstores, from Samhain Publishing, or on Amazon at http://amzn.to/1STW9jo

The address is 3512 W Magnolia Boulevard in Burbank. Thanks to Del Howison.

WHITE KNUCKLE is available now in trade paperback and digital editions in bookstores, from Samhain Publishing, or on Amazon at http://amzn.to/1STW9jo

Read the interview at http://www.thebigthrill.org/2015/05/white-knuckle-by-eric-red/

WHITE KNUCKLE is available June 2nd in trade paperback and eBook editions from Samhain Publishing.  Order it on amazon at: http://amzn.to/1E22SNs

“Terror and suspense on the road.

Eric Red’s White Knuckle is as high octane a horror thriller as they come. It is a cross between Silence of the Lambs and Richard Matheson’s Duel. It also bears a very slight resemblance to the 80s film, The Hitcher which was written by Eric Red as well as was one of my favorite vampire movies, Near Dark. Those two movies and this novel have something in common and that is they show that Red knows how to write dark and evil characters that jump out at you. If his psycho villains come out a little too super-human sometimes, it just revs up the suspense and gives us a little more worry and need to cheer on the hero or, in this case, the heroine.

Our heroine is FBI agent Sharon Ormsby who is assigned to the FBI’s Highway Serial Killing Initiative which tracks and hunts down murders on interstate highways. She comes across a pair of bodies that appear to be linked but, if so, it means that the killer has been active for over 30 years. In the meantime through alternating scenes, the reader discovers quickly that this is a trucker who uses the CB handle White Knuckle. He is abducting women and imprisoning them in his own torture chamber on wheels.

White Knuckle has the right amount of action, crime know-how, suspense, and terror to appeal to a number of genre readers. The FBI/CSI enthusiasts will get a lot of crime-fighter stuff. The author certainly know a lot about the trucking industry too. The suspense/thriller reader will not be disappointed with the tense writing and many taut action scenes. And the horror fans will find lots of scares, both psychological and physical. But it is the cat-and–mouse relationship between Sharon and White Knuckle that kept my interest. The character of White Knuckle is a larger than life serial killer; obsessed, thinks he is smarter than everyone else and just may be, and highly misogynistic. His killing of women is described by the author in a way that hides no facts about his villainy and frankly may be too much for some readers. Yet when Sharon, who is undercover and on the road with a veteran truck driver she had partnered up with, comes into contact with him we can feel the killer being both threatened and challenged by this woman. This is handled well by the author and only adds to the tension as Sharon builds her case and White Knuckle prepares for what he sees to be his final triumph. The final climatic scene is one of the best written action segments I have ever read on paper.” Rating: 5 out of 5 stars –Martin Vernon, The Novel Pursuit.

Read the entire review at http://bit.ly/1ApAda9.

“PLOT: Sharon Ormsby, a feisty young FBI upstart, lobbies for an undercover gig to hit the highway and track down a ruthlessly indefatigable serial killer – a big-rig hauler known as White Knuckle – who’s been raping and murdering women for over 40 years.

“Horror – The more credible the threat, the better the capacity to un-nerve today’s jaded audience.  The late Richard Matheson knew this, as did Robert Bloch, taking the tropes of the horror story and firmly planting them in our own suburban lawns and on our highways.

Eric Red is the successor to Messrs Matheson and Bloch.  And he proves it once again here with a “road” story that is every bit as memorable as Matheson’s Duel.

White Knuckle is the CB handle of a long distance trucker, who has operated as one of America’s most prolific serial killers for forty years with several hundred victims buried all over the USA.  He chooses a victim at a truck stop, or forces them off the road keeps them locked in a steel box between the wheels of his truck, sadistically toys with them and finally dumps the body in a shallow grave in a different state, having knocked out the victim’s teeth out to further impede identification.

Enter Sharon Ormsby, a rookie FBI agent, who takes the case as an undercover assignment, taking to the road with a sympathetic long haulier to track down the killer who is out there, somewhere taunting on a CB radio.  Possibly in an overtaking truck, possibly in the one in the rear view mirror.

Partly horror with a psycho on the loose, partly police procedural, it’s a taut suspense story, and a welcome return to the road horror story by the man who defined this sub genre in the eighties with his original screenplays for cult classic films such as Near Dark and Hitcher.

The greatest strength of the book is the simplicity of the protagonist’s motivation.  White Knuckle murders without any real reason except for sexual gratification (necrophilia is alluded to) and the smug satisfaction not being caught.

There is no padding in the story, the pacing moves as relentlessly as White Knuckle’s black Kenworth truck.  Literally, no filler – all killer. It comes as no surprise that the film rights have already been secured.

Starburst rating 9/10 stars.”  –Robin Pierce, Starburst Magazine.

WHITE KNUCKLE will be published June 2nd in trade paperback and digital editions by Samhain Publishing.  It is available for pre-order on Amazon at: http://amzn.to/1GSmiYF