New Award Winning book by: Holden Gerrig - Titled: Saga of the Diver - Volume One

CALABASAS, Calif. - July 22, 2015 - PRLog -- Just when you thought you couldn’t find a good mystery along comes "Saga of the Diver - Volume One: Skeletons", a Pacific Book Awards Best New Fiction 2015 winner by Holden Gerrig.

The perfect combination of the sport of scuba diving, an unusual friendship, and sacrifice. At the crux of the novel are Jim Costas and Lynn Teal. Then there’s Paul Schultz, a scuba instructor who they want to join their unique world. Of course, Paul wants more, but he's not real great at getting what he wants  nor can he recognize scheming professionals . However, after he meets up with Jim, he may very well have to put it all on the line and make a deal with the devil. Who will come out on top? Who will win, and who will lose?

Gerrig’s "Saga of the Diver - Volume One: Skeletons" takes readers on a whirlwind adventure from rainy Seattle to the sunny beaches of Cozumel, in Gerrig’s first book of the award-winning three-volume "Saga of the Diver".

Readers learn quickly Schultz is hating his regular job, that his marriage is in trouble, and then he meets Jim at a gym. Although they are complete opposites, Paul and Jim have a love of scuba diving. Paul, an expert diving instructor, trains Jim. In turn, Jim gives Paul entrepreneurial tips that include Salsa dancing in an effort to help Paul rekindle his troubled marriage. Paul is awestruck by Jim’s business ways, and he finds Jim’s pick-up tricks with women uncouth, especially since he is married to beautiful wife, Teagan. Lynn Teal, Teagan’s buddy, comes into the picture along with some other attractions between Jim and Teagan to add more of a twist.

“Award-winning and rising author Holden Gerrig pens a dizzying one-of-a-kind psychological thriller. Unique to Gerrig’s debut novel is a tight list of literary elements. High on that record is Gerrig’s attractive yet convoluted cast. Gerrig’s attention to detail has produced four well-developed characters that leave readers with mixed emotions. Although his characters lead a variety of questionable lifestyles, Gerrig manages to evoke compassion among his readers when he reveals the troubled human aspects of their past (via omniscient viewpoints) to validate their actions,” says Pacific Book Reviews.

But don’t let this book’s title sway you, while it is about diving, it’s also a lot more than that.

“It’s about what is like to be a diver in a world where our desire is dampened by the worries of everyday life,” says Gerrig, who has had a love of the ocean since he was a young boy. “I’ve read well over two dozen books about audacious souls defying the laws of physiology and physics as they venture into forbidding depths. Many of them were well written and I enjoyed them immensely. But I couldn’t find a story showing that under the glamorous gear, lies a spouse, parent, or child, a sensible being doubting his worth as a human and confronting the tests of life.”

This book offers the best of both worlds – from learning about the pleasures of scuba diving  to unsavory business practices.

Gerrig’s  own favorite writers include: The tales of Aesop and Homer’s classics  both childhood inspirations. Aesop featured powerful messages delivered in simplicity, and “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey” because of its tales of mortals, deities, and demigods, he says.

More current favorite works include Robert Kurson (Shadow Divers, Pirate Hunters), Joe Simpson (Touching the Void, The Beckoning Silence, This Game of Ghosts), Sebastian Junger (War, The Perfect Storm), John Krakauer (Into Thin Air, Under the Banner of Heaven, Three Cups of Deceit) and Stephen King (Misery, Pet Sematary, Cujo), as well as the works of Nobel Prize laureate Mario Vargas Llosa (The War of the End of the World, The City and the Dogs, The Feast of the Goat)

"Saga of the Diver - Volume One: Skeletons" is one of those novels that will keep you glued to your seat from start to finish. Once you turn the last page you will eagerly be awaiting the next volume from Gerrig which is sure to be just as good – or perhaps even better.

About the Author

Award-Winning author Holden Gerrig finds inspiration in his ample experience dealing with vulnerable corners of the human psyche.

This experience is reflected in his writing, where you'll find all too familiar scenarios of the frailty of the human spirit in the face of adversity, the self-serving justifications of those engaged in deception, the wounded love that turns into hate, the revenge blind to self-destruction, and the gloom of the awakening conscience.

But he also celebrates the simple pleasures and regales you with vivid descriptions of love, friendships, and redemption. He tantalizes the senses with his elegant but steamy narrations of encounters, and acknowledges the power of our most primal drives in our lives.

His words stir feelings and passion, drawing you to love or hate characters until a twist throws the unexpected.

Holden places a high value on his privacy and when not writing or at his day job, he seeks the peace and solitude of nature.

Title: Saga of the Diver – Volume One: Skeletons

Author: Holden Gerrig

Publisher: 2015, HydraGaea Books

ISBN: 9780692391327

Pages: 408, Paperback

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Reviewed by: Anita Lock, Pacific Book Review

www.holdengerrig.com

Available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com